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Subject: Disappearing Cultures: Tamils Outside Tamil Nadu?
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 02:54:12 +0000
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Dear Friends,
I found this write-up on National Geographic website reflecting on
disappearing cultures:
"What does it mean when one culture changes or vanishes from the Earth? How
does a language influence or embody a given culture? And what does it mean
to a people, or to the rest of the world, when a language dies?
Many believe that the world is experiencing a mass extinction of cultures,
and that a loss of one culture—the collective intellect, memory, and values
of a people transmitted from one generation to the next through language,
stories, and art and other objects—is as profound as the loss of a
biological species.
One of the best indicators of the health of the world's cultures may be the
state of its languages—and many are rapidly disappearing. Cultural
anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis
explains: "A language isn't just a body of vocabulary or a set of
grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, a vehicle though which
the soul of a particular culture comes into the material world. And when we
lose a language, we lose a vital element of the human dream."
Despair over the loss of cultures and languages resonates throughout
Tolkien's narrative in The Lord of the Rings. The Elves are disappearing
from Middle-earth. High and Common Elvish, languages that few outside of the
Elves speak or understand, are vanishing along with thousands of years of
Elvish culture and knowledge.
Likewise, the cultural realm of the Dwarves is dwindling, with only a few
strongholds remaining. And though in many ways the hobbits live an idyllic
life, they are culturally isolated and have little knowledge of the outside
world—a characteristic that threatens to destroy them.
Yet it is from the hobbits—thought of by Elves and Dwarves as insignificant
and powerless—that hope arises against the threat of extinction for all of
Middle-earth's cultures. "
Reflecting further from the above, the pertinent question may be: are Tamils
an endangered culture outside Tamil Nadu? We know what is happening in Sri
Lanka. Do any of the overseas Tamils sense this endangered feeling? Any
indicators? Or is everything alright?
Regards,
Sathia.
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