Pedersen's alleged racism

[George Hinge]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------

Harry Perridon wrote 10 February 1999
>The relevant passage about Nubian and Hausa (actually spelled >with a
single
>s in the Danish version) is on p. 111.
cf. my letter of 9 February

>Pedersen exposes time and again nationalistic and possibly
>racist ideology in linguistics, e.g. when describing the finno-ugric
>language family:
>"Men Ungarerne fölte sig ikke just smigrede over slægtskabet >med Lapperne:
det lugtede dem for meget av tran. De ville >megete hellere være i slægt med
Tyrkerne, særlig med de >berömte Hunner," etc.
When you say 'exposes', do you mean that he shares those feelings? It is
obvious to me that Pedersen accuses the Hungarians of rejecting the Lapps
with racist (or chauvinistic) motives. Pedersen himself believes that the
Hungarians are closer related to the humble Laplanders than to the glorious
Turks.

> Probably Pedersen believed in 'races', but I don't think he can
>be called a racist for that reason. In fact, he actually demolishes >part
of the foundation of racist theory by showing that there is
>no connection between "race" and language-type.
It would have been quite extraordinary for a scientist of the early 20th c.
not to believe in races. If race it is relieved for its socially and
historically conditioned burden and is understood only as the recurring of
some typical features, I am ready to accept the term, too (without being a
racist, I hope). [Indications such as "the black race" or "the white race"
are however nonsense, at least from an anthropological point of view.] I
don't believe we'll get rid of racism by banishing words describing human
differences. Mr. Perridon is right in emphasising Pedersen's arguments
rather than his terminology.

George Hinge