Re: ELL: Cultural production

[mauro.tosco@libero.it]

Dear ELLers,

I agree, of course, with most Julia says about the inescapable link
between language and culture. Just one point:
in the case of Guernsey you have to fight against English influence,
and this makes everything much more difficult. But in most other cases,
minority languages are NOT fighting against the "juggernaut of global
culture": they are fighting against so-called "national languages".
Minority languages in France are being replaced by French, not English.
It's French politicians who want to fight the influence of English -
it's part of their job. But it is not in the direct interest of
minority-language speakers. One could even argue that the decline of
French and other national languages vis-a-vis English is actually
HELPING the minority languages: if French (Italian, Spanish, whatever)
is becoming more and more just kind of a "big dialect" in many contexts
(international trade, computer industry, etc.) the gap
between "national languages" and "local dialects" is narrowing. What I
have in mind here is a picture with three actors: English is pushing
DOWN national languges, and local languages can take advantage of this
by starting pushing UP their respective "national" languages, whose
space (role) therefore narrows.
Any comment?

Best,

mauro


> Dear everyone
>
> I take Mauro's point, and I am ambivalent myself about the link betwee
n
> language and culture -
 I've spent a lot of my life trying to escape from
> some of the narrower strictures of traditional culture, but am still
> committed to the language. But given a choice between McDonald's and
> Guernsey culture, I know which one I would choose!  The juggernaut of
> "global" (plastic and unsustainable) "culture" is itself part of the
> problem, and it's not only minority language speakers who object to it
 (and
> not all of them do object anyway, which is one reason for language shi
ft).
> I'll take modern comforts such as indoor bathrooms but not the plastic
 food
> thanks. But this may be rather hypocritical given the reliance on
> international banking in Guernsey's economy (yes, we are trying to get
> sponsorship from them).
>
> Diversity in language, culture, politics, religion, etc. is a good thi
ng to
> uphold. On the one hand, people have a right to celebrate traditional
> culture - but on the other hand, I agree that minority languages need
> modernising and to lose the image (often forced on them by outsiders)
of
> being 'only for peasants' and looking backwards at the 'good old days'
 (so
> good that people shifted language to escape from them).
>
> The advantages of diversity (including multilingualism) need to be
> promoted -
 a lot of people abandoned the old language because they thought
> that it would hold back their children in education (which was/is in E
nglish
> of course). The concept of 'new culture in old language' is also diffi
cult
> to put over.
>
> In fact, there were Guinness adverts in Guernsey French in the 1950's
- at a
> time when more people used the language, but attitudes towards it were
 more
> negative than nowadays. Adverts in the language are just as symbolic a
s folk
> festivals -
 they won't do anything in themselves to make parents speak the
> language with their children, but they raise its profile.
>
> Another point is that in the absence of any mass media in Guernesiais,
> cultual festivals are the only chance for many people to hear any of t
he
> language. And it's by no means only traditional culture that is presen
ted at
> them - e.g. new plays and sketches are also produced.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Julia
>
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