[LAP] What is subaltern linguistics? by Dr Ahmar Mahboob

[Zubair Torwali]

It is a different approach to linguistics. Please read and reflect. If some
body wants to present a counter approach the wemountains.com, an online
journal, will love to publish. You can send that to editor at wemountains.com
Regards
Link: https://wemountains.com/01/20/1071/
What is subaltern linguistics?
ARTICLES <https://wemountains.com/category/articles/>
[image: mm]By Ahmar Mahboob <https://wemountains.com/author/ahmarmahboob/> Last
updated Jan 21, 2019
<https://wemountains.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/featuresimg_sequoyah.jpg>A
portrait of Sequoyahgbp media NPR
 0 <https://wemountains.com/01/20/1071/#respond> 628
Share
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwemountains.com%2F01%2F20%2F1071%2F>
<https://twitter.com/share?text=What%20is%20subaltern%20linguistics?%20@#&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwemountains.com%2F01%2F20%2F1071%2F>
<https://plus.google.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwemountains.com%2F01%2F20%2F1071%2F>
<https://reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwemountains.com%2F01%2F20%2F1071%2F&title=What%20is%20subaltern%20linguistics?>
<https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwemountains.com%2F01%2F20%2F1071%2F&media=https://wemountains.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/featuresimg_sequoyah.jpg&description=What%20is%20subaltern%20linguistics?>
<?subject=What%20is%20subaltern%20linguistics?&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwemountains.com%2F01%2F20%2F1071%2F>

What is subaltern linguistics?

*Ahmar Mahboob, Ph.D, University of Sydney*

*Australia*

Subaltern linguistics is a linguistics carried out by and for a community’s
self-empowerment, well-being, and prosperity. Subaltern linguistics can be
carried out by anyone. And, it can be done in any language – it does not
need to use or rely on English or on technical jargon. The goal of
subaltern linguistics is to create economies, practices, projects, and
resources that can be made and used by community members and leaders to
develop and promote community beneficial socio-semiotic processes in their
own language (or a language of their choice). Socio-semiotics can be
broadly understood as ways in which various meaning-making resources
(including, but not limited to, images, texts, colours, symbols, gestures,
movement, sounds, smells, tastes, touch) relate to the lives of people.

Subaltern linguistics can be – and is often – carried out by people who do
not have a training in modern linguistics. To read my critique of modern
linguistics, please visit: https://wemountains.com/01/10/1057.

There is no one way of doing subaltern linguistics.

Work in subaltern linguistics can be characterised by 1) its goals:
community empowerment, well-being, and prosperity; 2) its use of five
material senses: visual, oral, smell, touch, and taste [note: these five
senses are presented in a particular hierarchy; I will discuss this
hierarchy and its significance in a later essay]; and, 3) its recognition
of the relationship between socio-semiotic and material systems.

Our worlds can be broadly classified into two systems: material systems and
socio-semiotic systems.

Material systems include physical and biological systems. Physical systems
are the primary building blocks of our existence. A study of these (e.g.
through physics or chemistry), and the use of these studies (e.g. through
engineering) helps us to manipulate the physical world to suit our needs.
Biological systems give us life. A study of these (e.g. through plant and
animal sciences), and the use of these studies (e.g. through medicine)
helps us to fight off diseases and live a longer and healthier life.

Physical and biological systems are not independent of each other. All
biological organisms are made of physical matter; however, not all physical
matter is biological (e.g. stones and rocks and water and air). Biological
organisms can impact physical objects; and physical environment can impact
the evolution of biological organisms. We can also use studies of the
physical world and apply them to biological creatures, e.g., by using
x-rays and nuclear medicine. And, we can use a study of biological
creatures in working with physical objects, e.g., designing helicopters
based on studying dragonflies.

However, there can be little development or application of the physical or
biological sciences without our ability to form socio-semiotic systems.
Socio-semiotic systems include sociological systems and semiotic systems.
Sociological systems are ways in which a group organises itself. All
sociological systems are biological, but not all biological systems (e.g.,
trees) are sociological. Semiotic systems are meaning-making systems; and
all sociological systems have some form of meaning-making processes (this
includes but is not limited to language). It is the socio-semiotic systems
that give us our understandings of the world, including our belief systems,
economic systems, ways of thinking, ways of being, and ways of doing.
Socio-semiotic systems can help explain and predict the relationship that
an individual or a community has with other social systems, biological
organisms, and the physical world. Language plays a small, but crucial,
role in creating and enabling our socio-semiotic systems.

Language is created, changed, and used by people. People use language as
one way of understanding and sharing the world around us: both material
world and socio-semiotic world. Language responds to and changes as people
change or the things that they do with language change. Language, like the
people who create language, changes all the time. To understand language,
we need to understand people: what people do with language. Thus, people
are at the centre of our understanding of subaltern linguistics. Not
language. Language is one meaning-making resource amongst many; and people
use this resource for their benefit – or, for their harm.

Indigenous communities throughout the world developed respectful
relationships with the material world and lived in harmony with it. This
was reflected in their socio-semiotic processes. For example, Indigenous
people of Australia believed that earth (and rivers and mountains) are
living things and deserve respect. Their languages gave human-like
characteristics to animals and birds. This reflects an understanding that
other living thing also have meaning-making systems and navigate their
lives and the world through them. Their social, cultural and linguistic
practices reflected these beliefs. And, these beliefs led them to develop a
respectful relationship with their environment – and all objects and beings
that were part of that environment. Readers familiar with Indigenous
languages from other parts of the world will be able to quickly add to
these examples: of how Indigenous languages embedded a respect for
material, biological, and other socio-semiotic systems. However, these
practices and ways of being were disrupted by colonisation – and have led
to many of the problems that we experience in the world today.

Colonizing communities (a.k.a. exploiting communities) speak and promote
language, culture and social practices that do not share this respect of
the physical or biological systems. Colonizing powers belief in the
superiority of humans over other creatures; and of the superiority of some
human belief systems and practices over others. They believe that their own
ways of doing things are “developed” because they control other parts of
the world; and that others need to follow their lead to become “developed”.
As a consequence of this, they create policies and practices (including
education and academic disciplines) whereby other people and communities
give up their own ways of being and doing to become “developed”. This leads
to a devastation of Indigenous communities and local ways of being and
doing.

Once on decline, “experts” from exploiting communities (and those trained
in the approaches developed by the exploiting communities) go into the
exploited communities to “document” the ways of these societies. This
include “experts” from across social sciences, education, and humanities,
including linguists.  And, while the linguists (and others) document
languages (and other practices), the communities that speak these languages
(and practice different beliefs) continue to suffer and gradually
disappear. (To follow up on the link between colonisation and linguistics,
visit: https://wemountains.com/12/24/984/.)

Subaltern linguistics recognises these inherent discriminatory and
subjugating practices carried out and encouraged by academics and experts
from (or trained in) exploitative linguistics and other social sciences
(including education).

The goal of subaltern linguistics is not to document languages or write
grammars. It sees these practices as subjugating practices – practices that
further weaken and marginalise communities and languages.

A deemphasis on language documentation and writing grammars in subaltern
linguistics is based both on theoretical and practical concerns. In terms
of theory, subaltern linguistics recognises the impossibility of writing a
comprehensive grammar of any language. This is because language is a
dynamic system that changes and varies all the time; one cannot capture all
the language changes and variations in a single grammar of language. The
most that one can hope for is to document language use in one context, by
one person (or group of people), at one time. The writing and use of
grammars contribute to discriminatory practices: since one set of language
features is considered “standard” and others are seen as deviancies (and
deficiencies).

There are at least three inter-related practical reasons for subaltern
linguistics not to focus on writing linguistic descriptions or grammars.
First, if the goals of subaltern linguistics and “modern linguistics” are
at odds, then how can it follow the methods used by “modern linguists”?
Second, if subaltern linguistics focuses on people and communities, and
considers language to be a minor, albeit crucial, resource for
meaning-making, then how can it focus on just language? And, third, if
subaltern linguistics can be carried out by anyone in any language, then
how can it be tied down with heavy theoretical and terminological knowledge
that is only accessible to people who are trained in “modern linguistics”?

Having said this, subaltern linguists can do some documentation. However,
this is limited in scope and is only done in order to achieve the goals of
a specific project (which are about empowerment of people and communities).
Subaltern linguistics documents and analyses the use of language (along
with other meaning-making systems) in as far as it helps them to create
economies, practices, projects, and resources that benefit their
communities.

I will now give three examples of subaltern linguistics. Notice that these
come from very different contexts and “modern linguistics” has little
contribution to any of these.

Example 1: Sequoyah was a Cherokee (an Indigenous tribe in north America)
who realised that the colonizers used writing to communicate. Cherokee, at
that point was an oral language. Sequoyah set out – with no training in
linguistics – to develop a writing system for his language. He first
experimented with a phonemic system, but realised that it did not suit his
language – and would be too difficult to teach and learn. He therefore
invented a set of characters that were syllabic, not phonetic. Once he had
completed his script and published it, the Cherokee script spread quickly
through his community and people who had no literacy developed literacy in
their language very quickly. Sequoyah’s script, which is a socio-semiotic
resource, is still used today and is one reason why the Cherokee people and
language have survived the onslaughts of colonization and genocide.
Cherokee_syllabary–photo Wikimeida Commons

Sequoyah can be considered a champion of subaltern linguistics. He saw a
need in his community and addressed it by creating a new writing system – a
writing system that is arguable much better than the phonemic scripts used
and promoted by “modern linguistics”.

Example 2: National Road and Motorists’ Association (NRMA) is an
organisation that offers roadside assistance to motorists in Australia.
Recently, NRMA started a “drive nice” campaign and placed large
advertisements on highways that read “Drive nice…” and then a message in a
child’s writing along with drawings. An example of one such advertisement
is given below:
National Road and Motorists’ Association (NRMA) advertisement –photo
provided by the author

This text uses not just language, but Tom’s handwriting and drawing to
create an impact. Tom, as the advertisement states, was 6-year-old when he
composed this text. This – and other advertisements in this campaign – are
powerful because they draws on socio-semiotics and our understanding of how
using a child’s handwriting and drawing can influence adults. This is an
example of subaltern linguistics as it draws on an understanding of
socio-semiotics to influence practices that can save peoples’ lives.

A subaltern linguistic, if they so choose, can review this (and other
successful campaigns from around the world) and create their own resources
– with an understanding of their own people and communities – to influence
unsafe driving (or other) practices that are harmful to the community. A
subaltern linguist will analyse these texts only to understand how they
work; their goal is not to document or describe language use, but to create
their own resources (for their own goals, in their own languages, and in
ways that work for their communities). The resources created, which are
socio-semiotic in nature, will impact the material systems: e.g., these
resources may decrease the number of accidents in the area and thus improve
the physical and biological environment in which people live.

Example 3: Elders and children from the Kristang community in Melaka,
Malaysia, in collaboration with FLC Group, organised a Language Travels in
late 2018. The goal of this Language Travels was to enhance the prestige of
Kristang by creating economic opportunities that use and strengthen the
community language (see
http://www.flcgroup.net/upcoming-conference-2018/language-travels/).
Language Travels in Melaka was coordinated by the community elders, who
supervised their youth to take on the role of language teachers. This
project provided an income to the community, including to the children, and
gave them pride in their own language.

In this subaltern linguistics project, the community developed and ran a
successful project that brought an income to the community through the use
of their language. The community elders and youth worked together to study
their own language and developed material and methods to teach their
language to Language Travelers. As a result of this first Language Travels,
the Kristang community is now setting up additional programs and running
them independent of FLC. This example shows how communities can create
economic opportunities for themselves by using and empowering their own
languages. They use socio-semiotic resources to bring material and other
benefits to the people of their community.

To summarise, subaltern linguistics is a linguistics of the people, by the
people, and for the people. It is inclusive and does not discriminate
between people based on their language, training, education, age, gender,
sexual orientation, social class, or other demographic features. Anyone who
uses language (or a study of language) to empower their communities is a
subaltern linguist. This can be a child, or a grandmother, or the two
together. The goal of subaltern linguistics is community enhancement – done
by and in terms of the members of the community. We can all participate in
subaltern linguistics – to create more prosperous and harmonized societies.

-- 
*____________*

*Zubair Torwali*

*Executive Director*
*IBT (Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi)*

 (ادارہ برائے تعلیم و ترقی (ا ب ت)
------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zubair_Torwali

___________
Researcher;
*Freelance contributor;*
The News, Dawn, Daily Times,
The Friday Times
*_________________*
Cell: +92(0)311 5000233
         + 92(0)3469196074
Twitter: @zubairtorwali
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lap/attachments/20190121/530ca715/attachment.htm>