In my research on language and the Macedonian community in Greece, I found a surprising turnabout. The Greeks pressured the ethnic Macedonians, sometimes violently, to cease speaking Macedonian. Then they joined the European Union, which encourages the development of minority languages, and have not been quite so free with their supression. As the EU becomes more stable (?) and centralized I wonder if the sometimes arbitrary lines which delineate nations might shift a bit to encompass ethnic or linguistic communities instead of nations. This might affect other groups also, such as the Basque. I believe this might be an unintended consequence of the formation of the European Union.<div>
<br></div><div>Ann Evans<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 11:57 AM, Dave Sayers <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dave.sayers@cantab.net">dave.sayers@cantab.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
This morning, BBC Radio 4's Today programme had an interview with
Stephen Leonard (Cambridge) about his fieldwork with the Inuit
people of Greenland:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0145x75/?t=2h56m16s" target="_blank">http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0145x75/?t=2h56m16s</a><br>
<br>
I might be sticking my head above the parapet here, but his argument
against the decline of Inuit language and culture seemed a little
overly romantic, paternalistic, and ethno-linguistically
essentialistic. He seems to make four broad points:<br>
<br>
1. Global culture is bad -- down with global culture (reminiscent of
George Ritzer).<br>
2. 'Pure' historical traditional cultures are inherently good, and
should be celebrated and defended for their own sakes -- not
necessarily because of their contribution to the material wellbeing
of their speakers, but because they are intrinsically valuable (this
is more of an argument in favour of documentation than
revitalisation).<br>
3. The fact that young Inuit people are "not really interested" in
Inuit culture/language is problematic in and of itself.<br>
4. A decline in Inuit language/culture may signal a decline in the
Inuits' ability to maintain their traditional way of life on the sea
ice (which could be dangerous if the sea ice re-encroaches in the
coming decades, as he claims to be forecast).<br>
<br>
What he doesn't get into, really, is what if anything
linguistic/cultural change might be doing to the Inuits' quality of
life, their basic human freedoms, their capabilities. (As for the
sea ice argument, if the young people are genuinely "not really
interested", then the need to know how to live on the sea ice would
be negated.) My point is not by any means that the Inuits are not
suffering as a result of contemporaneous social changes. Perhaps
they are, perhaps they're not. My point is that Leonard seems
somewhat indifferent to that question, and more interested in the
inherent value of language/culture.<br>
<br>
Any remaining plan to encourage language revitalisation would have
to start by persuading these young people of the value of their
culture/language, which seems a bit paternalistic and meddlesome.
Put another way, the situation sounds like an intergenerational
conflict, with opposing interests requiring (if anything)
facilitation, not overt favouring of one side. Tellingly, when at
the end of the interview the presenter suggests provocatively that
the Inuits "don't mind" their language declining, Leonard doesn't
directly counter that. Instead he delivers something of a rhetorical
flourish about the inherent values of languages/cultures, while
questions of human wellbeing fade from view entirely.<br>
<br>
Admittedly one can be hamstrung in a short radio interview, but he
does seem to be given opportunities to express a concern about
quality of life. Perhaps his actual research covers both quality of
life and cultural decline in equal measure, but in this morning's
interview he seemed preoccupied with the latter.<br>
<br>
By comparison, somebody whose research does explore both those
questions in equal measure is Colin Samson, in his (ongoing) work
with the Innu in northern Canada. Indeed, Samson does find a
correlation of declining cultural/linguistic vitality and human
wellbeing. To repeat, my point is not that these things don't go
hand in hand, but that Leonard seemed troublingly indifferent to the
question of human capabilities, and the apparent wishes of the
people concerned.<br>
<br>
Right, that's my head well and truly above the parapet then. Please
don't chop it off; I have hats to wear.<br>
<br>
Dave<br><font color="#888888">
<br>
<br>
<div>-- <br>
<font color="black">Dr. Dave Sayers<br>
Honorary Research Fellow<br>
College of Arts & Humanities<br>
and Language Research Centre<br>
Swansea University<br>
<a href="mailto:dave.sayers@cantab.net" target="_blank">dave.sayers@cantab.net</a><br>
<a href="http://swansea.academia.edu/DaveSayers/" target="_blank">http://swansea.academia.edu/DaveSayers/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>*Ann Anderson Evans*<br>*Writer and Adjunct Professor, Montclair State University*<br>*(201) 792-6892 or (973) 495-0338<br>*<br>*<a href="http://www.linguisticsintheclassroom.com" target="_blank">www.linguisticsintheclassroom.com</a>*<br>
*<a href="http://www.annandersonevans.com" target="_blank">www.annandersonevans.com</a>*<br>The Abortion Wars: Survivors! Learn, Speak Up, and Organize<br>on Kindle ebooks.<br>*<br>*<br>*<br><br><br>
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