Manuela Pellegrino

Manuela Pellegrino holds a master’s degree and PhD in anthropology from University College of London. Since 2006, her research among Griko-speakers and activists in Grecìa Salentina (Apulia, Southern Italy) and ‘aficionados of Griko’ in Greece has formed the basis of her PhD thesis and resultant publications. Her work highlights the transformative effects on the ground of the interplay of language ideologies and policies promoted by the EU, Italy, and Greece to protect Griko, a language of Greek origins; this process has enhanced locally a general ‘revival’ mobilizing cultural heritage more broadly as a resource for the future. More recently she was awarded a fellowship at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH), Smithsonian Institution (Jan 2018-June 2019). Her fellowship with the CHS will allow her to focus on her new project on the protest movements against the environmental crisis affecting Salento and Greece; this moves beyond language revival but she continues to study cultural heritage as a resource from the past, for the future. In particular, she is interested in assessing the relevance of ancient Greek thought to the management of the current environmental crisis and in investigating the role that the cultural heritage of Hellenism plays in shaping contemporary relationships between Greece and Italy. Her research reflects a longstanding interest, as she originally comes from Zollino, a village belonging to Grecìa Salentina. Her research interests include: language ideologies, cultural heritage, identity politics, Hellenism, historicity and temporality, environmental issues and conflicts, Italy, Greece.