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SUMMARY:Vanishing Voices and the Politics of Language Policy: Reflections 
 on long-term fieldwork in the Himalayas - Mark Turin\, University of Cambr
 idge\, Department of Social Anthropology
DTSTART:20090303T160000Z
DTEND:20090303T173000Z
UID:TALK15708@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Susan Rolfe
DESCRIPTION:Modalities for conducting fieldwork in linguistics are fast ch
 anging. Many of these transformations are related to technology access and
  information flow - compressing the distance between the linguist and the 
 observed\; some are the natural result of politics and new funding opportu
 nities\; while others can be associated with communities finding a voice i
 n their struggles for representation and greater public discussion about t
 he ownership of intangible heritage. Scholars embarking on new field proje
 cts in linguistics in areas where they do not have an established set of c
 ontacts should be aware of the fast changing topography of expectations. A
 ll of these factors are leading to a shift from extractive models of resea
 rch to frameworks which are necessarily more engaged. This change of cours
 e has been felt particularly strongly in the field of language documentati
 on. \n\n\nIn today's talk\, I aim to tie together a number of intersecting
  strands of my research through a visual presentation drawing on many exam
 ples from fieldwork. Over the past 15 years\, in Nepal\, India and the Tib
 etan Autonomous Region of China\, I have worked variously as a linguistic 
 anthropologist investigating issues of ethnolinguistic identity and langua
 ge competence\; as a linguist engaged in the documentation of Thangmi - a 
 hitherto undescribed Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the southern recesse
 s of the Himalayas\; as the director of the first modern linguistic survey
  of India's second smallest and least populous state - Sikkim\; as an advi
 sor to the Government of Nepal and consultant to the World Bank on issues 
 of language rights and mother tongue education\; and most recently\, as th
 e head of translation and interpretation in the United Nations Mission in 
 Nepal (UNMIN). \n\n\nSome of the overarching questions that lie behind the
 se diverse engagements\, and which will be addressed in the presentation\,
  are: How can scholars support endangered languages spoken by marginalised
  communities without tribalising or marginalizing them further? How should
  we engage with the messy politics of language rights and revitalization c
 ampaigns without becoming co-opted in indigenous or partisan agendas? How 
 can we work towards greater understanding and respect for nationally or re
 gionally dominant languages - such as Nepali\, Tibetan or Maithili - which
  despite being spoken by millions of people remain poorly understood by la
 rge multilateral organisations and educational institutions?\n
LOCATION:GR-06/07\, English Faculty Building
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