The language ideology of Esperanto

Mobility and Inclusionin Multilingual Europe

The language ideology of Esperantofrom the world language problem to balanced multilingualism

Federico Gobbo⟨Amsterdam Milano-Bicocca Torino⟩⟨FGobbouvanl⟩

5-6 May 2016University of Turin ItalyCLOW2

1 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo

Introduction

What is Esperanto

Esperanto is a planned language ie a language that violates thepriority of orality (Lyons) because a single man (or a committee)writes its normative variety before to form a community of practice

Ludwig Lejzer Zamenhof an Ashkenazi Jew living in the RussianEmpire (mainly in nowadays Poland) launched his lingvo internacia in1887 Several International Auxiliary Language (IAL) were proposedsince then until the WW2 but only Esperanto became relevant froma sociolinguistic point of view

3 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo

How many people speak Esperanto

From Gobbo (2015)4 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo

Is Esperanto a contested language

Strictly speaking it is not because it is not considered a ldquodialectrdquo or ldquopatoisrdquo of any national

language it is not an endangered language accordint to the Language Atlas

of Unesco unlike most languages 99 of its speakers are not learning

Esperanto during childhood within a family but voluntarily as anL2

the diatopic variable is far less important than in contestedlanguages (there is no substantial difference between an Esperantofluent speaker of Japan or England)

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No it is not buthellip

However it shares some problems with contested languages such as it is not considered a full-fledge language not only by laymen but

also in several linguistic and academic contexts being a contact language from Romance Germanic and Slavic

elements it has a high degree of Abstand (distance) with allnational languages of the Old World

its visibility in the public sphere is very low often people getsurprized that it is (still) a living language

its formal status on a regional and national level is very low(although on an international level it has some recognition seebelow)

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The tradition of Esperantoone language several ideologies

In the beginning was the First Book (1887)

From Russia to France (1900)

From Garviacutea (2015)

Declaration of Esperantism 1905 1 Esperantism is the endeavour to spread throughout the entire

world the use of this neutral human language which ldquonotintruding upon the personal life of peoples and in no way aiming toreplace existing national languagesrdquo would give to people ofdifferent nations the ability to understand each other [hellip] All otherideals or hopes tied with Esperantism by any Esperantist is his orher purely private affair for which Esperantism is notresponsible [hellip]

4Esperanto has no lawgiving authority and is dependent on noparticular person All opinions and works of the creator ofEsperanto have similar to the opinions and works of every otheresperantist an absolutely private quality [hellip]

5 An Esperantist is a person who knows and uses the languageEsperanto with complete exactness for whatever aim he uses itfor [hellip] (my emphasis)

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Being an Esperantist Zamenhof and the pioneers

Zamenhofrsquos ideology treats languages as tools ofcommunication and communication as a tool for improvinghuman welfare [This implies] that the peoples of the worldhave much in common so international communication willcontribute to friendship and peace rather than animosity andwar (Jordan 1987 my emphasis)

Esperanto outlived its creator not because of structuralperfection but because of [hellip] a community which linked thelanguage to nonlinguistic ideas (Corsetti 1981 my emphasis)


La bela sonĝo de lrsquo homarohellip

hellipkatolika (1903)hellip

hellipvegetarana (1908)hellip

The ldquoneutral languagerdquo of UEA (1908)

In 1908 Hector Hodler founded the Universala Esperanto-Asocio(UEA) as the ldquoRed Cross of the Soulrdquo in Geneva CH

Hitler and Stalin against Esperanto

From Mazur (2014)

The reaction of several Esperantistshellip

hellipand the tragic result the ldquodangerous languagerdquo

After Auschwitzthe need to define neutralismagain

The new UEA after WW2 1954

Since the aftermath of WW2 the centre of the Esperanto Movementbecame UEA and thanks to the work by Ivo Lapenna UEA started tobe in ldquoConsultative arrangements with UNESCO 1962 Category Brdquoafter the Montevideo Resolution IV4422-4224 (1954) in favour ofEsperanto because its results ldquocorrespond with the aims and ideals ofUnescordquo

Lapenna in his Esperanto en perspektivo (1974) argues that theacceptance of a single national language for internationalcommunication is irrealistic as the other nations will not accept itAt the international level multilingualism is considered a problemand Esperanto its solution


The Esperanto generation of the late 1960s

Since 1956 a distinct junulara movado ldquoyouth movementrdquo formedinside UEA with a definite association called TEJO En 1969 in theirmeeting young Esperantists signed the Declaration of Tyresouml (SE mytranslation from Esperanto my emphasis)

If we apply with consistence the concept of conserving theintegrity of individuals you will condemn linguistic andcultural discriminations in any form and also the so-calledsolution of the language problem which is based on thediscrimination and we find that until now we pay not enoughattention to the destruction of cultural and linguisticbackground of many peoples This destruction is nothingelse than a tool of linguistic imperialism


Esperanto for interethnic relations (1972)

The magazine Etnismo was founded in 1972 and in 1978 a distinctldquointernational committee for ethnic freedomrdquo (IKEL) was formedFrom the first issue of Etnismo (my translation from Esperanto myemphasis)

The struggle against linguistic discrimination in no way can limititself to state languages rather it should consider at the sametime if it is sincere the unfortunate languages of ethnicminorities within the states

The Esperanto language ideology for the first time considers not onlythe international level but also the national and subnational levels


Multilingualism and Esperanto a difficult relation

In the 1970-1980 years the Esperantists of the ldquoSoviet schoolrdquodid not take part to the struggle against linguistic imperialismemphasing that lsquointernationalrsquo lsquointerethnicrsquo lsquoglobalrsquo languages andEsperanto can coexist in harmony (Pietilaumlinen 2010)

Moreover the Manifesto of Rauma (FI) signed by young Esperantistswanted to put the emphasis on the Esperanto community over theEsperanto Movement In particular the role of English in theemerging globalization in the 1980s could not be underestimated bythe new generation of Esperantists who did see the conceptualframe ldquoEsperanto vs Englishrdquo untenable


From the Manifesto of Rauma 12

The signers find a contradiction in the attitude ofEsperantists almost a conflict between our Superego and Egoour Superego makes us preach to the others on some myths ndashL2 for all English is our enemy UN should adoptEsperanto etc ndash and praise too much the language even in anunfair way in interviews at the same time between ourselveswe enjoy and apply Esperanto according to what it really iswithout any regard of the slogans of the Primals [pioneers]



We believe that [hellip] the falling of English is neither a tasknor a concern of Esperantists finally English plays the role ofauxiliary language only analogously to French in its time [hellip]Zamenhof never proposed to the Movement to fight againstFrench because he had in mind another more valuablealternative role for Esperanto [hellip] Esperantisticity is almostthe same as belonging to a self-elected diasporiclinguistic minority


1980-1990s the debate on raŭmismo

The Manifesto of Rauma has the merit of opening the issue ofwhat does Esperanto-kulturo mean In fact original andtranslated prose narrative theatre pop rock rap raggae etcmusic is produced in the language by its speakers for its speakers butwithout so much attention in the documents for the ldquoexternalrdquo world

Being a raŭmisto now means ldquoan Esperantist who cares (much)more to the community than the Movementrdquo except of a smallgroup that hopelessly tries to form an ldquoEsperanto nationrdquo based onthe diasporic stateless concept This is de facto rejected by the vastmajority of Esperanto speakers


1990s rethink Esperanto

In the early 1990s two major events changed the worldwide situation the fall of the USSR the invention of the WWWThe role of UEA as a bridge across the Iron Curtain did not have anysense anymore a ideological rethinking was again needed


1996 Linguistic Rights and Esperanto

In 1996 June the World Commission on Linguistic Rights ldquoanon-official consultative body made up of representatives ofnon-governmental organizations and other organizations working inthe field of linguistic lawrdquo signed the Universal Declaration onLinguistic Rights under the auspices of UNESCO A long text (14pages) of 52 Articles

In 1996 July officials of UNESCO and attendees of the WorldCongress of Esperanto drafted the Prague Manifesto wherelinguistic rights were put into an Esperanto perspective reframing theideology in a changing world A short text (2 pages) of 7 points only


From the Prague Manifesto 13

1 Democracy [hellip] Although like any language Esperanto is notperfect it greatly exceeds all rivals in the sphere of equitableglobal communication

2 Transnational education Any ethnic language is linked to acertain culture and nation or group of nations [hellip] The studentwho studies Esperanto learns about a world without limits inwhich every country is like a home

3 Pedagogical Efficiency Only a small percentage of those whostudy a foreign language begin to master it Full understanding ofEsperanto is achievable within a month of study [hellip]


From the Prague Manifesto 23 4 Multilingualism The Esperanto community is one of the few

worldwide linguistic communities whose members are withoutexception bi- or multilingual [hellip] In multiple cases this leads tothe knowledge and love of several languages and generally tobroader personal horizons

5 Linguistic Rights [hellip] In the Esperanto community the speakersof a language large or small official or nonofficial meet onneutral terms thanks to a reciprocated will to compromiseThis equilibrium between linguistic rights and responsibilitiesprovides a precedent for developing and evaluating other solutionsto language inequalities and conflict We assert that policies ofcommunication and development if not based on respectand support for all languages condemn to extinction themajority of the wordrsquos languages [hellip]



6 Linguistic Diversity The national governments tend to considerthe grand diversification of world languages as barriers tocommunication and development For the Esperanto communityhowever linguistic diversity is a constant and indispensablesource of enrichment Therefore every language like everyliving thing is inherently valuable and worthy of protectionand support

7 Human Emancipation Every language liberates and imprisons itsspeakers giving to them the power to communicate amongthemselves while barring them from communication with others[hellip] We assert that the exclusive use of national languagesinevitably raises barriers to the freedoms of expressioncommunication and association


Declarations and Manifestos after Prague

The merit of the Prague Manifesto is to reconcile the Declarationof Tyresouml and the Manifesto of Rauma extracting the best pointswithout the extremes

The Prague Manifesto also has the merit to link the languageideology of Esperanto with the linguistic rights also of minoritylanguages without any doubt So no more ldquoone world languageproblemrdquo (la monda lingvo-problemo) but ldquolanguage problemsrdquo(plural) where Esperanto can play a role There are no moreexplicit ideological changes after the Prague Manifesto

After 20 years the role of Esperanto for balanced multilingualismentered the commonsensical knowledge of the Esperanto speaker(Caligaris 2016)


An example a recent UEA action at the UN

In 2015 the UN launched the programme of Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) for the years 2015-30 The 21-22 April 2016 there wasa symposium on languages and the SDGs organized by HumphreyTonkin (Hartford) former President of UEA under the auspices ofUEA Diplomats scholars and activists of NGOs participated

Languages (at any level) are never explicitly mentioned in theObjectives as pointed out by several participants (among the othersSuzanne Romaine Rosemary Salomone Timothy Reagan) No apartmention of Esperanto was made unlike Lapennarsquos epoque


Goals 2030 a hot topic for Esperantists

Cover of the official magazine of UEA November 2015

Where are linguistic rights here

From UN official web site of SDGs

The 21st century Esperantoand digital communication

Esperanto as an alternative globalization

For the so-called ldquodigital nativesrdquo globalization is a matter of fact andan everyday practice especially through the tools of digitalcommunication such as social media (Facebook Twitter InstagramSnapchat) but not only ndash think to Wikipedia and Skype

Esperanto becomes the (possible) vehicle for a better globalizationfair and equitable New learners often see themselves as merelyEsperanto users Esperanto is a linguistic tool to perform thingsthat they already do ndash for example travelling


Esperanto as a low-cost language

Traditionally Esperanto courses are given for free or at a very lowcost This fits perfectly with the idea of internet as the (virtual)land of freedom Moreover the effort to learn Esperanto isconsiderably low compared to natural languages according toanecdotical evidence

New learners nowadays come across Esperanto for fortuity orserendipity not through the traditional structures of the EsperantoMovement that is the lokaj kluboj local groups The ideologicalreflection upon Esperanto is not known nor they show too muchinterest at least at the first glance


Anecdotical evidence of how people come to Esperanto

when installing free software (eg Linux distro) the languagechoice of lsquoEsperantorsquo is next to lsquoEnglishrsquo

the language is mentioned within ldquoconlangingrdquo aside Hollywoodlanguages such as Star Trekrsquos Klingon or Dothraki of the Games ofThrones

looking for information in Wikipedia shows that an Esperantoversion is at disposal

Collectors of comics (eg Tin Tin Asterix Pondus) can find thatan Esperanto version does exist

hellipthen invariably they google it The Duolingo English-Esperantocourse is an incredible success each day 30 people fill the learningtree the majority from the US (Loumlwenstein 2016)


The largest Esperanto classroom ever

Beyond linguistic rights

The Manifest of Prague is really a great ensemble of ideas butit cannot be the absolute yardstick of our action [hellip] Esperantois far more than a remedy for democratizing thecommunication and defend the language rights of thepeoples [hellip] It can be a tool for a worldwide network of solidaryeconomy and fair commerce [hellip] We cannot anymore think andact as human beings who know nothing of the crude problemsof our world in any field [hellip] Preaching of linguistic rights andfair and democratic communication will be heared stronger andlarger when we will be engaged in the solution of the verycrude social problems of our suffering world (Fabriacutecio Valleeditor-in-chief of Esperanto Nov 2015 my emphasis)


Acknowledgement of funding

MIME ndash Mobility and Inclusion in Multilingual Europe

The research leading to these results has received fund-ing from the European Communityrsquos Seventh Frame-work Programme under grant agreement No 613344(Project MIME)

UEA ndash Universala Esperanto-Asocio (Rotterdam NL)

One of the authorsrsquo is appointed as holder of the Spe-cial Chair in Interlinguistics and Esperanto at the Uni-versity of Amsterdam on behalf of UEA The contentand opinions expressed here are the authorrsquos ones andthey do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UEA


Thank you Dankon

Questions Comments ⟨FGobbouvanl⟩

goberiko federicogobbo +FedericoGobbo

httpfedericogobbonamepub


Introduction

The tradition of Esperanto one language several ideologies

After Auschwitz the need to define neutralism again

The 21st century Esperanto and digital communication

Introduction

What is Esperanto



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5 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo







6 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo




















From Mazur (2014)


























































































Thank you Dankon





Introduction




What is Esperanto



3 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo









5 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo







6 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo




















From Mazur (2014)


























































































Thank you Dankon





Introduction












5 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo







6 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo




















From Mazur (2014)


























































































Thank you Dankon





Introduction










6 (cc) 2016 F Gobbo




















From Mazur (2014)


























































































Thank you Dankon





Introduction























From Mazur (2014)


























































































Thank you Dankon





Introduction





























































































Thank you Dankon





Introduction




The language ideology of Esperanto

Education

Transcript of The language ideology of Esperanto