Acclaimed Scottish author Irvine Welsh has voiced concern over the eroding status of languages amid the dominance of technology, calling for a return to cultural roots and community engagement during the inaugural ‘Voiced: The Festival for Endangered Languages’ in the U.K.
The Rise of Technology and the Decline of Language
The festival was introduced as a celebration of the power of language and art, spotlighting both global and local endangered languages through various performances and discussions. This comes in a context where, as predicted, half of the world’s languages might vanish by the end of the century.
Welsh, known for his 1993 novel ‘Trainspotting’, read from his latest work, ‘Men in Love’, written in the Edinburgh dialect. He participated in a panel titled \\”The Art of Language\\” alongside notable personalities like poet Raymond Antrobus and Welsh singer Talulah.
“If language is divorced from culture, it becomes a weapon of imperialism, it becomes a weapon of control, it becomes a weapon of commerce,” Welsh argued. “And it generally becomes about instruction. And my big concern is not just that certain languages are endangered, but language in general is endangered by the type of world that we’ve created [through] the technology and power structures we have created, and that we’re moving into a post-culture world.”
Technology’s Impact on Cultural Discourse
Welsh warned about the internet’s role in decontextualizing knowledge, suggesting that it fosters instructions from states, corporations, and powers rather than nurturing real discourse and community. According to the author, this shift challenges the heart of language and culture.
“The internet’s been a massive tool in this, because the internet not only decontextualizes knowledge that it gives us. It asks things from us from the state, corporations, and from power sources,” he noted with concern. “It’s not really about debate and discussion, discourse, community anymore. That’s where real language and real culture thrive.
Welsh humorously suggested a simple antidote: more social engagement and reading.
“I think people should just get out more,” Welsh offered to laughs. “And read more.”
The Call to Books and Stories
Discussing the cultural references of today’s youth, Welsh emphasized the importance of reading over passive consumption of media. He used the Netflix series ‘Adolescence’ to highlight the disconnection.
“We’ve got a situation now where most people would probably have seen Adolescence. And you see the decline of empathy and [you see] decontextualized knowledge, particularly amongst young men.” He stressed, “It’s largely because of not reading. People should be reading books, they should be reading stories, they should be reading novels, because these are exercises in empathy.”
Critique of Globalization and Technology
Welsh critiqued what he sees as the false promise of multiculturalism, which he believes is actually globalization in disguise.
“What we’re being sold as multiculturalism isn’t. It’s globalization basically.” He further warned, “We do have to be very judicious in the use of technology and remember what technology is set up to do. It’s set up to sell us things. … And then when we run out of money, it’s set up to control us through algorithms and through reducing us to stimulus-response machines on low-frequency instruction. So we have to really get back into communities.”
The Consequences of Losing Language
Welsh emphasized the severity of losing language in press notes prior to the event, encapsulating his views on the consequences in a poignant manner.
“Without language, we have no culture, and when we lose language, we lose culture,” he was quoted as saying. “We become androids of the tech age, slaves to algorithms, ready to obey instructions which are reduced only to symbols. The human experience leaks away as we bleed into serfdom.”
The ‘Voiced’ festival continues until Saturday.
Reporting based on the original article; quotes reproduced verbatim.
