Tongues of Heaven Anita Chang

Tongues of Heaven Anita Chang

    Tongues of Heaven is built on the idea that language is essential to culture, and without it indigenous groups of people will loose a part of themselves. "among 6000 or so languages, 2 disappear every month", I think it is at first difficult to understand the gravity of this statement as here in the western world we take the concept of language for granted. Here in the US and in nations like mainland China we are unified by a single common language for the most part so I think the concept that indigenous languages are important is lost on much of the population.

    Languages are lost in favor of a unified common language because it allows for communication on a much larger scale and streamlines efforts towards business and globalization. This points to the idea that languages are being lost because it's just not practical. Aunt Lai states that "The Rukai people must ask: what do I have that has the highest economic value that can make an impact on Taiwan's development?" This points to the idea that world governments only care for things that obvious and inherent value. Culture is important to an extent, but adding real economic value to a language or culture is what secures it's place. If a language can offset it's inherent difficulties in communication with others through economic value then it stays around.

    When the documentary moves to Hawaii the villages there are described as "another kind of indigenous village". Everyone there spoke English but claimed to value their Hawaiian culture and roots. This implies that westernization has largely taken away from Hawaii's core culture and replaced it with a newly homogenized shell. Hawaii's large English speaking community points to a need for a revitalization of Hawaii's original culture and language.

Comments

  1. Sara PelletierAugust 21, 2020 at 12:49 PM

    I wrote about similar topics in my blog, focusing more on the difference between the unified language approach in the Western world to communicate versus the embracing of culture that is happening elsewhere in the world. As they stated in the film, langauge needs culture to inform it and culture needs language to express that culture. I think that this is true. Culture is informed by being spread by language and stories, yet limiting the ways that others can express their cultures. I also found perception of the Hawaiian village in the documentary was interesting. I would be interested to see what you think that means for the perception of the importance of culture in different parts of the world. How do the Hawaiian villagers speak about their culture versus the vilagers in Taiwan?

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