The Last of the Vostiaks
Encyclopedia
L'ultimo dei Vostiachi (The Last of the Vostiaks) is a novel by the Italian
writer Diego Marani
.
It is a satire of bias and prejudice in academic and philological research.
Also it raises thoughts about language as identity symbol and the solitude of the last speaker of a language about to disappear.
who speaks a language that has almost disappeared, one that keeps the last vestige
of a vanished sound, the lateral fricative with labiovelar appendix.
A Russian studious gets to understand him and wants to show him to a congress
on Uralic languages
in Helsinki
.
However, a purist Finnish
professor attempts to prevent the innocent
Siberian appearance as a living proof of the philological connection between
the Finnish language and the American natives.
The plot is complicated by a Lapon pimp, country cottages with sauna,
vacation boats in the Baltic Sea, and sometimes the narration takes a rowdy tone
with reminiscences of Wilt
by Tom Sharpe
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
writer Diego Marani
Diego Marani
Diego Marani is an Italian novelist, translator, and newspaper columnist. In 1996, while working as a translator for the Council of the European Union, he invented Europanto, a mock international auxiliary language. Marani has published different articles, short stories and video clips in Europanto...
.
It is a satire of bias and prejudice in academic and philological research.
Also it raises thoughts about language as identity symbol and the solitude of the last speaker of a language about to disappear.
Plot introduction
The central character is a Siberian native, which has been prisoner in a GulagGulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
who speaks a language that has almost disappeared, one that keeps the last vestige
of a vanished sound, the lateral fricative with labiovelar appendix.
A Russian studious gets to understand him and wants to show him to a congress
on Uralic languages
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
.
However, a purist Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
professor attempts to prevent the innocent
Siberian appearance as a living proof of the philological connection between
the Finnish language and the American natives.
The plot is complicated by a Lapon pimp, country cottages with sauna,
vacation boats in the Baltic Sea, and sometimes the narration takes a rowdy tone
with reminiscences of Wilt
Wilt (novel)
Wilt is a comedic novel by the author Tom Sharpe, first published by Secker and Warburg in 1976. Later editions were published by Pan Books, and Overlook TP.-Plot introduction:The novel's title refers to its main character, Henry Wilt...
by Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe is an English satirical author, best known for his Wilt series of novels.Sharpe was born in London and moved to South Africa in 1951, where he worked as a social worker and a teacher, before being deported for sedition in 1961...
.