Megleno-Romanians in Serbia: Shifting Borders, Shifting ldentity

Abstract

This study has two main aims. The first, it seeks to introduce to a wider public what used to be the Megleno-Romanian community in the village of Gudurica, near the Serbian-Romanian border. The Megleno-Romanians arrived there in the 1950s, from Huma (Macedonia), but many of them left the village shortly after to return home or to settle in other Macedonian localities. Today, the Megleno-Romanian dialect is actively spoken only by a handful of people, born during the inter-war period. The second aim, this paper tries to analyze how the shifting Balkan borders over the last 50 years and the consequent migration of people have redefined the Megleno-Romanians' identity, as well as the role their native dialect played in this process.