Hi Margaret,<br>My attempt at framing a literary argument:<br><br>Alessandro Duranti makes that point that it would be amazing to be able to go back in time to hear people speaking Hittite. How lucky it is for us, then, to be able to hear such rare languages as Arrente? Or to witness the heroic retrieval of Kaurna?<br>
Since writing is a fairly recent human innovation, most languages of the world belong to cultures that are predominantly oral. Our present dependence on the written word makes it hard for us to imagine how oral cultures are able to create complex and epic works of verbal art. But the most influential literary masterpieces in the Western tradition were produced by cultures that were largely pre-literate. The adoption of writing by the Greeks, for example, post-dated the oral performances of all those elaborate narratives that combined to make The Odyssey. <br>
So what about all those major and minor epics that are <i>still</i> being recited, appreciated, altered and reinterpreted right now, this minute by speakers of minority languages? How many more Bibles, Ramayanas, Odysseys, Harry Potter sagas and dirty jokes are being enacted under our noses? For the most part we don't see them because they fly underneath our writing-centric radars. Or else we don't 'get' them because we lack the cultural scaffolding that makes them meaningful.<br>
It would certainly be lovely to record these artefacts so that more people can enjoy them and appreciate their importance, but this is not an end in itself. Verbal art is reproduced and transmitted through performance not documentation. The term 'intangible cultural heritage' is, for me, a little misleading. Human culture, whether it manifests itself as a stone monument or a nursery rhyme, is always intangible. It's our languages, and the stories we tell in them, that provide the world with substance. <br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 10:52 AM, John Hobson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:john.hobson@sydney.edu.au">john.hobson@sydney.edu.au</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
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<font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Hi,<br>
<br>
There might be some value in detaching the issue of maintenance (and revitalisation) from that of funding and addressing the conservation values of retaining unique expressions of human culture, like species and environments. <br>
<br>
And, while not eschewing the advantages of having money, if the survival of languages is to be solely dependant on funds and government intervention they will always be in difficulty. There are many activities which can be carried out at little or no direct cost if people are determined to keep their languages alive.<br>
<br>
Talk, as they say, is cheap.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
John<br>
</span></font><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br>
</span></font><font color="#4a4a4a"><font size="1"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><b>JOHN HOBSON</b> | Lecturer <br>
Coordinator, Indigenous Languages Education | Koori Centre <br>
<b>THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY<br>
Rm</b> 214, Old Teacher’s College A22 | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 <br>
<b>T</b> +61 2 9351 6994 | <b>F</b> +61 2 9351 6924<br>
<b>E</b> </span></font></font></font><font size="1"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><font color="#0000ff"><b><u><a href="http://john.hobson@sydney.edu.au" target="_blank">john.hobson@sydney.edu.au</a></u></b></font><b><font color="#4a4a4a"> </font></b><font color="#4a4a4a">| <b>W</b> </font><font color="#0000ff"><b><u><a href="http://sydney.edu.au/koori/staff/jhobson.shtml" target="_blank">http://sydney.edu.au/koori/staff/jhobson.shtml</a></u></b></font></span></font></font><font color="#7d007d"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br>
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</span></font><font size="1"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">"When you lose a language, you lose a culture, intellectual wealth, a work of art. <br>
It's like dropping a bomb on a museum, the Louvre." <br>
Comment by the late Kenneth Hale, cited in The Economist (November 3, 2001). <br>
<br>
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</span></font><blockquote><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>From: </b>Margaret Carew <<a href="http://margaret.carew@batchelor.edu.au" target="_blank">margaret.carew@batchelor.edu.au</a>><br>
<b>Date: </b>Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:40:22 +1100<div class="im"><br>
<b>To: </b><<a href="http://r-n-l-d@unimelb.edu.au" target="_blank">r-n-l-d@unimelb.edu.au</a>><br>
</div><b>Subject: </b>FW: the argument for language maintenance<br>
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<br>
Hi there<br>
<br>
I got this question - see below - from a (non-linguist) colleague. I thought it would be interesting to conduct a quick survey amongst RNLD members, so please read on...<br>
<br>
Folks,<br>
<br>
When you have a quiet reflective moment...<br>
<br>
re: the argument for language maintenance<br>
<br>
What are the standard replies given to people who complain that there<br>
are too many Aboriginal languages for language maintenance, that<br>
supporting all those languages will cost too much, etc.<br>
<br>
And New Zealand is given as an example where language maint is<br>
practical, because only 1 language.<br>
<br>
I'm thinking there must be some standard ideas on this question in<br>
linguistic circles.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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