Saturday, November 15, 2003

Culture, TV, and Language



Media and culture … culture and media ... To represent a group of people, their ways and expressions, their understandings of life, knowledge, music, traditions, …

Ginsburg (2002) presented the case of the Australian Aborigines and how they were introduced to the development of television segments where they could present themselves to their community as well as to others. The outsiders, the ethnographers that came and interpreted the Aborigine’s culture, were pioneers in the creation and presentation of movies, which were seen not only in Australia, but also all over the world. The insiders, the Aborigines learned the skill and where then able to portray themselves, to reclaim a space for their language, their festivals, their oral histories, their ways of living. This space permitted them to revitalize their own customs and languages (p.221).

But this also meant the introduction of new ways through the television that was now showing programs developed in the city, elsewhere. So in one way the Aborigines had the opportunity to present themselves, but in another were led in another direction, away from themselves into an era of commercialization and cultural imposition by the dominant segment of society (p.230).

An interesting point this article brings to our attention is related to native languages. The author states: “We’re trying to teach kids you can be Aboriginal and keep your language and still mix in the wider community and have English as well” (p. 224). This could be translated as ‘it is OK to accept yourself as you are, from whatever cultural background; it is OK to have another language and be fluent at it’. The dominant language will then be learn at school. And by having two languages you won’t be less, instead you’ll be more. By learning one culture at home and another at school, you won’t be worst you’ll be more. And note that I don’t say better, because it is not a matter of good or bad, it is a matter of being able to understand others as they are, and minimizing cultural misunderstandings.

Its interesting because many times I have heard teachers say to parents not to talk their native language to their kids at home. For some reason they think kids will be better off if they only talk one language. But at the same time, teachers are saying your native language is not important, in fact it disables you of talking English like other kids. This is so wrong! Your second language will be your second, not your first; no matter how much you try, life will not change this.

I believe teachers that present such an argument to parents are being very disrespectful to the other culture. If a kid or any person wants to improve their language skills, they don’t need to stop talking other languages, they need more practice developing whatever language they want to learn. Picture dictionaries, reading simple books will make a lot more for the kids than not talking to their parents in the way they can better express themselves, in the way they can communicate to other relatives, that might not need to learn English, or whatever the second language would be.

It’s true a dominating culture will try to impose their ways, changing as many elements of another culture as they can. This has happened throughout history since the beginning of civilization. But I think we need to come to some kind of agreement, where we can learn to respect each other, with our languages and cultures, just the way they are. We need to learn as much as we can from others, we need to respect other people the way they are, and we also need to respect and love ourselves just the way we are.

References:

Ginsburg, F. (2002). Mediating Culture: Indigenous media, ethnographic film, and the production of identity. In K. Askew and R. Wilk (Eds.), The Anthropology of Media (187-209). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Relationships and the Internet



Miller and Slater use the case of the Trinidadians to study the impact of the Internet on relationships between people of the same family, friends, and strangers. The fact that the Internet has allowed family members of all ages to keep in touch with each other, is not exclusive of the Trinidadians, but what makes it so particular is that, according to the authors, this phenomenon is common to most Trinidadians.

Is it possible that because Trinidad is an island and most families have relatives abroad, the Internet has made a major impact on the Trinidadians culture? Probably the fact that the population in Trinidad is only a little more than a million has something to do with it. Anyway, it would be interesting to find out what percent of the population of Trinidad lives in another country, and what percent of the population really has access to computers.

The authors of this article also explore other types of relationships. For example, virtual friendships were reality and virtual mixed together; and real friendship developed in cyber cafés, clubs, and schools because of their interest on the Internet.

Finally, it would be very interesting to explore how this change took place, who were the innovators, the early adopters, and early majority; and how they all embraced this technology to get where they are now.

References:

Miller, D. and Slater, D. Relationships. In: K. Askew and R. Wilk (Eds.), The Anthropology of Media. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. [Chapter 12, pp. 187-209.]

Trinidad and Tobago People. Retrieved November 26, 2003 from http://www.1uptravel.com/international/caribbean/trinidad-tobago/people.html.