Intercultural and Interlingual Influences on Slovenian Stage Speech

Katarina Podbevšek

Interculturalism (and the related interlingualism) is not a new concept of the globalisation age, yet in the new socio-political situation it has a wider meaning and encourages intercultural awareness, requiring a special sensibility for the other and otherness. Theatre has always responded to social changes; stage speech often reflects the dynamics of linguistic behaviour of the entire society. In the development of Slovenian stage speech, foreign cultural-linguistic influences have been more visible in certain periods, and have even sparked changes in stage speech aesthetics. The paper will discuss three groundbreaking periods: the early 20th century (the establishing Slovenian language onstage), the 1970s (the introduction of linguistic genres) and from the 1990s on (the use of multilingualism and foreign languages).

Katarina Podbevšek teaches language and speech at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, University of Ljubljana (AGRFT UL). Her research includes stage speech aesthetics of the past and present, the role of the language consultant in theatre and theatre terminology. She also deals with spoken reading interpretations of literary texts in educational settings. She is the author of Govorna interpretacija literarnih besedil v pedagoški in umetniški praksi [Spoken Interpretation of Literary Texts in Educational and Artistic Practice], the co-author of Gledališkega terminološkega slovarja [Theatre Terminology Dictionary] and the co-editor of two collections of essays about artistic speech and the monography Govor med znanostjo in umetnostjo [Speech Between Science and Art].