traditions of assimilation...

Tue Feb 26 03:08:35 UTC 2008

Heather...
Was there supposed to be another message here?

Susan

On Mon, Feb 25, 2008 at 8:00 PM, Heather Souter <hsouter at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 2/25/08, Mia Kalish <MiaKalish at learningforpeople.us> wrote:
> > Everyone was so *cool* about this.
> >  In one way, I feel a bit silly about being to absolutely incensed both
> about
> >  the content of Dirk Elzinga's email, and about what it seems to me to
> be the
> >  nerve that it took to send it. I was watching an episode of Dexter at
> lunch,
> >  and one of the characters used the term "entitlement." I guess that's
> >  perhaps what it is, a sense from a certain group of people that they
> have
> >  the right to tell others how to be. (I'm doing it again; I'll stop.)
> >
> >  It's been interesting reading everyone's responses. I guess for me, the
> >  intersection of language, religion and hegemony cut close to the bone.
> I
> >  frequently find myself thinking, in response to some unthinking
> person's
> >  attribution of "whiteness" to me, When did the Jews become "white"? Was
> it
> >  after the Holocaust killed 18 million of us and our closest undesirable
> >  friends, like the Indigenous Gypsies? Maybe it was when we built
> Hollywood
> >  because we weren't allowed to hold more "desirable" jobs; we are
> grateful
> >  for the diamond and gold markets. Or maybe, it was when we built the
> Mt.
> >  Sinai hospitals, arguably some of the best in the world - because we
> weren't
> >  allow to practice in "white" hospitals. Maybe it was then that we
> became
> >  "white". Although, the rumors of our horns still abounded in the middle
> 40s,
> >  when a friend's father surprised his army cohort because they didn't
> see
> >  them when he took of his hat. We know it definitely wasn't then.
> >
> >  Maybe on second thought, we learn about the world and people's place in
> it
> >  and their/our relation to others when we talk about the things that
> hurt us,
> >  the things that bring tears to our eyes: Maybe it's the million points
> of
> >  light in Yad Vashem, one for each of the million children whose names
> are
> >  read endlessly, in remembrance.
> >
> >  Maybe it's "The Silent Scream" and maybe it shouldn't be silent any
> more.
> >
> >
> >  Mia
> >
> >
> >
> >  -----Original Message-----
> >  From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:
> ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU]
> >
> > On Behalf Of Mark Sicoli
> >  Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2008 12:35 AM
> >  To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
> >  Subject: Re: [ILAT] traditions of assimilation...
> >
> >  Dear Jimmy,  Thank you for this response and the information you
> provided.
> >   It's very interesting how the Chinese nationalist project also
> produced
> >  the same ideological relationship of one language=one nation, with
> similar
> >  oppressive results for vernacular languages.  Since I work in and am
> from
> >  ex-european colonies, I trace it's effects there to European nation
> >  building which was the model for the colonies.  You show the same type
> of
> >  process where the Chinese communists model their idea of nation
> building
> >  on past symbols deployed for unification.  In all these cases the
> belief
> >  in unity doesn't match the real life diversity.  I would like to learn
> >  more.  Can you recommend a book or article?
> >
> >  I wish you luck with your work with Siraya and look forward to hearing
> >  more about your work in the future.
> >
> >  Mark
> >
> >
> >
> >  On Sun, February 17, 2008 12:33 am, Jimmy/ Chun said:
> >  > Hi all,
> >  >
> >  > This is my first time writing here, so please allow me to
> >  > introduce myself.
> >  >
> >  > I am a Siraya from Taiwan, now a PhD student under Dr Hardman's
> >  > supervision at UF. I work at revitalizing Siraya language that is
> >  > noted as extinct in Ethnologue (Ethnologue also uses Chinese terms
> >  > that actually means "savage" in its Siraya entry). I work with a
> >  > group of Sirayan people that are also Presbyterian; with the
> >  > little re-constructed mother tongue, they have written a few
> >  > Christian songs in addition to some folk songs with Austronesian
> >  > tunes in Siraya. I enjoy the fact that we now have songs to sing.
> >  > In the songs we sing the name of Alid...when singing Alid, I think
> >  > of the Sirayan Goddess-mother, although my folks use it to refer
> >  > to the Western God/Lord.
> >  >
> >  > I love this thread and I'd like to contribute to the discussion of
> >  > "tradition of assimilation" by recommending a movie called
> >  > "Hawaii" made in 1966, directed by George Roy Hill. It's a looong
> >  > movie and makes me sad, but it has given me plenty to think.
> >  >
> >  > Also I very much agree with Mark Sicoli that the concept of "one
> >  > nation = one language" has a lot to do with European nation-state
> >  > building. But I'd just like to point out that such belief has a
> >  > Chinese root as well. Since as early as 259 BC, the Qin King in
> >  > China was already obsessed with the notion of a huge, unified,
> >  > China Kingdom that spoke and wrote (!) only one language. This
> >  > Chinese nationalist ideology has informed the communists in China
> >  > as well as the Chinese Nationalists in Taiwan and led to many
> >  > Mandarin-only (commonly thought to be "the Chinese language"
> >  > today) policies. By 1930's the Japanese colonializers in Taiwan
> >  > still documented about 30 indigenous Austronesian languages spoken
> >  > around the island; now we have speakers for only about 13 of them
> >  > and two peoples (Siraya and Bazai) are trying to re-constitutes
> >  > their lost mother tongues (mostly based on written documents --
> >  > 17th century land contracts and bibilical stuffs [!!] left by the
> >  > Dutch missionaries). Luckily (??) I can't recall any Taiwanese or
> >  > Chinese politician talking about us having a "tradition of
> >  > assimilation" :)
> >  >
> >  >
> >  > Jimmy (or "Chun Huang," my registered Chinese name, which is again
> >  > a case of assimilation. Siraya used to be matri-focal and people
> >  > used to have only first names, but the Chinese colonial government
> >  > has assigned Chinese last names to us based on fathers being the
> >  > head of a household).
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >  >
> >  > On Sat Feb 16 17:03:15 EST 2008, David Lewis
> >  > <David.Lewis at GRANDRONDE.ORG> wrote:
> >  >
> >  >> I for one appreciate more dialogue about how Christians and other
> >  >> sects have contributed to the assimilation of Native peoples,
> >  >> which in turn has contributed to the extinction or
> >  >> near-extinction of many native languages. I too will use this in
> >  >> my classes.
> >  >>
> >  >> David G. Lewis
> >  >> Manager, Cultural Resources Department
> >  >> Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
> >  >>
> >  >>
> >  >>
> >  >>
> >  >> -----Original Message-----
> >  >> From: Indigenous Languages and Technology on behalf of Mark
> >  >> Sicoli
> >  >> Sent: Sat 2/16/2008 12:49 PM
> >  >> To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
> >  >> Subject: Re: [ILAT] traditions of assimilation...
> >  >>  Thank you Phil, well said.  The nationalist myth is based on a
> >  >> pervasive
> >  >> ideology where a single language is taken (or given) as the
> >  >> symbol of a
> >  >> singular identity.  The one language=one nation association goes
> >  >> back to
> >  >> nation-state building in Europe and the practices of linguistic
> >  >> unifications, like in Spain, France, and Italy, and other such
> >  >> places
> >  >> where vernacular languages were ideologically "erased" in the
> >  >> formation of
> >  >> national unities.  These served as models for nation building in
> >  >> the
> >  >> Americas and the ideology is real prominent in Mexico where I
> >  >> work, and
> >  >> where language shifts from indigenous languages to Spanish are
> >  >> currently
> >  >> occurring at unprecedented rates.  The same basic ideology is at
> >  >> work
> >  >> equating one language with one individual, which serves to work
> >  >> against
> >  >> bilingualism and bilingual education, thus facilitating language
> >  >> abandonment rather than bilingual maintenance.  For these reasons
> >  >> I agree
> >  >> that this is a worthwhile discussion for this list.
> >  >>
> >  >> Mark
> >  >>
> >  >>
> >  >> On Sat, February 16, 2008 9:02 pm, phil cash cash said:
> >  >>> For the language advocates (LA) it might be worthwhile to point
> >  >>> out these
> >  >>> "assimilationist" agendas are all founded on a nationalist
> >  >>> myth.??  In
> >  >>> today's
> >  >>> contemporary context, this nationalist myth states that our
> >  >>> societies are
> >  >>> or
> >  >>> can become linguistically, culturally homogenous.??  When in
> >  >>> reality, this
> >  >>> may
> >  >>> be impossible.?? And as Richard points out so well, the
> >  >>> nationalist myth (in what ever
> >  >>> manifestation it may take) supports other agendas as well.?? Phil
> >  >>> UofA
> >  >>>
> >  >>>
> >  >>
> >  >>
> >  >> -- Mark Sicoli Ph.D.
> >  >> Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
> >  >> Postbus 310
> >  >> 6500 AH Nijmegen
> >  >> The Netherlands
> >  >>
> >  >>
> >  >
> >  >
> >
> >
> >  --
> >  Mark Sicoli Ph.D.
> >  Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
> >  Postbus 310
> >  6500 AH Nijmegen
> >  The Netherlands
> >
>

-- 
____________________________________________________________
Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D.

Department of English (Primary)
American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI)
Second Language Acquisition & Teaching Ph.D. Program (SLAT)
Department of Language,Reading and Culture
Department of Linguistics
The Southwest Center (Research)
Phone for messages: (520) 621-1836

"Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of thought,
an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities."

                                                         Wade Davis...(on a
Starbucks cup...)
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