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| The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563) |
- And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
- And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and
they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained
from them, which they have imagined to do.
- Go to, let us go down, and
there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech.
- So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon
the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city (Genesis: 11, 5-8).
Questions of Language and Identity are extremely complex. Depending upon time and place, both terms are dynamic, ambiguous notions.
Talking about identity, we can point to physical, psychological,
geographical, ethnic/national, or social one. Language can be seen as a mirror
reflecting the human identity. When we hear someone speak, we immediately make
guesses about gender, education level, age, profession, and place of origin.
Beyond this individual matter, a language is a powerful symbol of
national/ethnic identity. Questions of ethno-linguistic identity come from the
need of ethnic minority within a community, such as immigrants, exiles, foreign
workers. Once a group becomes aware of its ethnic identity, it will try to
preserve and strengthen its status. Because of close link between
ethnic/national identity and language, one of the significant indexes for unity
of the ethnic groups revolves around the second one.
Since Constitutional Revolution of 20th century, the
cultural and linguistic diversity of Iran has always been the centre of
debates. Some considered it as a barrier for our national unity and an excuse
for separatism; others saw it as an obstacle for recognition of all existing
ethnic groups in Iran. Despite the vast
research on this field, the issue of the link between the national identity and
the language remains controversial and ambiguous.
In this session, I try to talk about ethno-linguistic issues of
Iran. The more discussion we resume, the more questions will be arisen. It is
crystal clear that we don’t expect to solve the problems, even to find the
solution. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to hearing your questions and
opinions.
Nazila Khalkhali
Master of Translation Studies
University of Ottawa
Time: Thursday, June 7 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian · Admission: Free
UPDATE:
Master of Translation Studies
University of Ottawa
Time: Thursday, June 7 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian · Admission: Free
UPDATE:
References
- David Crystal (2010). Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
- John Edwards (2009). Language and Identity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
- -----.----- (1985). Language, Society and idnetity. Oxford, Basil Blackwell.
Reading suggestion
- http://iranshahr.org/?p=7164
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/arts/2011/05/110510_l23_persian_lan_gel_russia_independant_nasimi_khorasani.shtml
- http://radiozamaaneh.com/idea/2008/09/post_383.html
- http://ashouri.malakut.org/Language-of-modernity.pdf
همچنین
- ملیت و زبان - شاهرخ مسکوب
- مقالات داریوش آشوری: http://ashouri.malakut.org/archives.shtml
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