ELL: Cultural production

[Mauro Tosco]

Ël di 11/20/01 11:52 PM, Coelho, gail at utxvms.cc.utexas.edu a l'ha scrivù:

> At 11:10 AM 11/20/01 +0800, Mauro Tosco wrote:
>> Is English (everywhere), or a national language (in its respective country),
>> an expression of "culture"? Certainly not - or not only; they are an
>> expression of life.
>> How long can you go on having a language for the expression of your culture,
>> and another for the expression of your life? That's the question.
>
> I would expect that many stable (?) multilingual societies have just this.
> Expect that, perhaps in stable areas with not so much language decline, the
> minority language is the one used for 'expression of your life' and a
> dominant one is used for 'cultural' stuff. But I'm not sure....
>
> Gail
>
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I think this discussion started with revitalization strategies and reversal
of language death. So, stable multilingual societies are not germane here.
But you are certainly right there.
I also take it for granted that the discussion was centered around modern,
Western-like societies, not hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari desert. There,
again, things may be different.
But if a language is threatened in Europe, US, and the like, I guess it is
because its speakers are shifting to another language for most "high" uses
of the language. "Traditional" culture is not one of these; "modern" life
is. To stress traditional culture does not seem a good strategy in order to
reverse the tendency: if you want to revitalize Guernesiais (Guernsey Norman
French) do not do a poetry-festival, try to have McDonald's or Coca-Cola do
ads in it. This is a PRACTICAL encouragement to use a language, because it
makes the language "trendy", appealing, etc. (well, maybe not to
everybody...).
Best,

mauro

--

Dept. of African and Arab Studies (DSRAPA)
Istituto Universitario Orientale
I - 80134 Napoli
Italy


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