OR THE BABEL TOWER UPSIDE DOWN
Voice Dialogue and linguistic expression
Breughel's Tower of Babel revisited by Marie-Danielle Koechlin
The myth
“According to the Bible, the ancient inhabitants of Babylon were one people who spoke one language. The day came when they had an idea to build a tower that would be high enough to reach heaven and would allow them direct access to paradise. This tower was called the "Tower of Babel" - "Babel" meaning "gate of heaven." But God, seeing that these men had become too proud, decided to punish them by making them speak different languages so that they could no longer understand one another. They were thus forced to abandon their project and were dispersed upon the face of the earth, creating a people who were strangers to one another. This is the account found in Genesis, and we sometimes use the term "Tower of Babel" to indicate a place where constant noise and confusion prevails.”
The myth points out that it was man’s desire for power and his desire to go beyond his limits that incurred God’s wrath. God punished them with the multiplicity of languages.
Several solutions are possible :
And what if access to 'Gate of Heaven' were contingent on the multiplicity of languages?
As the domination of one language over another always leads to sterility and a lack of richness, the idea came to us that we would like to benefit from this European Convergence to propose an experiment: to create a new upside-down Tower of Babel.
This means creating a new 'Aware Ego' in terms of language. This new 'Aware Ego' will be made up of all our cultural sub-personalities.
In Europe we still are lucky that there are many spoken languages. How long will that last? There is a momentum gaining steam, perhaps in the not too-near future, where English will perhaps be the only surviving language.
We propose
that participants express themselves in the language of their choice
that each participant expresses himself in the language of his choice and that the other reply in the language of his choice. This implies 'language facilitators' which is a term that is not neutral. We are not referring to professional translators but of "peers" who are able to help other participants. These 'facilitators' will be identifiable in a certain way and will be able to be called upon when needed and when they are available. This will not be a service that will be organized by the Convergence committee but rather will be something that each person will negotiate, according to his needs and the availability of the facilitators.
Questions
The problem solving and creative ability of the group will be challenged in order to resolve the following questions that will no doubt be raised such as:
“According to the Bible, the ancient inhabitants of Babylon were one people who spoke one language. The day came when they had an idea to build a tower that would be high enough to reach heaven and would allow them direct access to paradise. This tower was called the "Tower of Babel" - "Babel" meaning "gate of heaven." But God, seeing that these men had become too proud, decided to punish them by making them speak different languages so that they could no longer understand one another. They were thus forced to abandon their project and were dispersed upon the face of the earth, creating a people who were strangers to one another. This is the account found in Genesis, and we sometimes use the term "Tower of Babel" to indicate a place where constant noise and confusion prevails.”
The myth points out that it was man’s desire for power and his desire to go beyond his limits that incurred God’s wrath. God punished them with the multiplicity of languages.
Several solutions are possible :
- Let things evolve on their own; this is when a "dominant language"
gradually takes over. Like “auto-pilot” this inevitably leads
to a situation that appears almost irreversible. It’s much easier and more
economic in the short term.
But this becomes a vicious circle with several disadvantages:
- The "primary parts" loose an opportunity to experience what it is like
to be without the framework of their mother tongue. They end up
finding themselves with other native speakers who find it normal that their native language is the only one used. - Those who do not speak the dominant language become reluctant to
enroll in international events for fear of not being able to join in, even if these events occur in their hometown. - Or if they still make the effort to come, they may experience quite
lot of difficulties with possible feelings of helplessness, of rejection, worthlessness or shame to which must be added the feelings of fatigue, the near impossibility of making jokes, puns, the slowdown in exchanges, the fear of missing out on things that are essential, the feeling of always having to be the ones who make all the effort and they hesitate to ask for translation, in short, their experience will be a sense of general regression and inferiority. Language is indeed the very expression of oneself, and as such, it touches the deep roots of one’s identity. - Create a new language that everyone can understand. This is the principal of 'Esperanto', an interesting project, but one that has never really worked, as this language has no relationship to anyone's cultural identity.
- Or, in terms of Voice Dialogue, create a collective 'Aware Ego' that can take advantage of the unique flavor of each person's language and of the richness of each culture. This implies goodwill and creativity on our part.
And what if access to 'Gate of Heaven' were contingent on the multiplicity of languages?
As the domination of one language over another always leads to sterility and a lack of richness, the idea came to us that we would like to benefit from this European Convergence to propose an experiment: to create a new upside-down Tower of Babel.
This means creating a new 'Aware Ego' in terms of language. This new 'Aware Ego' will be made up of all our cultural sub-personalities.
In Europe we still are lucky that there are many spoken languages. How long will that last? There is a momentum gaining steam, perhaps in the not too-near future, where English will perhaps be the only surviving language.
We propose
that participants express themselves in the language of their choice
that each participant expresses himself in the language of his choice and that the other reply in the language of his choice. This implies 'language facilitators' which is a term that is not neutral. We are not referring to professional translators but of "peers" who are able to help other participants. These 'facilitators' will be identifiable in a certain way and will be able to be called upon when needed and when they are available. This will not be a service that will be organized by the Convergence committee but rather will be something that each person will negotiate, according to his needs and the availability of the facilitators.
Questions
The problem solving and creative ability of the group will be challenged in order to resolve the following questions that will no doubt be raised such as:
- Won't this process considerably slow down the rhythm of exchanges between participants?
Most certainly 'yes', but is this so important? Why do we need to go quickly? Is the quantity or the quality of our exchanges more important? In any case, this will compel us to be more succinct and to become aware of the 'essence' of what we wish to express. - And what if we don't have enough language facilitators?
That is why we are asking all of those who can contribute to the success of this experience to make themselves known (see: registration form).
Convergence - Geneviève Cailloux- 26 janvier 2012
