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Friday 27 January 2017
Wednesday 18 January 2017
Blog Post #11
What did medieval linguist Antonio de Nebrija mean when he told Queen Isabella that: “language is the perfect instrument of empire?” How has language contributed to colonial power?
When saying this quote we see Antonio has expressed many meanings to show how language is important to an empire. In my opinion Antonio was trying to express how if a language speaks that same language, your society will be in harmony and run to its full potential.
However I would have to disagree with this quote, I believe if an empire is forced to speak the same language,instead of there own, It would make the people being silenced have hatred towards the specific language. A strong example would be Russia in the 19th century, to be more specific, Soviet Union. From 1922 Russia and 18 other countries formed the U.S.S.R. During the time Russia had a large influence on other countries. They imposed countless rules, and a key rule being the language. Russia forced the language of the U.S.S.R to be Russian, they tried to enforce a universal language, completely disregarding multiple languages including Polish, Ukrainian and Estonian. After 80 years the fall of the U.S.S.R took place. Obviously Language was not the main issue, however many people believe it to be a key component, which is why I disagree with this statement. This empire was not only the empire which tried to enforce a language we also saw it with the great Romans.
Furthermore, what if a language was not enforced?
We see language in the 21st century not being enforced(to an extent) for example a popular language, English. In modern society we see people choosing to speak the language rather than being forced too. However if they dont choose to speak English, a large majority of opportunities would be lost.
When saying this quote we see Antonio has expressed many meanings to show how language is important to an empire. In my opinion Antonio was trying to express how if a language speaks that same language, your society will be in harmony and run to its full potential.
However I would have to disagree with this quote, I believe if an empire is forced to speak the same language,instead of there own, It would make the people being silenced have hatred towards the specific language. A strong example would be Russia in the 19th century, to be more specific, Soviet Union. From 1922 Russia and 18 other countries formed the U.S.S.R. During the time Russia had a large influence on other countries. They imposed countless rules, and a key rule being the language. Russia forced the language of the U.S.S.R to be Russian, they tried to enforce a universal language, completely disregarding multiple languages including Polish, Ukrainian and Estonian. After 80 years the fall of the U.S.S.R took place. Obviously Language was not the main issue, however many people believe it to be a key component, which is why I disagree with this statement. This empire was not only the empire which tried to enforce a language we also saw it with the great Romans.
Furthermore, what if a language was not enforced?
We see language in the 21st century not being enforced(to an extent) for example a popular language, English. In modern society we see people choosing to speak the language rather than being forced too. However if they dont choose to speak English, a large majority of opportunities would be lost.
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