The author investigates inhabitants of a moldovan village and seeks answer to the question of their linguistic strategies to show or hide the csango ethnical identity in public space. The paper builds upon data found in an empirical fieldwork: the author made interviews and participant observation in the csango village Frumosa. Her conclusion is that the ethnical identity is formed upon a situational basis, in the context of catholic-non catholic interactions. Identity, according to Simon, is re-interpreted depending on everyday situations, and made visible by over/under-communication of the main indicators of group barriers: language use (romanian-hungarian bilinguism) and religion (belonging to the catholic church).
Boglarka Simon is a sociologist, ethnologist, presently teaches at the Unitarian College in Cluj-Napoca. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
