Tradition and Modernity in Scottish Gaelic Language Media Ann Stewart Memorial University of Newfoundland

University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Anthropology Department Field Program in Final Reports of EFS student participants European Studies 2009 Tradition and Modernity in Scottish Gaelic Language Media Ann Stewart Memorial University of Newfoundland Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/efsp_field_rpts Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, First and Second Language Acquisition Commons, Linguistic Anthropology Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Stewart, Ann, "Tradition and Modernity in Scottish Gaelic Language Media" (2009). Final Reports of EFS student participants. 3. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/efsp_field_rpts/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology Department Field Program in European Studies at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Final Reports of EFS student participants by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ann Stewart Final Research Report European Field Studies Program Department of Anthropology University of Massachusetts Amherst July 8, 2009 Tradition and Modernity in Scottish Gaelic Language Media Popular understandings of minority language communities often include negative characterizations of both language and speaker as “outdated” or “backward.” Those characterizations stem from a dominant Western practice of separating the world into the dichotomous categories of “traditional” and “modern,” then positively valuing that which has been labeled “modern” (generally the central elements of majority language communities). In this dichotomy, minority languages and their speakers fall under the less-desirable label of “traditional.” The practice is problematic because it creates an ideology of difference that does not accurately reflect the complex reality of the majority/minority relationship and negatively pigeonholes members of the minority language community so that even they may find it difficult to identify convincing reasons for continuing to use the language.1 The ideology thus undermines the intergenerational transmission that Joshua Fishman says is required for a language to be “self-sustaining,” i.e. not in need of conscious steps toward “maintenance” (1996: 7). 1 In this context, I use the term “ideology” to suggest “representations that are contestable, socially positioned, and laden with political interest” (Hill and Mannheim 1992: 382). In this vein, Joel Kuipers defines language ideologies as “ideas with which participants frame their understandings of linguistic varieties and the differences among them, and map those understandings onto people, events, and activities” (1998: 18). Language ideologies come into play every time that language does, and they guide what we do or think in relation to language. As Kathryn Woolard and Bambi Schieffelin put it, “A wealth of public problems hinge on language ideology” (1994: 72). In the past, scholars have tended to credit the proliferation and circulation of majority language media with reifying this dichotomy and aiding in the decline of minority language use, but Patrick Eisenlohr notes a growing awareness that media can also be a tool for challenging widely held beliefs (2004: 23-24). Minority language media has the potential to reflect the true variety within its associated language communities and thereby counteract one-dimensional understandings of them as “outdated,” “backward,” or any other of the “non-modern” characterizations that may be encouraging intergenerational language shift. Minority language communities are increasingly turning to media as a site for breaking down the false dichotomy between “traditional” and “modern” so that the past, present, and future of the language receive equal attention. Correspondingly, I use media as a means of exploring how the future of the Scottish Gaelic community (taken as an instance of wider trends among minority language communities) may benefit from attempts to simultaneously highlight its inseparable “traditional” and “modern” aspects. Having accepted a traditional/modern dichotomy, Gaelic-speaking parents may think it unimportant to pass on their native language and/or they may think it vital to completely immerse their children in the dominant English language in order to ensure future prosperity. Likewise, young people may find the social and economic prospects of the English-speaking community to be sufficient motivation for turning away from Gaelic. The traditional/modern ideology primes people against imagining simultaneous engagement in both language communities and questioning their mutual exclusivity. In the case of Gaelic, the traditional/modern dichotomy translates into expectations about the geographic location, age, and favorite pastimes of the entire language community. Those expectations have been normalized Stewart 2 over hundreds of years and are very limited in their scope. Few people can, or would even want to, live up to them. The stereotypical Gaelic speaker (an elderly person living somewhere in the rural Highland and Islands2 and possessing a rich knowledge of story and song) exists on the periphery of each of the three categories of geography, age and interests. The content of some of the Gaelic-language television programs that aired while I was conducting fieldwork in Glasgow in the spring of 2007 seemed to support those associations for the language. The series “Iomall Nan Tonn”(translated into English as “The Islands of Scotland,” though a literal translation would produce something like “The Edge of the Waves”) reinforced the geographical association by presenting aerial views of the Islands with a Gaelic voiceover that provided brief histories of each. A number of other programs featured elderly Gaelic-speakers sitting in front of a camera and telling stories, or singing songs. There are certainly people who enjoyed, and could relate to, the content of these programs. However, many of the people I talked to in Glasgow who were not part of the Gaelic media sector cited these types of programs to support their arguments that Gaelic language programming was, at best, in dire need of a makeover and, at worst, a complete waste of time and money. Those who held the contrasting opinion that some Gaelic programs actually outshone their English-language counterparts usually referenced “Èorpa” (“Europe”), a news program that covers European stories that have been passed over by other news outlets. That program in particular inspired admiration among those who did not understand Gaelic and pride among those who did. Another program that my informants spoke of positively was “Dè a-nis?” (literally: “What now?,” colloquially: “What’s up?”). It was commended for the engagement it 2 The “Islands” in the phrase “Highlands and Islands” generally refers to the Inner and Outer Hebrides, also known as the Western Isles. Stewart 3 encouraged among school-aged viewers with its variety-show format, interactive competitions (including quizzes on popular culture topics), and segments filmed on-site at Gaelic-medium education units throughout Scotland. Both of these programs were Gaelic and yet did not fit stereotypes of Gaelicness. My conversations in Glasgow suggested that those who were familiar with the full range of Gaelic television programs had more positive opinions about the Gaelic language and its speakers than did those who were only aware of the programs that featured “traditional” indexes of Gaelicness.3 In the Field My own research in this subject area is anchored by the fieldwork I carried out in Glasgow. I chose that location for its access both to media practitioners and Gaelic speakers. The majority of companies responsible for Gaelic media production are centered in Glasgow and the city actually boasts the most concentrated Gaelic community in Scotland. While in Glasgow, I spoke with people who held various positions related to the production of media in the Gaelic language. Most of my informants were employed in the television sector and interviewing them provided me with the perspectives of writers, directors, heads of funding organizations, heads of production companies, students, and instructors. My informants were further divided between employees of public and independent corporations, and people who were raised inside and outside of historically Gaelic-speaking regions. The bulk of my interview questions were 3 I recognize that initial positive interest in Gaelic may motivate certain people to actively seek out Gaelic programming (rather than simply stumbling upon it while channel surfing) and familiarize themselves with its true breadth. Stewart 4 centered around a new Gaelic Digital Service (GDS) that was then in the planning stages.4 The GDS is unique in that it was conceived of as tripartite. At that point, Gaelic already had a strong radio presence in the form of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Radio nan Gàidheal (Radio of the Gaels), but its presence on television was decidedly weaker (roughly six hours each week, the majority of which was non-fiction programming) and websites in Gaelic were mainly grassroots efforts. These three types of media were to be the foci of the new GDS, and a shift to the increasingly dominant practice of 360° commissioning (asking producers to create content that can be presented across media formats rather than programs for a single

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