Udmurt teaching arrives at Inalco

What is Udmurt?

Udmurt is a Finno-Ugric language spoken mainly in the Republic of Udmurt, itself a subject of the Russian Federation, and in its bordering regions. It is one of the Uralic languages. The language has a rich oral tradition that continues to this day, notably in song (the Buranovo group "Babushkas", representing Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010, is a case in point). But since the 20th century, an important Udmurt literature has also been developing.

Unfortunately, today the number of Udmurt speakers is declining. Whereas there were 700,000 in 1979, in 2010 there are only 300,000 people who can speak it, making it a rare and endangered language. Even in Udmurtia, the language is being lost among the younger generations, who use it neither in their daily lives nor at school, as there is no policy encouraging its teaching.

Udmurt culture

The Udmurt people are pagan, their beliefs originally intimately linked to nature. Despite this faith in multiple deities, many were forced to convert to orthodoxy in the 18th century. The Udmurts were gradually integrated into Russia from the 5th century onwards, but kept their own culture, even though they never formed an independent state. One of the pillars of Udmurt culture is pacifism: despite the circumstances that led them to become Russian, they never fell into conflict or sought to provoke it. Another important component of the Udmurt identity is the rumor that they are sorcerers, which has never stopped spreading.

If you are interested in Udmurt culture, you can now discover the photography exhibition "Varkled-Bodja: initiation rituals for young people in 1993 and 2017" which will be held at Inalco from February 1 to 24.

Udmurt and Inalco

Udmurt was already taught at Inalco by Professor Jean-Luc Moreau in the early 2000s. Although this teaching was later discontinued, oudmourte has always been at the heart of Inalco's cultural programming. For example, Inalco took part in the "Journees oudmourtes" in Paris, and invited a number of Oudmourte personalities to present their work as part of the "Paroles de créateurs" cycle. Inalco was honored to welcome poet Tatjana Hohrjakova and oral culture specialist and singer Nikolaj Anisimov.

This project to teach Udmurt, initially supported by the Europe Department and the CFVE, was then taken forward by Eva Toulouze, professor of Finno-Ugric languages and cultures at Inalco, and supported by the Inalco Foundation. Since the start of the 2022 academic year, Eva Toulouze has been giving introductory courses in Udmurt, during which she also introduces her students to the fundamentals of Udmurt civilization and culture. Students also have the opportunity to practice their oral skills with native speakers and by learning traditional songs in class.

If you are interested in learning Udmurt or would like more information on the subject, you can click here.