Vladimir Mitev
Cristina-Andreea Radu-Bejenaru is a PhD lecturer in Bulgarian at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures. The Bridge of Friendship interviewed her in the context of her recent participation in a Bulgarian language conference in Sofia.
Ms Bejenaru, in May you participated in a conference of the Lyubomir Andreichin Institute for the Study of the Bulgarian Language at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia. What did you present there and what were your impressions of the conference?
That’s right, on 15-16 May 2024 the International Anniversary Conference of the Bulgarian Language Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences took place in Sofia. My colleagues there invited me as a keynote speaker to give a plenary paper. The topic of my paper was “Motivation and attitudes towards learning Bulgarian as a second language” and the presentation was in English. This is a psycholinguistic study, which involved collecting data through a questionnaire addressed to students and analysing the data using statistical methods. The study is in its infancy and is to be further developed. Regarding the second part of your question, I already knew about the conference and that it is a very prestigious one. I was glad to be able to meet some of the best specialists in the field of Bulgarian linguistics, professors and researchers whom I read and quote in my papers. The papers of the colleagues were varied and interesting, on current linguistic topics.
You are a lecturer in Bulgarian language and a researcher on Bulgarian language and culture at the University of Bucharest. What Bulgarian topics are of interest to you? To what extent do Bulgarian studies offer you sufficient opportunities for professional development? Do you manage to build a professional network with colleagues and friends from Bulgaria and other countries or is dealing with Bulgarian language a lonely business?
I teach Bulgarian language structure and practice at the University of Bucharest, which includes topics related to grammar (morphology, lexicology, syntax, etc.) and empirical language practice, so to speak. I also teach Bulgarian culture and civilization. Automatically, these are also my areas of interest, those in the sphere of linguistics. The topics are very interesting and I always find something interesting to study and present at conferences or to publish in scientific journals. Lately, my attention has been mainly focused on current lexical phenomena, as well as on the influence of English on the other Bulgarian and Romanian languages. In this respect, I have dealt with topics such as the morphological adaptation of English borrowings, the phenomenon of blending (or lexical contamination), phraseological computation based on English models, etc. Participating in conferences at home and abroad and publishing scientific articles in specialized journals gives me a good opportunity to develop professionally, as well as to keep in touch with specialists in the field. I don’t deal with Bulgarian literature – my colleague, Prof. Dr. Cătălina Puiu is a specialist in this area – but I have enjoyed learning it and I am still trying to keep up with the new publications from south of the Danube.
How do you rate the interest of Romanian students in Bulgarian studies and the Bulgarian language at the University of Bucharest? To what extent do they feel that opening up to Bulgaria offers them a good career and a more interesting life? What is their usual career path after they become Bulgarian language graduates?
A very good question. So what is their motivation to study Bulgarian. I have to admit that it is not an easy thing to attract young high school graduates to study a language that is not internationally spoken. Especially when they know that they will commit themselves to three years of intensive study of the literature and grammar of that language. Besides, most high school graduates, as we all know, prefer to go into more applied fields of study. In my view, the hardest part is to convince them to overcome their reluctance and enrol in our department. Then they convince themselves that it was a good decision. First of all, because the groups are smaller (this year we have 15 students enrolled in the first year) and we can work very well, taking into account the needs of each student, helping them to reach a good level of language knowledge. Secondly, the teaching staff – myself, Prof. Cătălina Puiu and Prof. Nikolai Paskalev – are always very helpful and follow the needs of the students, trying to help them to learn the language as efficiently as possible. This motivates them and makes them want to learn Bulgarian. On top of that, the most deserving of them can get a scholarship to the summer school in Sofia or Tarnovo, where for three weeks they follow an intensive programme of Bulgarian language and civilisation. They also have the opportunity to go away for a semester or two on an Erasmus+ scholarship to one of our partner universities in Bulgaria. In terms of career opportunities, most of them get a job in a corporation where they are usually required to speak Bulgarian (in finance, IT, marketing, etc.) or become certified translators. Those who know rare languages are usually also sought by state security structures. Some students have even become part of Romania’s diplomatic corps in Bulgaria.
In recent years, books by Bulgarian authors such as Georgi Gospodinov, Kapka Kassabova, Emil Andreev, Ivan Stankov have appeared in Romanian, also thanks to the translations of some Bulgarian professors at the University of Bucharest. How are their books appreciated by Romanian readers?
Indeed, some of the books in vogue were translated by Puiu, PhD and our former colleague, Mariana Mangiulea Jatop, PhD. Their translations were very well received by the Romanian public. I believe that Romanian readers enjoy discovering the neighbouring country also through the literature it produces and not only from the perspective of the tourist who arrives in Bulgarian resorts. Although we are quite close, I think we still don’t know each other so well culturally and we still have a lot to learn about each other, and literature translated from both sides helps in this process.
To what extent does the degree of collaboration between Bulgarian universities and cultural institutions and the University of Bucharest, or alternatively, European academic exchange programmes, allow for fertile interaction for teachers and students between Romania and Bulgaria? To what extent is there a need for a Bulgarian Cultural Centre in Bucharest and an Romanian Cultural Institute in Sofia? What is missing or can be improved when it comes to Romanian-Bulgarian academic and cultural interactions?
The fact that Bulgaria is so close and that it is a country of the European Union makes it much easier to carry out joint projects. Our collaboration with Bulgarian universities and the Bulgarian Academy’s institutes is very good. Not only the Bulgarian philology department has fruitful relations with Bulgarian specialists, but also colleagues from other Slavic philologies (Russian, Serbian, Czech, etc.), colleagues from the English department and colleagues from the German department. These links translate into participation in conferences organised by us in Bucharest or by Bulgarian colleagues in Sofia, Tarnovo, Blagoevgrad, Shumen, Plovdiv, publication of our work in specialist journals on both sides of the Danube, participation in research projects and internships (e.g. “ННП Българистика”) and Erasmus+ teaching mobilities. The part of cultural activities and events is covered by our department (when we have the opportunity, we organize Bulgarian culture day, open lectures with guest professors from Bulgaria – like the one recently by Prof. Stankov etc.), but also by the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Community in Romania. We maintain close relations with these institutions and we know that in Bulgaria, colleagues from the Department of Romanian Philology do the same, marking each time, together with the students, the most important celebrations. I am not in a position to say whether it would be possible to set up cultural institutes (it would certainly be beneficial), but realistically speaking, this would probably involve costs that I do not think the two countries are willing to bear.
Let me close the interview with a slightly more personal question. How did you develop your interest in Bulgarian language and culture so much that you chose a professional career dedicated to them? What discoveries do you have as a Bulgarian-speaking Romanian when communicating with Bulgarians or visiting Bulgaria? What are the valuable things that Bulgarians and Romanians can give to each other?
My interest in Bulgarian language and culture was born when I started university. Initially, the Faculty of Foreign Languages was the second option on my admission list, but I decided to stay after meeting the professors – professionals and accomplished people. I’ve always had an attraction to the field of philology, reading and languages. In Bulgarian I liked from the very beginning its unusual character and the challenges it poses to grammar. Bulgarian is not an easy language for foreigners and that helped me not to get bored, it always kept my motivation to learn it as well as possible alive. I have enjoyed discovering the customs and culture of the Bulgarian people since I was at university, identifying our common and divergent points. I went several times to summer school and with Erasmus. However, what I appreciate most is the people there, their openness towards us and their kindness. In a way, it seems to me that we are very much alike and that we have gone through long centuries of unkind history together, which has shaped us similarly socio-culturally. Every time I go to Bulgaria, I have that very familiar feeling of home.
Photo: Cristina-Andreea Radu-Bejenaru (source: Cristina-Andreea Radu-Bejenaru)
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