Scholars, linguists and academics gathered in southern Italy’s historic Grecìa Salentina in late June for the 10th Conference on “Modern Greek Language and Literature Beyond Greece’s Borders,” highlighting the enduring role of the Greek language as a bridge between cultures and a living element of the region’s centuries-old heritage, according to Greek public broadcaster ERT.
Held June 24-26 under the patronage of the Greek Embassy in Rome, the conference was organized by the Italian Association of Modern Greek Studies (ANSN) and coincided with the inauguration of the Paolo Stomeo Laboratory of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Salento.
The event brought together Italian scholars and philologists who study and speak Modern Greek, presenting research on Byzantine and modern Greek literature. Papers examined the works of Dionysios Solomos, Angelos Sikelianos and C.P. Cavafy, among other prominent Greek literary figures.
According to the Greek Embassy in Rome, the conference highlighted Modern Greek as a “language of the diaspora” that continues to evolve while connecting people and cultures across East and West.
Organizers selected Grecìa Salentina – a cluster of communities near Lecce on Italy’s Salento Peninsula, where the Griko people have preserved a centuries-old Greek linguistic and cultural tradition – to underscore the region’s historic ties to Hellenism. The Griko minority continues to speak Griko, a Greek dialect that reflects the area’s enduring links with the Greek world.
