O lektoratima u Italiji: od srpskohrvatskog do srpskog i hrvatskog - istorijat, stanje, perspektive

The subject of our study is assistantships for our language as an integral part of Slavic studies in Italian universities. In our introduction we have reviewed, from a historical perspective, those centres for Slavic studies in which our discipline, the Serbo-Croatian language, was present and was studied during the second half of the 20th century. Then, we presented the evolution and changes in the name of the language following the dissolution of the Yugoslav state, an event which also affected language assistantships. Regarding the latter, we focused on their role in post-reform Italian universities, the academic and legal status of the language assistants and their standing in the Italian university system. Through a mapping of the universities, we identified the institutes in which the Serbo-Croatian and/or Serbian and Croatian languages are taught, along with the respective assistantships, in such a way as to produce a clear picture of the position of the Serbian language on Italian university curricula. We conclude that, in comparison with the past, this is marginal and requiring of radical action on the part of the Serbian state and its institutions in order to preserve the language and its teaching abroad through language assistantships.