Judah: On Language and Community

I was passing someone in the stairwell in Centennial Hall (our classroom building) and said "excuse me;" or perhaps I said "hello." It was shortly after that moment that I began to reflect on what it means to speak things to one another, and think that it is good to think of our spoken words as Gift to one another.

The linguistic dynamics of the globe seem to be in a dismal state. Language has been used to dominate and marginalize people groups since the beginning. It has been a tool of imperialism and colonialism within the hands of Alexander (Greek), ancient Rome (Latin), Spain in South America (Spanish), the British Empire and the U.S. (English). Thousands of local dialects have been wiped out.

A culture is so closely bound up with its language; it is the capacity of one's words that determines the breadth and depth of one's thought; if one does not have a word for something, it is hard to think about it. And even though the imperial languages have afforded us the opportunity of communicating with a vast variety of people groups quite easily, this convenience does not condone the linguistic and cultural violence that brought us to this point, nor does it justify the violence a society commits to maintain its imperial tongue.

Can a passing "hello" in the hallway be seen as a form of linguistic violence? Is all language violent? Certainly, we cannot help to use only a certain set of words... to the marginalization of other words; it is this distinction of meaningful sound from meaningless sound that makes language possible. The realities of locality and geographic proximity make it inevitable that certain people groups - with their unique experiences - will begin to develop new and divergent systems of meaning around those experiences. To the extent that we marginalize that people group's language, we also devalue their life experiences.

Wherever there is human interaction, there is going to be friction, and even violence. The only way to completely avoid violence would be to live in total isolation. But to live outside the context of community is to do violence to our very nature (indeed, some would wonder whether we cease to be human without community and language); we all desire a certain union with those around us.

Therefore, we must enter the messy business of language, for it is only through language that we can communicate - and therefore be in community - with others. Violence will be done, but we can work towards wholesome relationships.

I would propose that the primary way of overcoming linguistic violence is to offer our voice as Gift, and likewise to receive other's voices as Gift. This is very different from how we can offer our voice; it is often used, not as Gift, but as an attempt to dominate and subject the other person; it is used to take. This language of Gift will not only affect our intentions, but must have concrete implications on our daily interactions. It is when we use our voices as Gift and receive other voices as such that we can stop alienating the Other and offer ourselves as welcoming presence, even when this puts us in vulnerable and precarious situations.

It is a gift to be able to communicate "hello" to someone in passing. It is a gift to be able to receive an "excuse me" from an Other. This wonderful gift of language leaves me in awe and joy to know that such communion is possible between me and someone who is completely not me. And yet they are not completely not me; they have within them that little part of me that gives the "hello" meaning. It is this sharing of oneself that makes community possible.

As we see others sharing of themselves with each other in systems of meaning that are peculiar to us, may we take joy in that and see how we can join that circle of meaning. As we see those outside of and isolated from our circles of meaning, may we offer this meaning we have created as Gift to them, while welcoming the patterns of meaning that have made that individual who she is. A nonviolent linguistic ethic will always strive for this reciprocity and mutual attempt to understand.