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In this article we examine, from a predominantly sociolinguistic perspective, the writing systems created throughout time for the graphic rendering of the variety of Romanian spoken by the Vlachs of Eastern Serbia. We especially investigate what influences the choice of a script (Latin or Cyrillic), of orthographic conventions and of a writing system, and how this choice correlates with the ideological attitude (reintegrationist or independentist) of the proponents. To this end, we analyse the writing systems used for rendering the vernacular in "Vorba noastră", the first publication in the local variety (1945–1948), and the systems put forward in the last 20 years by the members of the community engaged in political and linguistic debates (Paun Es Durlić, Dragomir Dragić, Slavoljub Gacović, Ljubiša lu Boža Kići, the "Gergina" Association). The analysis and the comparison of the systems attest to the importance of the ideological, social and political factors in creating and imposing an orthography for an unwritten idiom.

Abstract
Drawing on ethnographic and anthropological research on the Romanian communities in Eastern Serbia, this article seeks to contribute to the global scholarship on diaspora and migration. It reveals interesting differences between the well defined and intensely studied notion of "diaspora" on the one hand, and the understudied, but useful concept of "near diaspora" on the other. First, the presence of Romanians in Eastern Serbia is looked at from a gender perspective, in the wider context of feminization of international migration. Second, the paper argues that the Romanian women in Eastern Serbia adopt the strategy of living in the "social fog", thus becoming what can be termed "foggy diaspora".

This paper discusses the increased visibility of Vlach Romanian in the linguistic landscape of rural and small-town Eastern Serbia, analysing it in the context of the revitalisation measures the community has undertaken in the last 20 years. Our research was conducted in a mainly rural area, comprising four neighbouring municipalities in Eastern Serbia, with a dense Vlach population. We investigate a sample of the inscriptions we encountered, focusing on the intended audience of the inscriptions and correlating it with the basic functions of the signs (informational and symbolic). We show that, in the area under discussion, the signs have a mainly symbolic value, and are used as identity markers, as support for the legitimisation of the language, or as indexes of authenticity, while their informational function is apparent only in relation with the commodification of the language.

"The relationship between language and identity is a complex topic everywhere in the world, but maybe it is even more crucial for those people living in the Balkans who speak a Romance variety. This volume is the result of a project started by the Balkan History Association, and brings together scholars trained in social sciences and humanities to offer the reader a thorough sociolinguistic and anthropological account of this region. It constitutes a contribution to a reformulation of methodological and analytical issues, providing a better insight in the linguistic and geopolitical processes taking place in the area. Contributors are Michael Studemund-Halévy, Cătălin Mamali, Anna-Christine Weirich, Ewa Nowicka, Daniela-Carmen Stoica, Mircea Măran, Zvjezdana Vrzić, and Monica Huțanu"--