fundamental principles
Ben Heine is a Belgian cartoonist. One of his drawings of a Baha'i artist named Mona was featured today on Baha'i Views.
Here is Ben Heine's portrait of a Tanzanian political cartoonist named Simon Regis. I love the representation of the pencil as a potentially powerful weapon for the conquering of the minds through the raising of awareness, the obliteration of ignorance and the exposing of injustice, and for bringing social issues to our attention for our reflection...
Peoples around the world struggle with the cultural dilemmas that are raised by globalization. On the one hand English is now the lingua franca that is used for global citizens to communicate and interact with each other and endeavor to understand each other. On the other hand, the necessity of learning and using English threatens the maintenance, assertion, and development of local languages, cultures and identities around the world. Cultural identity adn a wealth of unique perspectives and world views are bound up within language. In the almost two decades that I have been studying and speaking Chinese, new worlds and understandings have been made available to me that I would not have had access to otherwise. While it would be impossible for me to ever be able to learn all the languages of the world, I suppose I can console myself that the experience of learning Chinese has cultivated within me the awareness of the richness of diverse cultures and the urgent need for the respect for this diversity among all the world's inhabitants.
Simon Regis does his cartooning in both English and Swahili. I so wish that I could understand the cartoons in Swahili. My lack of ability to understand feels like such a closed door!
Here is another lovely image from Ben Heine entitled "Child of the Universe". The reality of Baha'u'llah's words "The earth is one country and mankind its citizens" is easily apparent to everyone in the contemporary global village. What would a language policy for a global society look like? The Baha'i writings exhort humanity to adopt an international auxiliary language to facilitate communication among all the peoples of the world. According to Merriam Webster online dictionary, auxiliary refers to "functioning in subsidiary capacity". This seems to place important emphasis on the maintenance of the various languages around the world and thus the cultural richness that comes with them. Proper respect for the richness that various languages and "indigenous knowledges" offer the world can only be achieved with a deep recognition of the most fundamental spiritual principle of the age--the "oneness of humankind."
Here is Ben Heine's portrait of a Tanzanian political cartoonist named Simon Regis. I love the representation of the pencil as a potentially powerful weapon for the conquering of the minds through the raising of awareness, the obliteration of ignorance and the exposing of injustice, and for bringing social issues to our attention for our reflection...
Peoples around the world struggle with the cultural dilemmas that are raised by globalization. On the one hand English is now the lingua franca that is used for global citizens to communicate and interact with each other and endeavor to understand each other. On the other hand, the necessity of learning and using English threatens the maintenance, assertion, and development of local languages, cultures and identities around the world. Cultural identity adn a wealth of unique perspectives and world views are bound up within language. In the almost two decades that I have been studying and speaking Chinese, new worlds and understandings have been made available to me that I would not have had access to otherwise. While it would be impossible for me to ever be able to learn all the languages of the world, I suppose I can console myself that the experience of learning Chinese has cultivated within me the awareness of the richness of diverse cultures and the urgent need for the respect for this diversity among all the world's inhabitants.
Simon Regis does his cartooning in both English and Swahili. I so wish that I could understand the cartoons in Swahili. My lack of ability to understand feels like such a closed door!Here is another lovely image from Ben Heine entitled "Child of the Universe". The reality of Baha'u'llah's words "The earth is one country and mankind its citizens" is easily apparent to everyone in the contemporary global village. What would a language policy for a global society look like? The Baha'i writings exhort humanity to adopt an international auxiliary language to facilitate communication among all the peoples of the world. According to Merriam Webster online dictionary, auxiliary refers to "functioning in subsidiary capacity". This seems to place important emphasis on the maintenance of the various languages around the world and thus the cultural richness that comes with them. Proper respect for the richness that various languages and "indigenous knowledges" offer the world can only be achieved with a deep recognition of the most fundamental spiritual principle of the age--the "oneness of humankind."
posted by child_of_africa at 1:22 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for reminding us that "The Baha'i writings exhort humanity to adopt an international auxiliary language to facilitate communication among all the peoples of the world". I would like to argue the case for Esperanto as the international language in that role.
It is a planned language which belongs to no one country or group of states. Take a look at www.esperanto.net
Esperanto certainly works! I've used it in speech and writing in a dozen countries over recent years.
Indeed, the language has some remarkable practical benefits. Personally, I've made friends around the world through Esperanto that I would never have been able to communicate with otherwise. And then there's the Pasporta Servo , which provides free lodging and local information to Esperanto-speaking travellers in over 90 countries. In the past tear I have had guided tours of Berlin and Milan in the planned language. I have discussed philosophy with a Slovene poet, humour on television with a Bulgarian TV producer. I've discussed what life was like in East Berlin before the wall came down, how to cook perfect spaghetti, the advantages and disadvantages of monarchy, and so on. I recommend it, not just as an ideal but as a very practical way to overcome language barriers.
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