Orla this is a really well written sentiment. I couldn't agree with you more- especially about the weight that language carries. I really liked your commentary about when you worked at a museum. That is an especially insightful perspective you carry having that experience. Choice of language holds a lot of power, especially in the academic realm. Was a pleasure reading your post. Looking forward to reading more <3
"In a very real way language holds the power necessary to rewrite the world." I think you've got it spot on when you wrote this. I think this sentence would be a very good antidote to the cliche of 'it's the winners that write history'. Language is a powerful tool that can be made and unmade accessible to different people, and so it can have massively positive and negative influence. It's not always necessarily that the power of language only lies in those who have manipulated it to feed their own ambitions, often it is the key to reset and rewrite the world.
Thank you for this incredible exploration of the power of words! The way you framed the authority of of written language as "logic versus precariousness" really sticks with me. With the establishment of the nation-state, the only way to gain legitimacy and protection is through the nation-state. That means through policies, laws, constitutions, and so on; through the written word. Since when did we have to start writing agreements down for them to be permanent? What happened to, as we learned at the Museo Larco, signing agreements through the sharing of a drink? I'm not sure how to word this, but I'm curious about what it means or looks like to seek legitimacy outside the framework of the nation state.
I can see the similarities you present between the indigenous, in both Canada and Peru, having their oral and performative history and identities repressed, even eradicated by colonization. And the absolute importance of the words we use. “In a very real way language holds the power necessary to rewrite the world.” Well said. Saying belongings, opposed to artifacts is incredibly impactful. I appreciate your insights, they fuel my curiosity.
The Spanish motivation to strip indigenous societies of their oral histories and instead impose an “ordered y letrado” system is so interesting to me because it is not something so unfamiliar to Spain itself. Moving out of the Middle Ages, the written word gained in importance as more people (more certain people) had access to education. What further interests me in reference to the effects of colonialism and written/oral word is to think about where the advent of social media falls within the neocolonial framework. Does TikTok constitute an oral tradition? Is instagram a way to communicate pictorially? It’s inarguable that these new means of communication have had an impact on the transmission of information globally and will see a sustained influence on cultural development.
The concept of what language we use is a very important thought that people don't think about enough. For example, it never would have occurred to me how "artifact" suggests something different than "belongings." Thank you for sharing your personal experience with language! It really got me to reflect on the words I use and what their meanings really imply.
Personally, I believe that Rama's book gives us a framework to think about this moment of proliferation of cities and the different stages in relation to a historical (dis)continuity. But it seems to me that there is another city, no less ordered, that is almost exclusively oral, anchored in performative acts that seem to have been disdained by Rama, such as public and mass events. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt, since he was not able to give the book its final form.
" I want to talk about the legitimization/delegitimization of what counts as valid, orderly or rational with language in this colonial Latin American context."
Weird I could have sworn I commented on this post when it came out. I think this was one of the best intro posts of the class because it set up an understanding of the impacts of language. Language changes how we see the world. There is no "blank slate" like you said. Instead we form and reform the world around us. There is a certain violence within that in a colonial context that only values the written.
Orla this is a really well written sentiment. I couldn't agree with you more- especially about the weight that language carries. I really liked your commentary about when you worked at a museum. That is an especially insightful perspective you carry having that experience. Choice of language holds a lot of power, especially in the academic realm. Was a pleasure reading your post. Looking forward to reading more <3
"In a very real way language holds the power necessary to rewrite the world." I think you've got it spot on when you wrote this. I think this sentence would be a very good antidote to the cliche of 'it's the winners that write history'. Language is a powerful tool that can be made and unmade accessible to different people, and so it can have massively positive and negative influence. It's not always necessarily that the power of language only lies in those who have manipulated it to feed their own ambitions, often it is the key to reset and rewrite the world.
Jasmine
Hi Orla,
Thank you for this incredible exploration of the power of words! The way you framed the authority of of written language as "logic versus precariousness" really sticks with me. With the establishment of the nation-state, the only way to gain legitimacy and protection is through the nation-state. That means through policies, laws, constitutions, and so on; through the written word. Since when did we have to start writing agreements down for them to be permanent? What happened to, as we learned at the Museo Larco, signing agreements through the sharing of a drink? I'm not sure how to word this, but I'm curious about what it means or looks like to seek legitimacy outside the framework of the nation state.
Take care,
Cissy
I can see the similarities you present between the indigenous, in both Canada and Peru, having their oral and performative history and identities repressed, even eradicated by colonization. And the absolute importance of the words we use. “In a very real way language holds the power necessary to rewrite the world.” Well said. Saying belongings, opposed to artifacts is incredibly impactful. I appreciate your insights, they fuel my curiosity.
The Spanish motivation to strip indigenous societies of their oral histories and instead impose an “ordered y letrado” system is so interesting to me because it is not something so unfamiliar to Spain itself. Moving out of the Middle Ages, the written word gained in importance as more people (more certain people) had access to education. What further interests me in reference to the effects of colonialism and written/oral word is to think about where the advent of social media falls within the neocolonial framework. Does TikTok constitute an oral tradition? Is instagram a way to communicate pictorially? It’s inarguable that these new means of communication have had an impact on the transmission of information globally and will see a sustained influence on cultural development.
The concept of what language we use is a very important thought that people don't think about enough. For example, it never would have occurred to me how "artifact" suggests something different than "belongings." Thank you for sharing your personal experience with language! It really got me to reflect on the words I use and what their meanings really imply.
Personally, I believe that Rama's book gives us a framework to think about this moment of proliferation of cities and the different stages in relation to a historical (dis)continuity. But it seems to me that there is another city, no less ordered, that is almost exclusively oral, anchored in performative acts that seem to have been disdained by Rama, such as public and mass events. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt, since he was not able to give the book its final form.
" I want to talk about the legitimization/delegitimization of what counts as valid, orderly or rational with language in this colonial Latin American context."
Weird I could have sworn I commented on this post when it came out. I think this was one of the best intro posts of the class because it set up an understanding of the impacts of language. Language changes how we see the world. There is no "blank slate" like you said. Instead we form and reform the world around us. There is a certain violence within that in a colonial context that only values the written.