Language of Power: How it is getting more exclusive

Words can inform our mind, caress and comfort our feelings, excite and thrill our spirit, or warm and kindle the flame of our hearts. They can also slap our face, punch us in the stomach, rattle our nerves, kill our desire, or destroy our self-confidence. Of course this is metaphorical, but these metaphors capture in words our physical reactions to what is said, and that is the power of language. It can emotionally move and affect us as powerfully as physical actions. Unfortunately, however, we have yet to recognize and legitimize this great power in the way we should, and we are left to deal with language in whatever way we have learned and adopted.

An interesting article – especially the discussion of the ruling elite’s emphasis on English.

Language has the dual role of being the medium of communication and education as well as the vehicle of the culture. In the former role, English is currently unsurpassable because of the large amount of resources that have already been built up. In the latter role, the emphasis is misplaced – to interact with their masses, the politicians need to use their own languages.

Musharraf’s (or other politicians’) fluency in English has nothing to do with being acceptable in the West – that acceptance is based on factors to do with geopolitics and on comparison with (potential) alternatives. In fact, this fluency has indeed got Musharraf into trouble – by shooting off his mouth and saying all the WRONG things – then being unable to claim that his intent was “lost in translation”!

Beej saheb:

take out your magnifying glass and Wren & Martin and get going please!

exhibit A:
A language comes with the baggage of cultural identity and English like always is the language of power spoken in degrees of perfection at every socio-economic level.

exhibit B
Their accessibility to private schools and then going abroad for further education stamps them as a special class who know English with an accent.

exhibit c:
Although the institutions practice English as their medium of operations, it’s a kind of English when taught without knowledge is unable to educate.

if you need more exhibits am standing by

rgd

t

This was a nice write. Westernization is not modernization. We will continue to decay until we find a way around the capatilist dogma that we have been engulfed in. hopefully people will someday see the glory of progression and invention. Instead of finding the easiest ways to be accepted by the vastly different west. Until we build instituitions these problems won`t be solved. May allah give us inner peace.ameen.

Dear Rizwana,

I have seen our Pakistani ruling class speak on american TV and frankly I am not impressed with any of them, including Musharraf. Most of them come across as haughty and condescending. They come across as ``goondas.`` I am surprised how they get time of the day from the really enlightened leaders of modern day world.

It will be beneficial for the ruling class of Pakistan to head for a course in communications or to a self-improvement section of any western book store.

Respectfully submitted,

B

Behram1

You meant ``Disresectfully submitted?``

#2 Beej

quote
``In fact, this fluency has indeed got Musharraf into trouble – by shooting off his mouth and saying all the WRONG things – then being unable to claim that his intent was “lost in translation”!


How true....!!


Infact I know of a person, who has turned the tables around.... He can speak english perfectly well , and can understand even the undercurrents through tones...

Yet he feigns ignorance for english... and takes a translater along with Him....and believe you me... ... It has saved him , on many a occasions from getting into trouble.....

He says.... he has picked this trick from Frenchs, germans and Chineese or were they
Koreans... who do the same....!!

How so self-centered. Blame it on colonial hangover. Same is true for the French North and West Africans. The Russian intelligentsia with an English of a 4th Grade Pakistani standard gets more respect in the west than an empty-headed Oxbridgian. Speaking the language of the masters (colonial masters) is a (as the writer postulates) tool to impress the uninformed masses, but it doesn’t work outside of one’s country. Speaking of which the new debate in Pakistan is whether the correct pronounciation is Ramzan or Ramadhan. Pakistan’s next lingua franca will be Wahabi Arabic.

Re#3 Temporal

T-Bhai:

I thought Wren & Martin was some kind of drink (I am a tee-totaler). So, I was all confused. Then I went to Wikipedia and got enlightened as follows:

[Wren & Martin is one of the standard English grammar textbooks in India. Users often cite it as evidence of their thorough education in the English language, as it is well respected among academia, though frequently despised by students working through it. Many Indian schools continue to prescribe it for students learning grammar despite the mixed reputation.]

A clear case of difference of opinion between the academia and its helpless victims. No wonder some of us never ever got to learn proper English.

Anyway,

exhibit A:
True, but language evolves over time – people keep and discard words. What you say here was true at a time – not any more.

exhibit B
The accent on accent is misplaced, of course!

exhibit C:
The problem is deeper than the institutions – the problem is that the problem is so institutionalized – we need more committed people (like you) and have those culprits committed to institutions!

I really can`t make up what author is trying to say, if English is good or bad for Pakistan? I wish people would write more compact and non-repetitive articles to save us some reading.

My own view is that English provides only foothold, beyond that an individual’s ability matters. But then, you can say a foothold is all you need, in India and Pakistan Peter Principle doesn’t work, it works only where there is some semblance of accountability.

Re: # 8 Kulharee

``The Russian intelligentsia with an English of a 4th Grade Pakistani standard gets more respect in the west than an empty-headed Oxbridgian.``

So true. In the new global village, people respect content, not accent. Check out the article below. Lakhmi Mittal is respected by Chinese, Koreans or east europeans for the value he will add to their economy, not his accent or indian background.

Regards.

October 2, 2005
Mittal Steel Eyes Expansion in India, Turkey
By REUTERS
Filed at 2:14 a.m. ET

SEOUL (Reuters) - Mittal Steel Co. (MT.N) (ISPA.AS), the world`s top steel maker, expects shortly to sign a deal to build a large plant in eastern India, its chief operating officer said on Sunday, after the company said it may raise up to $3 billion to fund expansion.

Malay Mukherjee also said the company was in the final stage of bidding for Turkey`s largest steel producer, would begin mining iron ore in Liberia next year and saw potential to expand its presence in China, the world`s biggest steel consumer, after acquiring a stake in the country`s eighth-largest producer. Foreign companies, including South Korea`s POSCO (005490.KS), want to set up steel plants in India to turn rich iron ore reserves into steel, demand for which is expected to boom with India`s economy, Asia`s third-largest, growing at some 7 percent a year.

The country is growing. Opportunities are opening up and policies are tuned to having additional investment,`` Mukherjee told Reuters in an interview.

He said the company would sign a deal ``sooner rather than later`` to mine iron ore and build the steel plant in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. Government sources have estimated the project would cost $11.4 billion, but Mukherjee did not confirm the expected cost.

It will be an integrated plant, starting with at least one blast furnace. The optimum size of a blast furnace today is between 3.5 million and 4 million tons,`` he said, adding the plant would ultimately produce 12 million tons a year of steel.

Rotterdam-based Mittal Steel said on Friday it may periodically sell up to $3 billion in debt, shares and other securities, and would use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including major capital spending and acquisitions.

FIRST IN INDIA

The Jharkhand project would be Mittal Steel`s first plant in India, the birthplace of its London-based founder and chairman, Lakshmi Mittal.

Jharkhand`s top bureaucrat, Chief Secretary P.P. Sharma, has stated that the government would not allow its ore to be exported. Mukherjee said the company had no plans to export Indian iron ore for sale on the global market.

It`s based on meeting the demands of the country,`` he said.

We are not in the business of iron ore. Whatever captive iron ore sources we have, we use it to make steel,`` he said, adding Mittal Steel`s iron ore mines worldwide account for about 40 percent of its needs.

Mittal Steel is also among six companies bidding for Turkey`s state-owned Eregli Demir Celik (EREGL.IS), known as Erdemir. The bidding process was in its final stage, said Mukherjee, who was previously CEO of Mittal`s European operations and also spent several years running the company`s plant in Kazakhstan.

We are definitely in the race for Erdemir,`` he said. ``We definitely expect that the right price gets the opportunity.``

Mittal Steel already owns 8.2 percent of Erdemir, he added, and would become the majority owner should its bid for the 49 percent stake being offered by the government be successful.

The company was also in the early stages of bidding for Krivorozhstal, Ukraine`s biggest steel producer, he said.

CHINA BLUEPRINT

Mittal, which has built its empire by acquiring and transforming underperforming assets worldwide, gained a foothold in China this year when it took a 36.7 percent stake in Hunan Valin Steel Tune & Wire Co. Ltd. (000932.SZ), the listed arm of Valin Iron & Steel Group.

A Chinese government blueprint blocking foreign companies from becoming the majority owner of the country`s steel firms has raised doubts about international participation in the fast-growing market, but Mukherjee is confident more opportunities will arise.

Once they see that it brings in value, I`m sure the blueprint will modify itself,`` he said, referring to Mittal`s partnership with Hunan Valin. ``Today, it`s more a fear of the unknown.``

Mittal has also expanded its raw material base by acquiring iron ore mines in Liberia from the West African country`s government.

Mukherjee said the company was investing in infrastructure, rolling stock and rehabilitating old mines that used to supply ore to Bethlehem Steel in the United States -- now part of the Mittal group.

We should have the first iron ore out next year, definitely,`` he said. By 2007 or 2008, the mines would be producing about 15 million tons of iron ore a year, he said.

The first, second and third part of the investment will go on simultaneously,`` he said. ``By the time we reach the ultimate phase it might be an expenditure of between $500 million and $700 million.``

I, personally, think all Pakistani leaders should speak in Urdu, at home and abroad. It is, after all, the national language........I have never figured out this fascination amongst everyone in Pakistan, on rating people by their English language skills. Personally speaking, I never speak English, unless talking with someone who cannot understand any other language, or on Chowk. I would, much rather, speak Punjabi (or Urdu). My parents, aunts, uncles etc., all speak Punjabi in their homes.

There is nothing in English that can match Urdu`s poetry. And their is nothing in English that can match Punjabi`s humor and vulgarities. The English language, much like English food, being too bland for my taste.

Along with this, others who should not try to speak English, and Pakistani cricketers. After all, do the English cricketers try to speak Punjabi? Granted Inzamam`s English is quite a bit better than Vaughn`s Punjabi, but still.......

Most of all, the one individual who should not speak in English is George Bush. I have never heard a worst speaker of one`s own language, or anyone else`s language, in my whole life. If such are the communication skills of the, ``Leader of the Western world,`` then I think the rest of us non-native English speakers have nothing to be too worried about......

Re: # 12

Dear Romair,

Language is used not only to communicate what one wants to communicate, but also to be accepted as a part of the group. If all in the group can talk and speak fluently in Urdu, then of course Urdu should be spoken. However, if someone can not speak that language fluently then the next most accepted language should be spoken.

Whatever language one uses should be used with decency and care. Loudness has no place in modern day enlightened group. And then of course choice of words. For example, nowadays if something is ``difficult``, we have started using the word ``challenging.``

You write...[There is nothing in English that can match Urdu`s poetry.] You must not be too serious with such an assertion. Are you? Then, of course, you write... ``my taste``.

Respectfully submitted,

B

romair must not have read much in terms of english literature. he must not have read shakespeare, or byron, or christina rossetti, or wordsworth. . . . these folks must have been too bland for his taste.

oh well, different strokes. . . .

behram #13: ``If all in the group can talk and speak fluently in Urdu, then of course Urdu should be spoken. However, if someone can not speak that language fluently then the next most accepted language should be spoken.``

This is true for normal day to day conversations. It is not true for national events. When one is representing one`s country, in a leadership position, one should always speak in the national language. One speaks as a representative one`s own countrymen. And their understanding is the most important. Everyone else can listen to a translation. Considering the fact that barely 5% of Pakistanis can speak English, Urdu should be used.

It is truly sad to see Urdu get the second rate status it has gotten in Pakistan, at a social level.........

``Loudness has no place in modern day enlightened group``

What exactly is a,``modern day enlightened group?`` How can one apply for a membership in this group? And who decides who is enlightened and who is not..........``

``You must not be too serious with such an assertion. Are you?``

Yes, quite serious. Urdu has always seemed to me, to be far more flexible and powerful in its wordage than English. One can bend and twist and connect and augment Urdu words, far more complexly and powerfully than English words. This is why Urdu poetry rhymes so easily and beautifully. English is extremely limited in that regard.....

English prose can be very powerful. But prose is more dependent on the thought process of the writer. While poetry is greatly dependent on the flexibility of the language, as well. I have yet to see anything in English poetry that matches Ghalib..........

Ana #14: ``romair must not have read much in terms of english literature. he must not have read shakespeare, or byron, or christina rossetti, or wordsworth``

I was a C to C- student in both English and in Urdu. And I have been in two professions -military and Computers - where one`s writing skills end up being very weak. Which is probably why I cannot write well.

But I do read a lot. An awful lot. Everything from my wife`s make-up magazines to mathematics books. It`s like a drug addiction. In fact, while I have met far more intelligent, talented and accomplished, etc. individuals than myself, in my life, I have yet to meet anyone who reads even close to as much as I do. Perhaps it takes me far longer to understand and comprehend things, than others. Due to which I read a lot.

I have read Shakespeare and Wordsworth, from the list you have mentioned. They never appealed to me at the level the Urdu poets did. Or the Punjabi poets, for that matter.

I have yet to read anything better than Punjabi Sufi poetry and Ghalib, in my life, in the three languages I can understand.........It is my latest addiction. Nothing in English poetry ever proved addictive. Although the greatest speaches, movies, and songs (commercial, not classical) I have heard are in English. But again that is more due to the individual than the language.......

Shakespeare would have been even superior to what he is, had he been writing in a more powerful language like Urdu. And Ghalib would not have been half the poet he was, had he been writing in English, which would have limited him. In fact, Ghalib`s best works are actually in Persian - a language I cannot understand. But perhaps Persian gave him even more flexibility............

romair:

i think we will have to disagree on this one, without argument, because you are already convinced, whereas i do not believe that one language or its literature are superior to another. . . which is what you are implying. english is sparse in its constructions, yes, in comparison with most languages of the world, not just urdu. but that doesn`t make it inferior. i have read novels in english that are lyrical and very powerful in their descriptions.

i love urdu and punjabi as well, what i know of it, and i would love to speak it as often as i breathe. as for anyone matching ghalib in english, why should anyone match ghalib? poetry is in the eyes and ears of the reader/listener, and who is to judge that coleridge, or shelley, or donne or the 17th century poets, or the writers of the renaissance such as shakespeare and marlowe did not write powerful poetry? so yes, you can make that assertion if you like. i`m not going to carry this discussion much further because i don`t agree with you.