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Dissymmetry at the Border: Wild Food and Medicinal Ethnobotany of Slovenes and Friulians in NE Italy

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Abstract

Dissymmetry at the Border: Wild Food and Medicinal Ethnobotany of Slovenes and Friulians in NE Italy. Cross-cultural and cross-border research represents a valuable tool for addressing traditional plant knowledge variability and change. An ethnobotanical field study was carried out during late spring 2018 within two culturally and linguistically distinct communities (Friulian and Slovenian speakers) in Friuli Venezia Giulia, NE Italy. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with 32 local inhabitants regarding the use of wild and semi-domesticated food and medicinal plants. We recorded 108 botanical taxa, of which 79 were common to both communities. Despite a common ecological landscape and an overlap in the overall used taxa, some differences were recorded for the most commonly utilized taxa. This indicates that the culture and language of minorities may have played an important role in preserving biocultural identity and customs. Our study shows how dissymmetry was shaped by the different distances of the two groups to the dominant standard Italian mainstream over the last few centuries and how cultural identity is actually constructed in relation to a dominant cultural code. Future studies should address the strategies of biocultural adaptation and resilience in multiethnic and multilingual crossroad regions.

Abstract

Dissimmetria al condine: etnobotanica di sloveni e friulani in Friuli Venezia Giulia. La ricerca transculturale e transfrontaliera rappresenta uno strumento prezioso per affrontare la variabilità e l’evoluzione delle conoscenze tradizionali relative alle piante. Uno studio etnobotanico è stato condotto durante la tarda primavera 2018 in due comunità culturalmente e linguisticamente distinte (friulani e sloveni) del Friuli Venezia Giulia. I dati sono stati raccolti attraverso interviste semi-strutturate con 32 persone del luogo riguardanti l’uso di piante e piante medicinali spontanee e semi-spontanee. Abbiamo registrato 108 taxa botanici, di cui 79 comuni a entrambe le comunità. Nonostante un paesaggio simile e molti taxa comuni, sono state registrate alcune differenze sostanziali tra i taxa più comunemente utilizzati. Ciò indica che la cultura e il linguaggio delle minoranze possono aver svolto un ruolo importante nel preservare l’identità bioculturale a livello di comunità. Questo studio mostra come, negli ultimi secoli, la dissimmetria sia stata modellata dalle diverse distanze dei due gruppi rispetto allo standard italiano dominante e come l’identità culturale sia stata effettivamente costruita in relazione al codice culturale dominante. Studi futuri dovrebbero approfondire le strategie di adattamento e resilienza bio-culturale in regioni multietniche e multilingue come il Friuli Venezia Giulia.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks go to all the study participants who generously shared their TEK regarding plants.

Funding

This research was funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research through the PRIN project Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Sacred Natural Sites (BIOESSaNS)’, Nr. 2015P8524C, as well as from the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy.

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  1. University of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 9, Pollenzo, I-12042, Bra, CN, Italy

    Giulia Mattalia, Paolo Corvo & Andrea Pieroni

  2. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, I-30172, Mestre, VE, Italy

    Giulia Mattalia & Renata Sõukand

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  1. Giulia Mattalia
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Correspondence to Giulia Mattalia.

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Mattalia, G., Sõukand, R., Corvo, P. et al. Dissymmetry at the Border: Wild Food and Medicinal Ethnobotany of Slovenes and Friulians in NE Italy. Econ Bot 74, 1–14 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-020-09488-y

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