been having a debate for some time now, and i’m wondering what lessons can be learned from the successful revival of UP and applied to the rather unsuccessful revival of An Ghaeilge?
It appears that if what has been done with UP in the last 30 years could have been done with the language in the last seventy then its survival would have been assured.
The spread of the Cyrillic alphabet, stability of the Welsh language and the revival and prominence of Hebrew in Israel are proof that it can be done…
anyway…before i get long-winded and off topic…refer to my original question…
Holland, too. Everyone greets you in Dutch but easily and without a bother switches immediately to English. While other countries (Germany, France) speak their language and English, Holland seems the most adept at that ‘switch’.
My understanding is that there is no such language as Dutch per se, but many distinct dialects, and people from different areas of Holland are often unable to understand each other. One has to know five or six dialects at least to get around. In a situation like this, it is easy to see how one “outside” language (though somewhat related) could bridge the differences, like English has.
This is nothing the same as in Ireland, where anything to do with the native language, regardless of dialect, has been put down for so long that the Irish have learned to turn their noses up at it due to its relationship with poverty and backwardness (culchies). That being said, there are many strong forces in Ireland promoting the use of the language. (Wanna job in the civil service? You’d better have Irish under your belt.) But still, I am given to understand that they’re a long way from making it a first language once again.
Sorry djm but your understanding is wrong. There’s certainly an official Dutch language and the dialects around are understood by all Dutch. There’s one exception and that’s Frisian as spoken in Friesland a county up north in Holland. But that’s not considered a dialect but a language.
Frisian is in some aspects close to English or better yet to Scottish for example ‘bern’ has in both languages the same meaning.
It’s certainly not true that we need English ‘to bridge’ dialect differences.
The fact that so many Dutch are so willing to switch language has a lot to do with the fact that Holland always has been a nation of traders. This goes way back to the 17th century and for that reason it has become a second nature to adapt. There’s a downside to this willingness to adapt however…
There’s is almost nothing left from our national traditional music and culture…
Sorry, Evertjan. You are obviously better placed to know. My source is Dutch people living here in Canada. They tell of branches within their own families (through marriage) that can’t speak to each other, even though they are all in Holland. They can all speak English to some degree. What can I say? :roll:
I’m originally from Texas, and the first time I went to Boston I literally had to have the guy I was with translate for me…I could not understand what they were saying.
You know what they said around here when Jimmy Carter was in the Whitehouse..“We’re glad there’s finally a President what ain’t got no accent”
I wonder if the revival of UPs and for that matter ITM as we have known it in its present form will continue for much longer (50 years?). I mean, small group bands such as Planxty and Bothy Band were successful in reviving much of Ireland’s musical heritage and making it popular with the young generation of that era who are now not so young, plus those of us who came in contact with it in the 80s just as these groups were on the way out again - those of us now in our 30s. But apart from a handful of other groups - Lunasa, Altan etc, (what has happened to the songs, the settings, it all seems to be session tunes once again). Listening to Christy Moore on the Planxty reunion DVD talking about the songs, it seems to me to have fallen by the wayside once again - or else I’m not as in touch with it all as I think I am
The 80s saw the small group evolve into experimental genres hosted by the likes of Donal Lunny, Moving Hearts, and much of that seems now to have been a passing fad, as was much of the ‘world music’ scene of that time.
There was a brief resurgence of interest again following the vapor trail of Riverdance. But I feel that traditional art forms of any country are increasingly falling victim to globalisation, the success of rock and/or roll and as generations who previously maintained great interest in these genres begin to slip away from this world, subsequent generations will loose sight of their heritage once again. Once again, the pipes will be seen by the younger generations as quaint hangovers of that ‘folkie/hippy’ music that grampa used to listen to’.
My feeling is that it is a tidal thing. The Uilleann Pipe revival brought about by O’Flynn, Moloney, Keenan etc may begin to die out once again over the next 30 or so years, but then perhaps something else will spark another revival after that.
Just a theory yet to be disproven. Feel free to do just that.
