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The Relationship Between Language and Culture [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-09-05  

(This is a presentation Adjunct Professor Kevin Inglesby gave at the Meshanticut Weekend that I posted an article by Antoinette Pitcan (Promote West Africa) (www.dailykos.com/...)

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by Adjunct Prof. Kevin Inglesby:

Before diving right into everything, I would like to provide you with a general outline of what we will cover. I will begin with a more theoretical conception of the relationship between language and culture as it relates to ontology or the study of existence. That is in one sense, the layers of intersections that can influence all aspects of something in its situated reality. These intersections can involve aspects of culture, language, law, and politics to name some general areas of human association. I want to start here to establish paths for some common threads- common threads that can be collectively developed, embodied, and promoted through dialogue.

Moving past theoretical characteristics of language and culture into the realm of real-world practice, I will describe a proposed program that melds these topics into a would-be 5-week summer program called the Linguistic, Cultural, and Legal Leadership program that would seek to teach the importance of language, culture, and mobility. To conclude this presentation, I will describe my account of a communicative paradigm related to the United Nations that involves a broad scope ranging from language revitalization to interfaces with the Federations of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas and more.

However, before arriving at that point, we shall begin with the idea that the relationship between language and culture is complex, its multidimensional and it is an entirely customizable process that one can guide through their own interpretation of the world. Yet, with a mechanism to express individual perceptions emanating from a seemingly infinite array of energy and information; how does organization occur?; How are modes of existence communicated through generations who are themselves living out legacies of ever-evolving orders? Seeing that these are rather big questions to address with the time and space we have here, I will attempt to clarify a path to answering these questions as we parse through these materials.

Processes of making meaning are a foundation that identity is built upon. One can gain access to the different levels that identity can be built upon by learning about processes of signification, or in other words, semiotics. Semiotics has all to do with signs, symbols, interpretation, and the endlessly creative ways we can create meaning with one another. Language and culture are the variables that inform any sign or symbol and can be found wherever one perceives any level of meaning. Thus, the relationship between language and culture is a highly important one to keep in mind with respect to the continuity of lifeways. The ways in which we come to express entire sagas of cultural legacy flow through socialization, which in many instances directly engages language.

Here, an inquiry into ontology or modes of existence can begin to answer that heavy philosophical question of how organization can occur. It is no mystery that humans are highly social beings; we look around and can find countless manifestations of humans creating meaning with one another- in one sense, it depends on what one calls art. However, to gain insights into different modes of existence, we must use language and cultural knowledge to make sense of the multifaceted ways organization can take form. From a theoretical viewpoint, a paradigm consisting of the interplay between time and space can be a fruitful locus for interpretation when directing language and culture to broaden one’s meaning-making processes.

The dialogic theory called chronotope accounts for just that: time, space, and how personhood is constructed therein. What is organization but a composite of individuals etching their energy into time and space? In one sense, language is a means to gain access to organizational strategies, into complex social processes, and into the layers that inform one’s identity. Here, language can be signposts for how culture evolves through generations. One example to look for is how many new words and semantic shifts occur within the youths' exploration of linguistic function. Even being part of the youth, I still sometimes have no clue what some of the other people my age and those younger, are saying. However, these are life-long processes of cultural generation that occur through different levels of linguistic performance. Thus, as an index or signpost to gain insights as to how organization occurs, we can measure time, space, language, and culture to illuminate why a mode of existence is there.

Chronotope, or the measure of time and space with regard to culture, is but one means to begin answering that question of organization. It is also a mechanism to start asking how solidarity is established among those organized and the manners in which ontological orientations are transmitted generationally. That is, studying the relationship between language and culture as it is situated within time and space can reveal how political statuses, cultural customs, and traditions are expressed to others. For example, studying what we are doing here can provide tremendous insights into how culture is perceived, transmitted, and how these modes of existence are expressed to advance Placemaking as a cultural and economic strategy to interface with our ever-evolving world. Expanding our perceptions of how language and culture can play off one another, we can trace paradigm shifts through the means by which we, ourselves, shift meanings, and enact those objectives in the world.

Part of the beauty inherent in learning about solidarity and the transmission of lifeways is that we must do this together. As such, there are many ways to achieve cohesion and expand interfaces with heritage- and dialogue is a highly effective strategy therein. When we come to the understanding that the relationship between language and culture signals a larger paradigm of creative potential and world-building processes, we can begin to add both breadth and depth to how we exist in the world in accordance with the time and space we find ourselves in. Moreover, when the relationship between language and culture is practiced through a balanced approach, levels of primary meaning production come into play.

Thus, with deliberate action, an individual in concert with those in solidarity, can quite effectively establish levels of significance for those who may only have access to world-building initiatives through literature or media for example. So when I listen to Chief Two Hawks talk about “shifting the ways in which our story is told and sold”, my mind ques a specific chronotopic or communicative paradigm. It ques one of innovation, unabating and deliberate work, and the pursuit to speak a world into existence that reflects an honor for the sacred while interfacing with the evolution of technological and social structures.

This is the point in which I think additional and deliberate action through a community-oriented lens can be of service. For example, if we perceive shortcomings among educational systems, or marginalization from engaging the world stage, we can develop solidarity as a community and arrange the necessary tools and pathways to integrate with the world stage in our own innovative ways. Here I will venture to propose that the Linguistic, Cultural, and Legal Leadership program is but one mechanism to promote these activities.

Community development initiatives are contextual endeavors that must reflect specific cultural values. The tentative program and framework I will be describing reflect s initiatives that seek to bridge the intersections between language, culture, and mobility. Here is a proposal for the development of the Linguistic, Cultural, and Legal Leadership Program (LCLLP), a proposed five-week summer program that supports the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas (FANA) and their member Nations initiatives (see FANA.global). FANA’s mission is to “provide leadership and serve as the collective voice for the development of the mass unification of the Aboriginal Tribes and Nations of the Americas” (FANA.global). A central element to serve as a collective voice requires a focused and deliberate dialogue to expand the mass unification of these Tribes and Nations through sustainable development. Upholding this central element, the key features involved in the Linguistic, Cultural, and Legal Leadership Program (LCLLP) promote linguistic revitalization, culture-based education, and legal education to advance FANA’s sustainable self-determination (see Corntassel, 2008), social cohesion, and community well-being.

In our ever-globalizing world, community or social resilience is a mainstay for groups seeking to engage the world in more connected ways. Striking a balance between one’s cultural expression and interfaces with our diverse world requires social cohesion (Wilson, 2012) and the deliberate performance of language. Yet, it is argued that there is “little [research conducted] on the possible [connections] between community resilience and different forms of human and environmental capital” (Wilson, 2012). Human capital refers to the knowledge, skills, and understanding that an individual or group maintains while environmental capital refers to the benefits an ecosystem can yield. This Program has the potential to initiate a practical example that demonstrates the interconnection between community resilience, human capital, and environmental capital.

The relationship between language and society is highly important when navigating and teaching people about our world. As a side, it is also worth noting that sociolinguistic concepts account for various levels of language in society (see Isakov, 2024). These concepts can be very influential when consciously applied to an educational environment, as they can facilitate a productive medium for conveying the central objective of the program: to advance FANA’s motto- “Strength Through Unity” (see FANA.global).

In this way, the mission of this program is to empower the FANA community through linguistic and culturally-based knowledge systems with legal insights. Interweaving these meaning-making approaches into the fabric of the program is one facet to ensure that a strategic and effective transmission of information takes place. In doing so, this can teach those participating the importance of language and culture. Still, loosely talking about these efforts is but one step in the process of implementation. Precise and developed ways of talking about these actions are a crucial aspect towards the program's success.

Studies framing the linguistic dynamics between time and space are applied to areas of practice such as education, legal subjectivities, and political subjectivities (see applied) to professional programs that call forth a language of success. A chronotope supporting the Linguistic, Cultural, and Legal Leadership program would frame each interaction through the communication of empowerment, integrity, and progress to advance the development of FANA’s community initiatives. Productive developments are driven forward through solidarity, cooperation, and action that occurs in a web of interconnection.

The actor-network theory (Law, 2008) treats everything in our social and natural worlds as interconnected aspects of a whole that influence one another in complex ways. Here, an important aspect of the program lies in levels of mentorship that can guide future community activities around specific areas of study. Mentorship that instills leadership characteristics is a key to advancing community engagement and growth. With foundations of linguistic revitalization, culture-based education, and legal community’s integrity and to socialize future generations with global perspectives.

Educational pursuits that bridge the youth and older generations are key for sustainable development and self-determination (see Corntassel, 2008) within culture-based education. These connections themselves must be flexible to reflect the complexities of our contemporary world while simultaneously foregrounding traditional worldviews. There are a variety of approaches toward effective educational frameworks. A more generalized approach that can be filtered through community contexts would be an effective model to follow for the program. Doctors Cajete and Pueblo (2010, p. 1127) elucidate an effective framework that can be adapted when they write that:

“Indigenous educational cultural studies combine an evolving and integrative theory and practice to affirm and demonstrate Indigenous pedagogy through: (1) [the] creati[on] of a new language [to approach educational environments with]; (2) [by] transcending Western academic boundaries; (3) [and] decentering the historic and contemporary consciousness and assimilative power of colonial authority; (4) [by] rewriting the institutional and discursive story of Indigenous people; and (5) applying the essence of democracy as an active political principle for reasserting Indigenous rights, self-determination, and economic viability.”

In line with what Vine Deloria Jr. said, this program can provide “a means of allowing human energies and understandings to converge and come together to form a more sensible picture of human life” (Deloria 1997, p. 28). To properly engage linguistic revitalization initiatives, the program would strategically approach linguistic revitalization efforts through a phase-by-phase method. These phases would focus on what the goal of the community is, whether that be to increase conversational skills, develop specific frames to understand legal concepts, or to establish an arena for general linguistic exposure, for example. Supporting a flexible approach, Targeted componential assessments (TCA) focus on particular bits of a language. Dr. O’Grady (2018, p. 2.2) describes these assessments as language “performance on individual, narrowly focused components of language—specific vocabulary items, selected phonological contrasts (or the differences in the sounds produced and the meanings constructed therein), particular morphosyntactic patterns (or the interplay between word forms and sentence structure), and so on”.

Targeted Componential Assessments, mixed with other methods such as Accelerated Second Language Acquisition (ASLA) produced by Arapaho Scholar Dr. Greymorning (see Greymorning, 2020) can provide an avenue for student and teacher training workshops to be both a fun and effective environment to transmit language and culture through. In the program, individuals with various levels of linguistic exposure may be accommodated to produce practical results. For example, targeted componential assessments can be focused, at first, on language essential to progress cultural endeavors like ceremonial speech, oral histories, and traditions.

Moving toward a more broad scope, Holistic assessments as a method for language acquisition and revitalization incorporate general uses of a given language. More specifically, Dr. O’Grady (2018, p. 2.1) explains that a holistic approach is “characterized by a focus on overall communicative ability rather than mastery of any particular component of language”. Focusing on communicative ability can be interwoven with other aspects of cultural education to provide an avenue for program participants to engage their environment in more ecologically connected ways.

Here is a bridge between linguistic educational processes and culturally based education. Otherwise known as traditional ecological knowledge in some frames, scholars Finn et al (2017) explain that “Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is a term, relatively new to Western science, that encompasses a subset of traditional knowledge maintained by Indigenous nations about the relationships between people and the natural environment.” The Linguistic, Cultural, and Legal Leadership Program proposes to provide an environment to reinvigorate relationships between the FANA community and practical knowledge of natural environments that as a byproduct can support social cohesion.

This five-week program would seek to instill leadership qualities and the knowledge to develop actionable world-views in service of the FANA community. With potential access to legal scholars and professionals, part of the program would focus on contemporary uses of internationally recognized standards for conduct. One standard flows through the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). UNDRIP contains forty-six articles (2007, p. 8) that are “recognized in the charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international human rights law”.

A program that strengthens cultural and linguistic nuance in concert with lessons on UNDRIP can provide the FANA community with assets to further develop and advance community well-being. Numerous aspects of laws are of the highest importance to understand and exercise throughout one’s life. For example, the connections between heritage and intellectual property law can serve as a great workshop to highlight the importance of legal protections on cultural expression. To provide more accessibility to develop in these ways, this program proposes to generate an environment that can advance awareness around these legal and cultural spheres and is proposed to operate through workshops, a short conference panel, and a cultural event.

What is more, this program proposes to provide a nexus point to advance community conversations around the topics of language, culture, and legal knowledge in innovative ways. These ways of communication may also serve as measures of evaluation to calculate the program's success. As a framework for effective summer programs, this program proposes to gain insights from nine characteristics that can advance this program's reach. These characteristics are proposed by Doctors Bell & Carillo and include: (see Bell & Carillo, 2007):

“1) Intentional focus on accelerating learning 2) [through a] Firm commitment to youth development 3)[and] Proactive approach to summer learning 4) [with] Strong, empowering leadership 5) [that is] Advanced, [by] collaborative planning 6) [providing] Extensive opportunities for staff development [to be more effective overall] 7) [and through establishing] Strategic partnerships 8) [and a] Rigorous approach to evaluation and commitment to program improvement 9) [with a] Clear focus on sustainability and cost-effectiveness.”

This framework has the potential to be internally evaluated through surveys, community response questionnaires, and post-program interviews. Externally, this program can gain insights from the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC), an accreditation institution that sets standards for educational conduct. WINHEC “was established in August 2002 at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (WIPCE) in Alberta, Canada. Their aim is to bring professionals together to achieve common goals through higher education.” (WINHEC 2002).

This program proposes to generate leadership and professionals to advance common educational goals that support social cohesion and community development. In line with Dr. McIvor’s point: where “a decolonization approach, then, brings a social justice aim to one’s academic and personal work” (McIvor 2020, p. 79)---

This program would serve to produce broad impacts and wide community engagement by creating a path for participants to advance expertise in language, culture, and law. This is important, as another scholar Lixinski (2013, p. 410) points out, “experts play a key role in determining what is relevant in a certain field of knowledge. Expertise is a discourse, and according to Foucault, discourses do not simply reflect their objects of analysis, but in fact create them, and in the process position and license certain people to speak about it at the expense of others.”

In this way, the Linguistic, Cultural, and Legal Leadership Program proposes to encompass a central point that serves as a conduit to bridge still even larger cultural

projects. This program proposes to contribute to cultural reinvigoration and provide solid avenues for cultural and social mobility, such as interfacing with United Nations frameworks. Mobilizing action between the junction of a community's social challenges and the United Nations is most effectively brought forth through proper dialogue.

Ahead of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in April of 2024, there were some key questions to address in assessing how to effectively engage others while at the forum. These questions were informed through the theme for the 23rd session. The theme for this year's program focused on enhancing Indigenous peoples‘ rights to self-determination in connection to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and sustainable youth development. With such a diverse potential for the application of these themes, a focus on how these topics are communicated and strategized supports the impetus for my inquiry.

Moving from the broad implications of language in information dissemination, let's delve into its critical role in Indigenous language revitalization efforts. Individuals and organizations interface with data through a variety of methods. Building on this understanding, a semiotic analysis of UNDRIP can offer compelling avenues to contextualize information, which is crucial in strategies for Indigenous language revitalization.

A semiotic analysis involving an assessment of the processes of signification can reveal that UNDRIP in itself can be viewed as a symbol of self-determination that indexes or signals ways to promote cultural continuity. For our purposes here, I will discuss an approach to meaning-making with regard to language revitalization as the

activities that promote it must consider adequate paths to appropriately shape the language viabilities.

Levels of importance lie in the identification of paradigmatic structures that support these processes. Paradigmatic elements reflect appeals to how contexts are created and in what manner such contexts may or are intended to interact with one another. In this way, the United Nations Decade of Indigenous Languages (see un.org) can be considered through a paradigmatic lens that seeks to advance how linguistic reclamation proceeds. Through this process, the Decade of Indigenous Languages serves as a temporal frame that highlights symbolic qualities that have the potential to foster productivity with respect to advancing the viability of linguistic revitalization.

Exploring Bakhtin’s concept of chronotope, we can apply this framework to understand the interplay between time and space, in language revitalization efforts. In this light, such a paradigm can serve as an index or a signpost that highlights what is important to talk about with respect to the developments of coordinated conversations as they relate to measures taken for revitalization.

Bakhtin (1981, p. 252) posited that “chronotopes are mutually inclusive, they coexist, they may be interwoven with, replace or oppose one another, [they may] contradict one another or find themselves in ever more complex interrelationships”. Here we will find that time and space are not semiotically isolated and are frames in which discursive practices become operative, that is, how different qualifications of value interact with one another as communication flows through the layers of a subject.

It is important to consider that revitalization strategies vary depending on the unique circumstances of each community. Nonetheless, establishing a general framework can provide essential guidance for communities striving to preserve critical cultural elements. The concept of a chronotopic paradigm, as advocated by the United Nations, underscores pivotal activities that can drive linguistic revitalization efforts forward.

At the forefront of these efforts lies a multifaceted initiative driven by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), which has consistently advocated for constitutional and legal recognition of Indigenous languages. According to the UN (2022), this includes robust efforts towards preservation, revitalization, and securing adequate funding for these measures.

As the Forum calls for these levels of recognition, central elements that fill out this paradigm are set into motion. Actions that support the Forum's call for constitutional and legal recognition of Indigenous languages can be advanced through the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The articles comprising UNDRIP provide a foundation and direction for communities to pursue their rights when these policies are incorporated into their respective political networks.

Moreover, UNDRIP signifies much-needed developments in international legal norms and also reflects the UN’s paradigm by signaling communicative strategies that underlie the organization. UNDRIP contains various articles addressing language (see UNDRIP, 2007), such as articles thirteen, fourteen, and sixteen[1].

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/5/2268040/-The-Relationship-Between-Language-and-Culture?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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