After having watched the blog-spat between Carl and MM, I’d like to point out something that captured my attention in Kalalau’s Blunder by MM. MM accused Carl of fomenting dissent. That stopped me dead in my tracks and caused me to mull over the situation.

“Fomenting dissent”…hmm. I will get back to that phrase in a moment. Please bear with me for now.

We all know that MM considers The Queen’s English as superior to BSL and ASL. MM’s opinion is a given. No one can argue this after having read his blog posts and comments in various other blogs. He demands access to ASL in the form of English text. He seems to be under the impression that providing access to ASL in the form of English merely requires transcribing [in the sense that some think that ASL is a manual expression of English] rather than actual time-consuming translating.

We also know that Carl considers ASL as a language in its own right, on a par with English… justifiably so. We know that Carl is of the opinion that to discuss ASL, one should use ASL. Again, justifiably so.

After all, to discuss the language of ASL using English is inadequate. That is like trying to define Chinese, or Swahili, or even LSQ (langue des signes québécoise) in English terms… you cannot do it because cultural information gets lost, or misinterpreted. You have to use ASL to discuss ASL properly, without missing out on cultural nuances, just as you have to use English (whether it be Her Majesty’s, Canadian, Australian or American…and there are distinct differences between these four dialects of the same language) to discuss English properly. All these languages come with DISTINCT cultural and regional information that is important to know in order to fully understand what the person of that language is saying.

With that said, let’s get back to “fomenting dissent”. Definitions according to these online dictionaries:

a) FOMENT:
(http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=foment)

foment: (v.) agitate: try to stir up public opinion

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
to promote the growth or development of : rouse, incite

b) DISSENT:
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
· protest: express opposition through action or words; “dissent to the laws of the country”
· protest: the act of protesting; a public (often organized) manifestation of dissent

Put together, “fomenting dissent” would mean that Carl was fomenting a rebellion. What is Carl, that instigating troublemaker, fomenting a rebellion against? A government? Is he committing sedition? Is he breaking a law? Is he fomenting an organized protest? None of the above.

Simply put, that vexing demagogue simply refuses to translate his ASL vlogs into English text. Flog him! Call on the horses to draw and quarter him! No, throw him into the dungeon and throw away the key!

The Welsh blogger demands that Carl provide access to ASL through English text because the former does not understand either BSL or ASL. He has even appealed to the owner of DeafRead to force Carl to “provide access” to his ASL vlogs. After all, most people in the world use English.

Excuse me while I open the windows in my house to get rid of the noxious fumes of superiority in the form of language hegemony!

While I understand MM’s frustration re: access, he does not understand a few things:

1. It is not a matter of transcription. This would imply that ASL is “a manual expression of English”. That is a fallacy. ASL is a language, DISTINCT from English. Therefore, transcription is an impossibility.

2. It’s not an access issue. It’s a language issue. To provide “access” would require a COMPLETE TRANSLATION of one language into another language, rather than a simple transcription of a spoken version of a language into a written one such as the English captioning on TV.

Please view Patti Durr’s excellent comment in Tayler Mayer’s Peripheral vision of the online community, which discusses language translation as opposed to transcription.

3) Forced translation into the majority language would result in the stifling of badly needed discussions of the language ASL, in ASL. There are so few ASL text in comparison to the sheer volume of English text available for perusal.. (Yes, there is such a thing as ASL text.) Cultural issues and topics have to be discussed in the language that culture is tied to, first and foremost.

Therefore, there is a real need for a safe space for minority languages/cultures, such as ASL, for one, in the midst of a world that is heavily focused on the medical/disability view, and the supremacy of English as a dominant language.