site.btaProf. Scarpa of Italy: Europe's Polyphony Is Important, Bulgaria Contributes to It

Italian Slav studies professor Marco Scarpa believes that it is important to preserve what he calls "Europe's polyphony" and said that Bulgaria contributes to it. He was among the participants in an international Slav studies forum taking place in Sofia and Plovdiv June 27 and 28 on the initiative of Vice President Iliana Iotova.

The professor warned against reducing the richness of languages, which would happen if people spoke mostly English, for example, and called for using the diversity of languages. This diversity makes cultures richer, he said.

During the forum, Prof. Scarpa presented a report on the literary and cultural peak during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. 

Marco Scarpa is professor at the Università degli Studi di Messina and the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Center with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His main fields of research is Medieval Slavonic literature, ascetic and polemic texts, Slavic palaeography. 

The International Cyrillic Forum "Alphabet. Language. Identity" is a two-day conference initiated by Vice President Iliana Iotova and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science. It is discussing the significance of letters, words, language, and culture for the Slavic heritage, its preservation and dissemination in today’s world, and the importance of language and identity in the processes of globalization, highlighting Bulgaria's key role in the creation and preservation of Slavic civilization. The event is taking place in Plovdiv on June 27 and 28.