austraLasia #3466
Official in nature
Informal in style
July 16, 2014 -- Without great fanfare, GC27 and the man it chose to lead the Congregation have wrought some change in language practice (which may become policy), and while it is early days, we can probably expect to see this trend continue.
It is a point worthy of consideration in an international Congregation.
When you turn to a 'page' on sdb.org (click on the Korean pic immediately above) and find yourself confronted with 11 languages instead of the usual 5 or 6 'official' ones, as they have been stated in the past, for the Salesian Congregation, you realise something is happening. When you realise that this is still not the 17 the Rector Major originally asked for, but which we can expect to find added, shortly, to that page, you get some sense of where this is heading. Then when you go to read the letter in the language you are most comfortable with, and realise that if it is not there yet, you are invited to translate into it and it can be there - something is definitely happening! And finally, when you do eventually read the letter, you realise something else is happening. There is a change in language register: "official but informal" is how the RM puts it. In some ways, he is reinventing the lost art of the letter for us.
'For us' ... but isn't it for Provincials and Provincial Councils? Well, yes, and well, no, not only. He writes, as he says 'to inform the entire Congregation'. The chief means is 'through' Provincials and their Councils but not only. That's why it is now available on sdb.org. That's why he writes to his Regionals (in Spanish, why not?) saying: "La hemos traducido en 10 lenguas. Te mando algunas que son propias de tu región. Si luego consigues que de manera familiar alguna persona la traduzca en otra más propia –Tetum – Vietnamita – Japonés … será excelente. En el tiempo llegaremos a más" or "We have translated it into 10 languages. I'm sending you some from your Region. If then you want to find a nice way (lit: family style) to ask someone to translate it into their own –Tetum – Vietnamese – Japanese … that would be great. In time we will arrive at more (languages)."
There was something happening already at GC27, beginning with the fact that The Word was proclaimed daily in various languages as part of the assembly. And whatever shortcomings there still were in dealing with communications in a world-wide community, the speed and quality and extent of translation was far ahead of the point it had reached in earlier General Chapters. But it might have been what was NOT said or insisted on that showed the subtle changes going on. It may not be immediately noticed, but while the word 'Sector' is used over and over in the GC27 document, the word 'Department' does not appear once. That is significant. It signals a major change of perspective, and a healthy one. The words we use, like the food we eat, makes a difference to who we are and what we do.
Consider some of the languages amongst the 17 'original' requests: Basque (Euskara for the Basques) is a language isolate but a politically important one in the Spanish context - and for that matter so are Gallician (Gallego) and Catalan. Guaraní is a language linguists regard as an outstanding anomoly - one of the few cases where an indigenous language (think Paraguay, mainly but not only) dominated over the 'dominant' colonial language, has a literature, is available for all domains, etc.
In other words the choices are significant, and Fr Angel has made it clear that they are not a limited choice - the more the better.
This does not mean, of course, that we will suddenly find official communications channels of the Congregation in an increasing number of languages - the sheer demand that would put on the handful of people involved in translation, especially, makes that impossible, but we should not overlook two other factors in this gentle but notable language 'shift' post-GC27: the hint at crowd-sourced translation (the invitation que de manera familiar alguna persona la traduzca ...) and the fact that October will see the first ever translators' meeting for the Congregation take place in this EAO Region. It is intended to assist people in the Region already engaged in translation at local level, but it has in mind being a model for the rest of the Congregation, which has led the RM to tell Fr Vaclav in a brief note to him this week: Y QUIERO AGRADECERTE LA EXCELENTE INICIATIVA DE LOS TRADUCTORES DE TU REGIÓN. FELICIDADES POR ELLO - I want to thank you for the ecellent initiative regarding translators from your Region. Congratulations for that!
Official in nature
Informal in style
It is a point worthy of consideration in an international Congregation.
When you turn to a 'page' on sdb.org (click on the Korean pic immediately above) and find yourself confronted with 11 languages instead of the usual 5 or 6 'official' ones, as they have been stated in the past, for the Salesian Congregation, you realise something is happening. When you realise that this is still not the 17 the Rector Major originally asked for, but which we can expect to find added, shortly, to that page, you get some sense of where this is heading. Then when you go to read the letter in the language you are most comfortable with, and realise that if it is not there yet, you are invited to translate into it and it can be there - something is definitely happening! And finally, when you do eventually read the letter, you realise something else is happening. There is a change in language register: "official but informal" is how the RM puts it. In some ways, he is reinventing the lost art of the letter for us.
'For us' ... but isn't it for Provincials and Provincial Councils? Well, yes, and well, no, not only. He writes, as he says 'to inform the entire Congregation'. The chief means is 'through' Provincials and their Councils but not only. That's why it is now available on sdb.org. That's why he writes to his Regionals (in Spanish, why not?) saying: "La hemos traducido en 10 lenguas. Te mando algunas que son propias de tu región. Si luego consigues que de manera familiar alguna persona la traduzca en otra más propia –Tetum – Vietnamita – Japonés … será excelente. En el tiempo llegaremos a más" or "We have translated it into 10 languages. I'm sending you some from your Region. If then you want to find a nice way (lit: family style) to ask someone to translate it into their own –Tetum – Vietnamese – Japanese … that would be great. In time we will arrive at more (languages)."
There was something happening already at GC27, beginning with the fact that The Word was proclaimed daily in various languages as part of the assembly. And whatever shortcomings there still were in dealing with communications in a world-wide community, the speed and quality and extent of translation was far ahead of the point it had reached in earlier General Chapters. But it might have been what was NOT said or insisted on that showed the subtle changes going on. It may not be immediately noticed, but while the word 'Sector' is used over and over in the GC27 document, the word 'Department' does not appear once. That is significant. It signals a major change of perspective, and a healthy one. The words we use, like the food we eat, makes a difference to who we are and what we do.
Consider some of the languages amongst the 17 'original' requests: Basque (Euskara for the Basques) is a language isolate but a politically important one in the Spanish context - and for that matter so are Gallician (Gallego) and Catalan. Guaraní is a language linguists regard as an outstanding anomoly - one of the few cases where an indigenous language (think Paraguay, mainly but not only) dominated over the 'dominant' colonial language, has a literature, is available for all domains, etc.
In other words the choices are significant, and Fr Angel has made it clear that they are not a limited choice - the more the better.
This does not mean, of course, that we will suddenly find official communications channels of the Congregation in an increasing number of languages - the sheer demand that would put on the handful of people involved in translation, especially, makes that impossible, but we should not overlook two other factors in this gentle but notable language 'shift' post-GC27: the hint at crowd-sourced translation (the invitation que de manera familiar alguna persona la traduzca ...) and the fact that October will see the first ever translators' meeting for the Congregation take place in this EAO Region. It is intended to assist people in the Region already engaged in translation at local level, but it has in mind being a model for the rest of the Congregation, which has led the RM to tell Fr Vaclav in a brief note to him this week: Y QUIERO AGRADECERTE LA EXCELENTE INICIATIVA DE LOS TRADUCTORES DE TU REGIÓN. FELICIDADES POR ELLO - I want to thank you for the ecellent initiative regarding translators from your Region. Congratulations for that!
