The first article discusses the issue of the lack of Arabic on the Internet. It states,
"To date, there have been three significant events in history that have posed a significant threat to Arab culture: the Mongols’ burning of ‘Dar el Hikmah’ in Baghdad in 1258, the Ottomans’ attempt to force the Turkish language upon the Arab world at the turn of the 20th century, and last but by no means least, the invention of the internet."
The article then concludes with how Arabs are to combat this reality by creating a house of wisdom on the Internet and preserving language and knowledge through the usage of Arabic on the Internet.
http://campaignme.com/2010/09/27/11016/the-great-threat-to-arab-culture/
The second article talks about non-Latin letter usage in URLS. We only recently started to allow for non-Latin letters in our URLs (the last few months). Given that I would say it's definitely not a wide spread practice yet, and regardless people in the Middle East use less and less Arabic letters to communicate with each other with. This reality alone reflects cultural imperialism where the normative is centered yet again. It is particularly detrimental when our language is how we are defined as a people. Most scholars and Arabs in the world agree, an Arab is defined by her/his language. You are an Arab if you speak Arabic. Fragmented identities creating a fragmented language and vice versa translates to an extinct culture, and people. The identity of a current Arab today, is one in transition to a global identity without any connection to its roots. I've experienced and seen this first hand through a cousin who has never lived out side the Middle East but texts on bbm exclusively in English letters, while speaking Arabic. I have friends who are born and raised in the Middle East and went to Arabic speaking schools but hardly speak proper Arabic, and English is still their language of comfort and choice. Arabic is awkward and uncomfortable for them. The list goes on . . .
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/arabic-domain-names-cleared-20100507-uhrh.html
In order to sustain the Arabic language, it was proposed that advertisers should fund more Arabic content and create meaningful experiences with its consumers, which seems to be a legitimate solution. However, if current Arabs are in truly transitioning to a global identity while pulling away from their heritage, creating meaningful experiences with Arabs may be harder than what the article claims. It seems fair to say that advertisers’ use of Arabic content will be meaningful for them if it is consistent with Arabic cultural values, unless of course citizens do not agree to maintain such values. However, considering that many Arabs are already using English, one must also examine the subtle “values” that are embedded within the English language that Arabs might be learning. There seems to be a relationship between one’s language and culture because the structure of one’s language provides some (though not all) insight into cultural values. The English language is systematic, specific, and uses the noun “I” a lot (among many other factors), which might shed some light on how Americans tend to think, communicate directly, and how individualized our culture is. I have not studied Arabic to know what extent language structure and cultural values affect each other, but it's apparent that language is sacred to one's culture (of course, more than just structure). Hopefully more Arabs will take part in keeping their language alive.
ReplyDeleteEasier said then done Carrie but yes in Arabic we use 'we', 'us' and plural 'you' as a sign of respect when communicating with others, particularly Elders. It's subtle but yes, the values intrinsic to our people are slipping away.
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