#modernlanguages — Public Fediverse posts

🎉 Oh wow, yet another "modern" language that compiles to #JavaScript, because we definitely needed more ways to overcomplicate web development. 🚀 With built-in reactivity, it's just like every other framework that's been released in the past decade, but hey, at least it has a catchy name! 💥
https://github.com/shreeve/rip-lang #modernlanguages #webdevelopment #frameworks #programming #humor #HackerNews #ngated

🎉 Oh wow, yet another "modern" language that compiles to #JavaScript, because we definitely needed more ways to overcomplicate web development. 🚀 With built-in reactivity, it's just like every other framework that's been released in the past decade, but hey, at least it has a catchy name! 💥
https://github.com/shreeve/rip-lang #modernlanguages #webdevelopment #frameworks #programming #humor #HackerNews #ngated

🎉 Oh wow, yet another "modern" language that compiles to #JavaScript, because we definitely needed more ways to overcomplicate web development. 🚀 With built-in reactivity, it's just like every other framework that's been released in the past decade, but hey, at least it has a catchy name! 💥
https://github.com/shreeve/rip-lang #modernlanguages #webdevelopment #frameworks #programming #humor #HackerNews #ngated

🎉 Oh wow, yet another "modern" language that compiles to #JavaScript, because we definitely needed more ways to overcomplicate web development. 🚀 With built-in reactivity, it's just like every other framework that's been released in the past decade, but hey, at least it has a catchy name! 💥
https://github.com/shreeve/rip-lang #modernlanguages #webdevelopment #frameworks #programming #humor #HackerNews #ngated

🎉 Oh wow, yet another "modern" language that compiles to #JavaScript, because we definitely needed more ways to overcomplicate web development. 🚀 With built-in reactivity, it's just like every other framework that's been released in the past decade, but hey, at least it has a catchy name! 💥
https://github.com/shreeve/rip-lang #modernlanguages #webdevelopment #frameworks #programming #humor #HackerNews #ngated

From Gothic grammar to the Holy Grail: 92‑year‑old former teacher graduates for FIFTH time

Bernice Juxon‑Jones, who taught in schools in Swansea and Port Talbot before later emigrating to Bermuda, has just been awarded a Master of Philosophy in Medieval German from Swansea University. Her thesis explored Parzival, Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval epic about the quest for the Holy Grail.

Fascination sparked by a dusty book

Bernice’s love of German began when she discovered a grammar book printed in 1889.

“It was an old German grammar, printed in Gothic script, with handwriting examples in Kurrent script. I was fascinated and began to teach myself,” she said.

“I feel particularly proud of my achievement of going from simple der, die, das, to A‑level, to a BA (Hons) London.”

Professors inspired by her dedication

Professor Julian Preece, chair in German at Swansea University, said:

“My colleague Dr Alison Williams and I found it a pleasure to work with someone so dedicated to her subject. To see Bernice examining the topic for its own sake in her retirement was inspiring and her achievement is incredible.”

He explained that Bernice’s interpretation of Parzival drew on her Christian faith, exploring themes of transformation and redemption.

A lifetime of study

Bernice began her career teaching art at a girls’ school on Swansea Docks before moving to Port Talbot, where she taught French and German. She later emigrated to Bermuda, continuing her studies alongside teaching.

She credits her mentor Kathleen Hennessy for helping her achieve her first BA in 1968:

“It is all thanks to her that in 1968 I got my BA. We then both went on to achieve our A‑level in Spanish, attending many summer courses in Spain.”

Her academic journey took her to Salamanca for an MA in Spanish and to California State University Dominguez Hills for an MA in Humanities, where she graduated with a perfect GPA.

“I have spent my life studying”

Even now, Bernice insists she has no plans to stop:

“Now, at 92, I have completed my MPhil thesis. I have spent my life studying and shall continue so to do until I depart for somewhere better. I feel content with my lot in life and grateful to those dear, good nuns who started me off on the path to learning at my convent school.”

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

“I was just existing, not living” — Port Talbot’s Ayla beats the odds to graduate
Inspiring story of a local student who overcame illness and self‑doubt to qualify as a mental health nurse at Swansea University.

Formula 1 driver Norris put through his paces at Swansea University
Championship contender Lando Norris visits Swansea University’s A‑STEM centre for rigorous performance testing.

Students inspired to pursue primary care careers thanks to more placements
Swansea Bay project encourages nursing students to consider careers in primary care.

Nursing students’ high‑tech help for Pembroke Dock hospital patients
Swansea University nursing students help patients stay connected with loved ones using digital tools.

#education #German #languages #modernLanguages #Parzival #SwanseaUniversity #teacher

Yesterday Goldsmiths
Today Kent
Tomorrow - watch your backs

#MassacreOfTheHumanities #UniversityFunding #PhilistinePolitics #KentUniversity
#Music #Anthropolgy #HealthAndSocialCare #journalism #artHistory #ComparativeLiterature #EnglishLanguage #Linguistics #ModernLanguages #Philosophy #religion #ethics

UCU members at the University of Aberdeen have voted for strike action over plans to end single-honours degrees in modern languages and put 30 staff at risk of redundancy.

In their ballot, 80% of those who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 60%.

The local branch will meet over the coming days to consider its next steps.

https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13454/Aberdeen-University-staff-overwhelmingly-back-industrial-action-in-row-over-modern-languages-cuts-and-job-losses?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=Social&campaign=HE

#UCU #HigherEducation #UKHE #ModernLanguages

The University of #Aberdeen is planning to scrap modern #language degrees, including #Gaelic. Please sign this #petition. https://www.change.org/p/save-language-translation-interpreting-degrees-at-the-university-of-aberdeen #UniversityOfAberdeen #AberdeenUniversity #languages #ModernLanguages #Gaidhlig #Scotland #ScottishEducation #ScottishCulture

Well, they went and did it. Vile shortsighted vultures.

Despite National Pushback, West Virginia Will Cut Faculty, Programs

A month of intense public and on-campus pressure did not dissuade the Board of Governors from siding with the administration to slash programs and positions.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/shared-governance/2023/09/15/despite-national-pushback-wvu-will-cut-faculty

#WVU #HigherEd #ModernLanguages #Gee

Re-sharing for the weekend crowd. The official link to our lovely #OpenAccess collection, 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' in the Modern Languages Open journal.

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/collections/minoritised-languages-and-travel

This is a collection of 5 essays + introduction that explore frictions between traveller and travelee as well as the inherent instability of social, cultural and language hierarchies.

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #Romantodons #MinorityLanguages #MinorityCulture #Tourism #History #Travelguide #Diary #Wales #Ireland #Germany #France #Spain #Catalonia #Caribbean #DerekWalcott #Poetry

@academicchatter @histodons

Re-sharing for the weekend crowd. The official link to our lovely #OpenAccess collection, 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' in the Modern Languages Open journal.

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/collections/minoritised-languages-and-travel

This is a collection of 5 essays + introduction that explore frictions between traveller and travelee as well as the inherent instability of social, cultural and language hierarchies.

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #Romantodons #MinorityLanguages #MinorityCulture #Tourism #History #Travelguide #Diary #Wales #Ireland #Germany #France #Spain #Catalonia #Caribbean #DerekWalcott #Poetry

@academicchatter @histodons

Re-sharing for the weekend crowd. The official link to our lovely #OpenAccess collection, 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' in the Modern Languages Open journal.

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/collections/minoritised-languages-and-travel

This is a collection of 5 essays + introduction that explore frictions between traveller and travelee as well as the inherent instability of social, cultural and language hierarchies.

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #Romantodons #MinorityLanguages #MinorityCulture #Tourism #History #Travelguide #Diary #Wales #Ireland #Germany #France #Spain #Catalonia #Caribbean #DerekWalcott #Poetry

@academicchatter @histodons

Re-sharing for the weekend crowd. The official link to our lovely #OpenAccess collection, 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' in the Modern Languages Open journal.

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/collections/minoritised-languages-and-travel

This is a collection of 5 essays + introduction that explore frictions between traveller and travelee as well as the inherent instability of social, cultural and language hierarchies.

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #Romantodons #MinorityLanguages #MinorityCulture #Tourism #History #Travelguide #Diary #Wales #Ireland #Germany #France #Spain #Catalonia #Caribbean #DerekWalcott #Poetry

@academicchatter @histodons

Re-sharing for the weekend crowd. The official link to our lovely #OpenAccess collection, 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' in the Modern Languages Open journal.

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/collections/minoritised-languages-and-travel

This is a collection of 5 essays + introduction that explore frictions between traveller and travelee as well as the inherent instability of social, cultural and language hierarchies.

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #Romantodons #MinorityLanguages #MinorityCulture #Tourism #History #Travelguide #Diary #Wales #Ireland #Germany #France #Spain #Catalonia #Caribbean #DerekWalcott #Poetry

@academicchatter @histodons

As promised, here's now the official link to our lovely collection, 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' in Modern Languages Open.

Kathryn Walchester explores the silencing of the Welsh travelee. A century and a half later, Marija Bergam locates Derek Walcott as a writer of a minor literature in the sense of Deleuze and Guattari. Anna-Lou Dijkstra’s analysis of recent German and French guidebooks to #Wales uncovers how they pre-emptively interpret the travel destination, resulting in often skewed perceptions of a minoritized culture. Eimear Kennedy’s analysis of Irish travelogues about India explores how travelogues composed in endangered languages can originate from a position of relative socio-cultural privilege. Finally, David Miranda-Barreiro undertakes a close reading of Julio Camba’s travel writings and also in past and contemporary critical academic work on the author.

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess #Romantodons @academicchatter @histodons

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/collections/minoritised-languages-and-travel

This leaves me with just my own #introduction to the whole special issue.

Abstract
This introduction to the MLO special issue “Minoritised Languages and Travel” provides an overview of the pieces in this collection in context with historical travel accounts in German about nineteenth-century Wales.

Happy reading, y'alls. (For convenience, I will later post the link to the complete bundle.)

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #Romantodons #Victorian #Wales #Germany #Hungary #WomensWriting

@histodons @academicchatter @historikerinnen https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.472

The fourth article is
“A language of wet stones and mists”: The Caribbean Poet as a Traveller in Wales and England
by Marija Bergam Pellicani

Abstract
This article examines Derek Walcott’s “travel poems” about Wales and England from the collections The Fortunate Traveller (1981) and Midsummer (1984) through the prism of Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of littérature mineure. [...] In their engagement with the Welsh and English “Elsewhere” these poems ultimately participate in transvaluation of the relationship between centre and periphery, a dynamics that marked the most significant Anglophone literary currents in the second part of the twentieth century.

#TravelWriting #Wales #England #Caribbean #DerekWalcott #ModernLanguages #Poetry #OpenAccess

@histodons @academicchatter
https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.198

The third article is
A “Devolved Minority”: Contemporary German and French Guidebook Perspectives of Wales
by Anna-Lou Dijkstra

Abstract
Guidebooks play an important role in increasing the visibility of a nation, as they introduce the country to potential visitors and create images prior to travelling. However, they also tend to reinforce stereotypes and create “romantic fictions” (Mahn 2008). This article examines the representation of Wales in French and German guidebooks and consequently elucidates the cultural and political recognition of Wales in these continental texts. The depiction of Wales as a distinct entity on an administrative, or rather on a cultural and linguistic level will be discussed, as well as the commonalities and differences between French and German views.

#TravelWriting #Wales #France #Germany #Guidebooks #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess
@histodons @academicchatter

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.203

The third article is
A “Devolved Minority”: Contemporary German and French Guidebook Perspectives of Wales
by Anna-Lou Dijkstra

Abstract
Guidebooks play an important role in increasing the visibility of a nation, as they introduce the country to potential visitors and create images prior to travelling. However, they also tend to reinforce stereotypes and create “romantic fictions” (Mahn 2008). This article examines the representation of Wales in French and German guidebooks and consequently elucidates the cultural and political recognition of Wales in these continental texts. The depiction of Wales as a distinct entity on an administrative, or rather on a cultural and linguistic level will be discussed, as well as the commonalities and differences between French and German views.

#TravelWriting #Wales #France #Germany #Guidebooks #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess
@histodons @academicchatter

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.203

The third article is
A “Devolved Minority”: Contemporary German and French Guidebook Perspectives of Wales
by Anna-Lou Dijkstra

Abstract
Guidebooks play an important role in increasing the visibility of a nation, as they introduce the country to potential visitors and create images prior to travelling. However, they also tend to reinforce stereotypes and create “romantic fictions” (Mahn 2008). This article examines the representation of Wales in French and German guidebooks and consequently elucidates the cultural and political recognition of Wales in these continental texts. The depiction of Wales as a distinct entity on an administrative, or rather on a cultural and linguistic level will be discussed, as well as the commonalities and differences between French and German views.

#TravelWriting #Wales #France #Germany #Guidebooks #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess
@histodons @academicchatter

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.203

The third article is
A “Devolved Minority”: Contemporary German and French Guidebook Perspectives of Wales
by Anna-Lou Dijkstra

Abstract
Guidebooks play an important role in increasing the visibility of a nation, as they introduce the country to potential visitors and create images prior to travelling. However, they also tend to reinforce stereotypes and create “romantic fictions” (Mahn 2008). This article examines the representation of Wales in French and German guidebooks and consequently elucidates the cultural and political recognition of Wales in these continental texts. The depiction of Wales as a distinct entity on an administrative, or rather on a cultural and linguistic level will be discussed, as well as the commonalities and differences between French and German views.

#TravelWriting #Wales #France #Germany #Guidebooks #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess
@histodons @academicchatter

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.203

The third article is
A “Devolved Minority”: Contemporary German and French Guidebook Perspectives of Wales
by Anna-Lou Dijkstra

Abstract
Guidebooks play an important role in increasing the visibility of a nation, as they introduce the country to potential visitors and create images prior to travelling. However, they also tend to reinforce stereotypes and create “romantic fictions” (Mahn 2008). This article examines the representation of Wales in French and German guidebooks and consequently elucidates the cultural and political recognition of Wales in these continental texts. The depiction of Wales as a distinct entity on an administrative, or rather on a cultural and linguistic level will be discussed, as well as the commonalities and differences between French and German views.

#TravelWriting #Wales #France #Germany #Guidebooks #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess
@histodons @academicchatter

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.203

Next up we have
Money Matters: Encounter and Economic Disparity in Irish-language Travel Narratives
by Eimear Kennedy

Abstract
[...] By looking at the travel writing of four Irish-language writers – Alex Hijmans, Manchán Magan, Gabriel Rosenstock and Cathal Ó Searcaigh – this article explores the encounters between Irish-language travel writers and foreign peoples and cultures. It investigates the attempts made by these writers to distance themselves from cultural, political and economic hegemony of Western powers but also highlights the often ambivalent positioning of Irish-language travel writers and demonstrates the barriers to encounter and the asymmetrical power structures that economic inequality can create.

#TravelWriting #Ireland #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess

@histodons @academicchatter

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.202

At last, it's publication day for the 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' special collection in the Modern Languages Open journal edited with an intro by yours truly -- and all available Open Access.

Allow me to share each paper in this thread as they get published one by one.

First up,
“Everything Remains the Same”: Julio Camba Travelling Spain
by David Miranda-Barreiro

Abstract
In the first decades of the twentieth century, the Madrid-based Galician journalist Julio Camba (1882–1962) acquired long-lasting fame as a travel writer thanks to his foreign chronicles published in the Spanish press and subsequently compiled in a series of volumes. [...] Drawing on studies on state nationalism (Billig 1995) and Spanish nationalism (Taibo 2014, Delgado 2014) this article examines not only Camba’s own views but the response from contemporary scholarship to his texts.

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/articles/10.3828/mlo.v0i0.199

#TravelWriting #Spain #Catalonia #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess @histodons @academicchatter