The term Sabìr was certainly diffused in the French colonies in Algeria. An approximate tradition can be known. It was first documented in an article “La langue sabir”, which appeared in “L’Algérien, journal des intérêts de l’Algérie” in 1852; but it was probably suggested by the Turkish jargon of the “Bourgeois Gentilhomme” by Molière (in scene V of act IV the Mufti begins his song by saying: “Se ti sabir, ti respondir…”). But it is likely that Sabìr was spoken in the Mediterranean ports as early as the sixteenth century. Even an approximate dating is impossible owing to the absence of a written version of the language. The only historical certainty is that the term Sabìr served to designate the lingua franca in its final phase, that of its decline and inevitable disappearance.

Why Mediterranean Conversation Circle?

As far as the indicated “subtitle” is concerned – Mediterranean Conversation Circle – it should be said that it is the fortunate synthesis of two important Sicilian references: the great book by Elio Vittorini “ Conversation in Sicily”, a masterpiece that changed the sort of writing in Italy but also the name of one of the places designated to hold an event of the festival, that lovely building of Ragusa/Ibla called, precisely, Conversation Circle, a place which from the start captured the imagination of the experts and which was immediately the object of visits and suggested for use.