[Craic] The Adventure of English DVD

[Rob Anderson]

Marto,

Yes, we would have enjoyed your contribution to the discussion as Ireland is a prime example of the conflicting claims of language on a culture.  Unfortunately, I won’t be on-line next Saturday as we will be on the road returning to Canada.
 Maybe we can pick up the topic at a later time. But here is the source that prompted the conversation.

Melvyn Bragg has for years been hosting a radio series on BBC Radio 4 entitled “In Our Times.”  Paul and I have listen to various podcasts, and I believe you recommended the series as well.  In any event, some years back Bragg did this 5 part series on the history of the ascendancy of the English language.  See image of the DVD.  Of course, in the process many other languages were stifled. As well, English has morphed as it made its way through history and around the world with the myriad of cultural differences, pronunciations and dialects among its users.  For example, Paul talked last week about the dual languages of Bajan English and Standard English in Barbados.

Among my interests in this fascinating topic is what happens when cultures in the name of reclamation or nationalism want to reclaim languages that were once in decline.  We see this everywhere from the Basque Country to Barcelona and from Jamaica to Australia.  Here in Canada, Ted and I went to a demonstration some years back and an indigenous Canadian opened with this remark, “It pains me to speak in the colonialist’s language.”  At play here is the on-going tension between the celebration of the local culture and the efficiency of the deracinated global culture, a theme explored in “The Olive Tree and the Lexus.”

Bob




Hello Bob. 

It’s a real pity that I missed that. I think I connected in at about 10 o’clock, obviously too early, I wasn’t really thinking straight. Anyway I’ll keep it in mind for the future. It crossed my mind that if anybody went to juice and Java, they can also connect in. But that meeting takes place earlier. Maybe we can continue the same discussion next Saturday?
Best wishes
Marto 

> On Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 17:01 Rob Anderson via craic <craic at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
> Hi Marto,
> 
> Paul, Art and I were in conversation this morning.  Good conversation about the English language, its prominent place in the world of commerce and the various dialects that are now being embraced.  You certainly know about its conquest of Gaelic Irish.  It would be great to have you join in one of these times.
> 
> Don’t forget that we start at 10:30 on Saturday.  Unfortunately, I will miss next week as I will be on the road returning home from Florida.  
> 
> Bob

Sent from my iPad
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