Language revitalisation refers to the aims of supporting languages that are at risk of disappearing due to declining numbers of native speakers. Revitalising languages can be done in various ways, such as through the contribution of small communities or through larger national scopes like the role of government (Grenoble and Whaley, 2005). A notable method of language revitalisation of the Kven language is how educational policies were implemented such as the Kven language now being taught as a subject in schools and universities (Kunnas, 2003). This proves as an institutional support in favour for this language maintenance. This can help maintain the Kven language as it ensures that the population of speakers will increase the more it is learned by students at school. Additionally, another policy that contributed to the revitalisation of Kven was how new ideologies had begun to form. The idea of linguistic human rights started to be developed within language minority communities which lead to cultural activities, as well as legal and economic changes that embraced Kven as an equal language that native speakers could freely participate in (Pietikäinen et al., 2010). As a result of this Kven was recognised as a language in Norway. Both these policies that have been implemented to revitalise Kven as a minority language can be explained as vernacularisation, a term used to detail how a less powerful local language is promoted to an official status. The maintenance of the Kven language can be influenced by factors such as identity and community choice. By maintaining a minority language, it can help to build a formation of group identity as well as provide a sense of authenticity that can be used to distinguish one linguistic group from another. Not only this but losing one’s language can be seen as a loss of one’s culture, therefore by maintaining a language also means maintenance of culture.

Bibliography

Grenoble, L.A. and Whaley, L.J. (2005). Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization. [online] Google Books. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zOpczyth-XgC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=what+is+language+revitalization&ots=aA2_enQtOb&sig=OHy6NpSDwUbSOB2b4F-D8MNXu5c&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20language%20revitalization&f=false [Accessed 8 Nov. 2022].

Kunnas, N. (2003). Revitalization of minority languages as a way to promote well-being in the North. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 62(4), pp.410–422. doi:10.3402/ijch.v62i4.17584.

Pietikäinen, S., Huss, L., Laihiala-Kankainen, S., Aikio-Puoskari, U. and Lane, P. (2010). Regulating Multilingualism in the North Calotte: The Case of Kven, Meänkieli and Sámi Languages. Acta Borealia, 27(1), pp.1–23. doi:10.1080/08003831.2010.486923.

This blog will discuss the Kven language and how it developed as a minority language. Kven was largely spoken in Northern Norway but had also been recognised as a language in regions in Finland and Sweden. The language advanced from high numbers of migration from Finish-speaking areas in Northern Finland and Sweden to Northern Norway (Niiranen, 2021). Due to a sharp decline in speaker numbers, kven is now regarded as a minority language. This had occurred as during the previous decades, speakers were made to believe that bilingualism was harmful for children (Kunnas, 2003). As a result of this, kven speakers began to experience a language shift as parents stopped speaking to their children in Kven and focused on teaching them Norwegian. A language shift can be defined as the gradual replacement of one language by another, in this instance the language shift is from Kven to Norwegian (Lane, Hagen and Noklestad, 2022). This highlights the political factor that dictated this shift in language as the subordinate group of Kven speakers, as a minoritized language, did not hold the same political power as the majority language of Norwegian because of its lesser numerical importance, resulting in its shift.

Bibliography

Kunnas, N. (2003). Revitalization of minority languages as a way to promote well-being in the North. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 62(4), pp.410–422. doi:10.3402/ijch.v62i4.17584.

Lane, P., Hagen, K. and Noklestad, A. (2022). View of Creating a corpus for Kven, a minority language in Norway. [online] Septentrio.uit.no. Available at: https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlyd/article/view/6345/6650 [Accessed 8 Nov. 2022].

Niiranen, L. (2021). Minority language learning in Kven through conversation. Acta Borealia, pp.1–18. doi:10.1080/08003831.2021.1911198.

The poem ‘Welcome to Tottenham’ written by Giovanni Rose illustrates the societal struggles faced by Giovanni, as a young black boy living in modern day Britain. The poem opens up with how the odour of “chick king” is mixed with the odour of the “corpse from the night before.” This immediately creates a hostile atmosphere for the reader, aiding them to develop an understanding of the hardships that are yet to be followed within the poem. The quote “Where kids have holes in their last pair of shoes” speaks on the economic capital surrounding children and families in Tottenham as they are faced with the issue of poverty. Giovanni then follows this up by stating how “If you look like [him] it’s harder for you” and how if you are “darker” you are no longer considered as equal in comparison with your white counterparts. These quotes display the racial discrimination within Tottenham, highlighting the social capital that affects Giovanni and his peers. The negative affects of social capital are then further depicted through the quote “the police see colour before they see crime.” This insinuates the extent in which young black boys are socially targeted as a result of the colour of their skin. Giovanni comments on when children are stopped and searched, they “aren’t allowed to ask why”, relating to symbolic capital as they are silenced by figures of authority. Giovanni then refers to Tottenham as “The devil’s playground.” The use of “playground” suggest how the setting of a playground, typically associated as being a safe space for children, has now become occupied with atrocities such as racial discrimination and a high rise of knife crime. The repetitive use of the title of the poem “Welcome to Tottenham” within the poem is to act as a reminder that such horrors are still taking place in a modern, well developed city such as Tottenham.

The fourth plinth sculpture designed by Heather Phillipson, depicts a large whipped cream, topped with a cherry, fly and a drone at the top of the sculpture. Phillipson explains that her initial idea to create the sculpture was sparked by the current political climate during the year of 2016, especially the Eu referendum and Donald Trump being elected as the US president. This inspiration is reflected in the sculpture through the use of the fly on the whipped cream. This is done so that such political events that had previously occurred can be seen as displeasing to those at the time during 2016, similarly to those who view the sculpture and see the fly on the whipped cream as being distasteful. As a result of this inspiration, the sculpture is open to different forms of critiques as such depictions of politics, as well as the sculpture being visible to the public, will encourage debates regarding the politics surrounding the art. This ultimately affects how people will choose to interoperate the sculpture as they will be influenced by the inspiration of the art, and form their opinions based on what they understand to be the foundation as to why the sculpture has been built. My initial reaction upon first viewing the sculpture was mostly confusion as I struggled to draw up correlations between the whipped cream, cherry, fly and the drone. However, after researching about the sculpture and Phillipson’s thoughts put into her art, I am now able to appreciate how the different aspects of the sculpture can be considered on an individual scale. For example, the drone symbolises the constant media coverage of various types of news, such as the pandemic, a topic in which Phillipson also credits the sculpture’s inspiration towards. The location of the sculpture plays a vital role on it’s impact on the public as Trafalgar square is considered as once of the busiest places in Britain, which contributes to the increase in engagement from the public.

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