LL-L "Language politics" 2007.07.09 (05) [E]

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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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L O W L A N D S - L  -  09 July 2007 - Volume 05

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From: Luc Hellinckx <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language politics"

Beste Ron,

You wrote:
> Under "or refusing to use it" I am referring to those that at certain
> points in their lives decide to no longer use the language.  This may
> be anyone that grew up with it.  Very often it is young people that do
> this because use of the language is, by virtue of its association,
> disadvantageous, usually for social reasons -- is "uncool."  The
> "uncoolness" factor tends to come in where language use is relegated
> to and confined within traditional culture (is thus associated with
> "oldies" and "geeks").  Usually the main symptom of impending language
> death, this confinement may then be reinforced from the outside, such
> as by official language texts addressing mostly seniors and by
> publishers rejecting literary submissions that lie outside the
> traditional confines. In other words, we are dealing with a vicious
> circle once it gets to this point of decline.

This phenomenon is indeed "vicious", and yet "natural" at the same time
I think.

Peer pressure is much higher among teenagers than among adults for
example. All it takes is one "leader" in a clique who tags something
uncool, and "de facto", by definition, it IS uncool :-D , no matter what
the rest of society thinks. If that same society then turns a blind eye
to all the followers copying their leader, the change will be for good.
Sure, minor adaptations may later on still occur, especially if
everything sort of happened overnight, but there's no way back. The
spine of the old custom will remain broken.

I'm afraid this doesn't only apply to languages, read more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_(aesthetic)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_%28aesthetic%29>

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language politics

Thanks, Luc, as always.  I can't disagree with any of it in principle.  But
I think there's more to it, something more fundamental.  But this means I
must share some of my observer's "wisdom" (or is it "wishdom"?), and I
promise to make it relatively brief and painless.

By and large, young people, especially teens, are ...

   1. in the mating season of their lives, hence are in the business of
   impressing peers (= potential mates),
   2. at the early stages of personality development, hence in search of
   models, norms and reassurance and willing to conform to something new,
   3. rearing to leave the nest and be independent, hence striving toward
   distancing themselves from their families of origin, which in most cases
   manifests itself as rebellion and search for alternative leadership.

Given these natural propensities, rejection, at least temporary rejection,
of native language, culture and/or religion is a real possibility. It is
probably more likely than not these days, unless the native language,
culture and/or religion are under clearly recognized threat from the outside
(which tends to lead toward what you see in the world news under the
branding label "fanaticism" and "fundamentalism").  In the case of minority
languages this threat is rarely perceived, insidious though it may be.
These threats to languages tend to be perceived as real only if they are
part and parcel of cultural, ethnic and political oppression, suppression,
or denial of rights and protection, and this tends to be even more acute
where religious differences play a role as well.  I need not enumerate
examples, because they abound around the world, and no doubt you are aware
of several of them off the top of your head.  You will notice that in
virtually all of these cases it is people in their twenties and teens that
are at the forefront of protests and rebellion.  It is pretty easy to
harness the force of rebels seeking a course.  Adolf Hitler understood this
and exploited it masterfully, as did others before and after.

Theoretically, such forces can be utilized for "good" and "evil."  You could
harness them for language maintenance -- i.e., make the campaign "cool" --
if you could make young people aware of the threat and they could visualize
an "enemy."  However, this is easier said than done when things aren't black
and white and very obvious, especially where language communities have lost
their separate ethnic identity (as in the cases of Scots and Low Saxon).
Furthermore, it is difficult because most media are in the hands of private
enterprise and its bean counters.  How can you come up with "snazzy" and
"trendy" publications and performances in minority languages when it is
assumed that there's no money to be made?  Web publications? Alternative
publishers? Perhaps, but how?

In the meantime, people can always do as our Mike Wintzer does: send their
children to schools in which the minority languages are respected and
featured.  Sure, it doesn't guarantee that it will make children actually
love the languages, especially where they associate their school years with
suffering.  (Read, for instance, Larry Granberg's experience in a
Rusyn/Ruthenian school: lowlands-l.net/anniversary/larry.php).  But they
will have learned it anyway, and most people eventually return to their
heritage once their years of rebelling, mating and procreating are done and
they begin their journeys back home.  Why, some of them may even be so bold
as to willingly enter the age of eccentricity, the golden land of liberty
advanced age offers!

Finis conciuculae

Reinhard/Ron

•

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