The Celtic people live in our culture and minds very romantically. I see them as big, brave, red-bearded folk who could eat and drink and party and beat up Roman's in their spare time. People who weren't afraid of death, who weren't afraid of life, generally rambunctious. The music we have that we call "Celtic" is some of my favorite music. The spiraling art featured in the Book of Kells is magnificent. I think, perhaps, that these iron-mining people are our cultural reference for Dwarves in a post-Tolkienian fantasy sense.
I've been reading about them recently. They are no less remarkable the more I learn. One great thing I admire about the Celts were slow to adopt written language. Consequently, they were awesomely eloquent. Champions of rhetoric. They had stupendous memory, being less dependent on writing down the things that came into their heads to remember later, they simply remembered it.
According to legend, anyway.
In our modern world, we have an incredible reverence (therefore dependence...) upon the written word. We teach it in our schools as if it is the most important thing in all the world. I am not immune to these symptoms. I like writing more than speaking, really, if I was forced to choose, but I am slow to say that this is an advantage for me. I would also say I admire speakers more, and I believe that this is fairly common. I respect speaking more for the simple reason that it is more social; I find more and more places in our world where society is eroding in favor of distance. Writing could have been the first step toward this. Why talk directly when you can just send a letter. Call instead. Send an email, just text... Devolving all the way down to a Facebook poke. Also, if the Celts could attribute their magnificent memories on their lack of literacy, then I might attribute my poor memory on my own dependence and reverence. Understanding that this is not a thing to boast about, rather a thing to fix. To work on. Right now, it is my reality and I am moderately comfortable with it. I really love writing. I am not so strong a speaker, I am not a quick thinker, I am a fond writer. I like being able to revise. I went to what was easier for me.
But is it better?
I think it's more vague than we often treat it. Writing is important, but not intrinsically. It in only so important because we have made it thus. And now, that we have deemed it indispensable, we cannot dispense with it. It is here to stay.
Sign Language doesn't really have a standard written language.
Not that people haven't been trying. There are at least two systems being heralded onto the stage. I think the results are mixed right now. There is SignWriting, which is a very computer-graphic system. It is pretty quick to understand, but does not look friendly to the pen. All of the graphics look like they were made on an Commodore 64. It has the support of Wikipedia behind it, however. They wish to transpose the encyclopedia into the language. Then there is the ASLwrite Dictionary done in "si5s". Which is something I could actually imagine writing old-school. I am excited about this one, and would like to learn it, thinking that it will help my real signing as well. (I am unsure how the creators expect it to be the vehicle they want it to be when the information isn't available: it is all proprietary and for sale. If it is to be the "official" writing system, it needs to be learn-able. Money may be needed, but the message must be out, too...)
But is digressing down this road really wise? I got to thinking about this as I started constructing my own writing system for ASL. For my own amusement, really. It wasn't very good and was never very complete. I din't know that anyone had already made one. I just wondered how I could do it at first. But soon I got to thinking about the extenuating effects. A written language could be divisive. For a people who are a minority, creating one less incentive for learning the language of the macro-culture could be inhibiting for individuals. It can also be internally divisive: direct communication is less necessary. Just send a letter. And there are all of those incredible mental strengths which come from being illiterate. Independence from paper.
But, on the other hand, and it is a strong hand, writing will go a long way toward preserving this endangered language. With advances in medical science, deafness is not what it once was. We can construct more and more precise artificial ears. When they eclipse the quality of our God-given ears, we might give 'em to everyone. And, like so many other things, a culture, the culture of the Deaf, may be quietly crushed. Along with the beautiful, immediate, and expressive language that is ASL and BSL and et cetera.
It is a discussion worth having. Since it is here, I will probably be learning si5s. ... Sigh.
I've been reading about them recently. They are no less remarkable the more I learn. One great thing I admire about the Celts were slow to adopt written language. Consequently, they were awesomely eloquent. Champions of rhetoric. They had stupendous memory, being less dependent on writing down the things that came into their heads to remember later, they simply remembered it.
According to legend, anyway.
In our modern world, we have an incredible reverence (therefore dependence...) upon the written word. We teach it in our schools as if it is the most important thing in all the world. I am not immune to these symptoms. I like writing more than speaking, really, if I was forced to choose, but I am slow to say that this is an advantage for me. I would also say I admire speakers more, and I believe that this is fairly common. I respect speaking more for the simple reason that it is more social; I find more and more places in our world where society is eroding in favor of distance. Writing could have been the first step toward this. Why talk directly when you can just send a letter. Call instead. Send an email, just text... Devolving all the way down to a Facebook poke. Also, if the Celts could attribute their magnificent memories on their lack of literacy, then I might attribute my poor memory on my own dependence and reverence. Understanding that this is not a thing to boast about, rather a thing to fix. To work on. Right now, it is my reality and I am moderately comfortable with it. I really love writing. I am not so strong a speaker, I am not a quick thinker, I am a fond writer. I like being able to revise. I went to what was easier for me.
But is it better?
I think it's more vague than we often treat it. Writing is important, but not intrinsically. It in only so important because we have made it thus. And now, that we have deemed it indispensable, we cannot dispense with it. It is here to stay.
Sign Language doesn't really have a standard written language.
Not that people haven't been trying. There are at least two systems being heralded onto the stage. I think the results are mixed right now. There is SignWriting, which is a very computer-graphic system. It is pretty quick to understand, but does not look friendly to the pen. All of the graphics look like they were made on an Commodore 64. It has the support of Wikipedia behind it, however. They wish to transpose the encyclopedia into the language. Then there is the ASLwrite Dictionary done in "si5s". Which is something I could actually imagine writing old-school. I am excited about this one, and would like to learn it, thinking that it will help my real signing as well. (I am unsure how the creators expect it to be the vehicle they want it to be when the information isn't available: it is all proprietary and for sale. If it is to be the "official" writing system, it needs to be learn-able. Money may be needed, but the message must be out, too...)
But is digressing down this road really wise? I got to thinking about this as I started constructing my own writing system for ASL. For my own amusement, really. It wasn't very good and was never very complete. I din't know that anyone had already made one. I just wondered how I could do it at first. But soon I got to thinking about the extenuating effects. A written language could be divisive. For a people who are a minority, creating one less incentive for learning the language of the macro-culture could be inhibiting for individuals. It can also be internally divisive: direct communication is less necessary. Just send a letter. And there are all of those incredible mental strengths which come from being illiterate. Independence from paper.
But, on the other hand, and it is a strong hand, writing will go a long way toward preserving this endangered language. With advances in medical science, deafness is not what it once was. We can construct more and more precise artificial ears. When they eclipse the quality of our God-given ears, we might give 'em to everyone. And, like so many other things, a culture, the culture of the Deaf, may be quietly crushed. Along with the beautiful, immediate, and expressive language that is ASL and BSL and et cetera.
It is a discussion worth having. Since it is here, I will probably be learning si5s. ... Sigh.
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