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PREFACE
"Grandmothers and grandfathers!
we want to thank you for the language
you saved for us
now it is our turn to protect it
for those who are yet unborn
we hope it will come true"
The above quotation comes from the text adopted by the indigenous group Maliseet' named as their Code of Honor. The Maliseet group was subjected to different forms of repression, including actions against their language and the occupation of their territory by the Canadian state. The quotation expresses how their language was transmitted across generations and the promise that upcoming generations would continue the struggle to preserve it. However, in many places of the world, thousands of languages, including the language of Maliseet, are unable to survive because of oppressive state policies. Since these languages are not transmitted to younger generations, they disappear. It is unfortunate that many people, especially those from communities speaking the dominant language, consider it as a natural self-generated process. However, passing language to the younger generations is actually a natural process; language can and does revitalize itself. Hierarchical relationships within the society and repressive government policies interrupt this process. On the one hand, various techniques of oppression and violence are used to punish communities for speaking their mother tongue forcing them to eventually lose it. On the other hand, the responsibility for the languages is placed on communities which are often misled by the misinformation produced by dominant groups. It is the message of colonialism, the message of government. This is the knowledge they want us to believe to be universal. The social and political relationships based on this knowledge operate in a systematic manner in the world to create structural inequalities among languages and the communities using them regardless of their geographic location, ethnicity, race, culture or religion. Their consequences impact men and women and different class groups in different degrees and serve to deepen the inequalities for certain groups even further. This isthe reason why the interruption of intergenerational language transmission, or in other words the loss of language, is not only the problem of certain regions or languages, it is a global issue. The disappearance of a language does not occur in isolation or by chance. It is usually the outcome of actions undertaken by the ruling regime; actions based on political, social and economic domination. The verses of Cahit Irgat portray such dominant power relations in quite a strong way:
They stole our language from our mouths,
money from our pockets,
sweat from our foreheads,
and without selecting colors
our eyes.
Irgat's verses give the explicit message that losing language equals economic and political disempowerment. One might argue that it is valid only for one particular language; however, it applies to all non-dominant languages without exception.
Repressions and actions aimed at destroying minority languages were carried out by different regimes in the 19th and zo" centuries in a harsh manner. Yet, the social and cultural implications of these actions have become more visible from the second half of the 20th century onwards. The assimilation process was accompanied by the struggle to resist the oppressive policies of these regimes.
In some cases the response took the form of unorganized masses, but in most cases organized resistance movements emerged trying to stop the domination of these regimes. In many parts of the world these struggles still continue. Owing to this resistance and struggle, both the languages and the minority communities using them gained a lot. Assimilation processes have been the subject of social sciences research in many contexts; various studies and research were conducted from different perspectives. Historically, significant parts of these studies were shaped according to the knowledge of dominant groups and were prepared by the academia to serve the regimes in preserving their dominance. However, recently as a result of the abovementioned struggles, we have observed that some studies are trying to reveal the truth and to challenge the knowledge imposed by dominant groups. Significant parts of these studies focus solely on the disappearance of languages as a part of the repression process, and, to a great extent, on the educational but also social, cultural and in some cases economic consequences of these processes.
It is significant to state the implications of extinction of languages due to bans and othering processes since it can contribute greatly to revealing the discrimination that they have faced. However, focusing only on these results does not help us to understand sufficiently the underlying structural causes and pro-cesses. Consequently, many of the recommendations based on these results may not work for the benefit of the people and endangered languages. The analysis should be expanded to explain why and how languages diminish.
Handan Çağlayan started in Diyarbekir and investigated how language is used by different Kurdish families in everyday life. Her study Same Home Different Languages based on field research does more than just show us under what circumstances Kurdish was passed from one generation to another; it also depicts how this process was interrupted.
In many ways this study contributes significantly to the current political debates and the academic literature in this field.
First of all, Same Home Different Languages contributes to the literature on the subject in the sense that it presents the issue of native language in the context of Turkey and specifically in regards to the Kurdish language. The study approaches this subject not only from the perspective of education, but also using a broader framework incorporating relations with the other spheres of everyday life; it does not focus only on the consequences of the ban on mother tongue, but also presents which social, psychological and political effects have occurred as a result of the interruption in the intergenerational transmission of language.
Another important feature of this work is the fact that it was prepared by listening to and documenting the voices of the people who are usually the object of debates around mother tongue. As a significant part of the studies on the subject of native language focus on the language policies of the state and how they are applied, they usually intentionally or unwittingly ignore or overlook the resistance and struggle against these policies. Handan Çağlayan, by discussing how the long term struggle of the Kurdish movement has been reflected in the sphere of language and what it has gained for Kurdish, brings the discussion on mother tongue to the fair context which politically and historically discerns the truth. Along with this debate, she presents the political developments that have occurred during field research. They are important from the perspective of presenting the setting in which the debates on native language have taken place.
Moreover, the field research and interviews were conducted in different locations and addressed the situation of intergenerational use of language in villages, towns and in the context of migration. A significant number of studies are conducted without considering the context of any place or with a particular focus on only one location. This study, however, presents a more comprehensive picture not limited to a single location as the interviews were conducted in villages, the poor neighbourhoods of city centers and affluent districts at the same time; as well as with families who migrated to western Turkey because of war, the evacuations of their villages or for economic reasons.
The study approaches the subject of native language in everyday life also from the gender perspective contributing important data to the debate in this field. So far studies have failed to sufficiently analyse topics such as the use of language in the context of social classes and possible differences between users as well as the features of intergenerational language transmission in neighbourhoods inhabited by families belonging to different social groups.
Another major contribution of the research is that it brings back memories of the history of the places where the interviews were conducted. Starting with the city of Diyarbekir, where the field works began, information on former inhabitants of visited places, their current and former names, their meanings and languages they originated from were included as a part of a narrative rather than technical details. In addition, it also collects the information on languages spoken in visited places in the past and whether they are still in use. The collected stories show us that Diyarbekir in the past was a multilingual city; a city where many languages were spoken, including, but not limited to Kurmanji, Zazaki, Armenian and Turkish. The narratives also depict the role played by the loss of the Armenian population and language as a result of the state-led massacre in the socio-linguistic memory of the city.
Apart from the valuable content, this study is an important contribution to the current literature on the subject also in terms of the research methods used for collecting data. One of these methods can be described as "listening to the voice of the city". The field study was not only limited to face to face interviews but also included listening to the voices encountered in the center of the city, in markets, on minibuses and on the streets. Thanks to this method the study not only describes the situation of the language spoken by the people but also gives us an idea about the condition of language in the city. Another interesting issue was the way the interviews were conducted. Instead of asking pre-prepared questions at once and analyzing the collected material, the interviewees were visited on several occasions at different times. Rather than a cold and formal research environment; a warm and relaxed atmosphere was created. What made the analysis more concrete and relievable is the ethnographic analysis of the whole family and the household. Relatively long visits with the families provided the space for observations of the intergenerational use of language. A positive environment was created in which interviewees were able to speak their preferred language and were given the possibility to switch to another even during the same conversation. Observing the language use and shifts during the interviews was also important as it provided the information on conditions in which during one conversation different languages are used.
Unlike similar studies of many civil society organizations targeting policy makers, this study targeted a more common audience. It is a book one can read with pleasure, as it is sociological research using a language and style free of technical jargon and monotony.
The topic of mother tongue has been voiced many times by many people until now. This broad study covers all the necessary angles and it addresses the subject within a holistic perspective and by taking into consideration a social and
political context, the perspective of people of different ages and from different places as well as gender and social class issues. We would like to thank Handan Çağlayan for presenting us with this essential, politically righteous and analytical study.
Șerif Derince
1 For more detail reading on indigenous people, including Maliseet language rights in Canada see, Shelly K. Taylor, The caste system approach ta multilingualism in Canada: linguistic and cultural minority children and French immersion, Social Justice through Multilingualism, p.249, Eğitim Sen Publications, 2013.
Acknowledgements
Completing this research was only possible with the diligent work and contributions of many people. First, I would like to thank Șemsa Özar and Șerif Derince. Their opinions, suggestions, criticism and evaluation were the guiding light at every stage of my work in this research including research design and writing stage. I would also like to thank Șerif Derince for preparing the preface and his contribution to the chapter related to the theoretical debate. Mürsel Yıldrz, Songul Can and Berivan Alagöz were involved in the research process from the beginning to the end providing many valuable contributions. They mobilized in order to reach families for interviews. We did many of the interviews together and their evaluation of the research findings broadened its perspective. At the same time, Mürsel Yıdız and Berivan transcribed the interview recordings. Nurcan Baysal, Vahap Coskun and Atalay Göçer provided valuable insights during the research. Interviews in Karabahce and in the Kızılkuyu of Karaçdağ were possible thanks to Ramazan and Xezal Kızoğlu. Remziye Arslan and Zeri İnanç; read the text of the research and provided stimulating suggestions, criticisms and evaluation. This study would not have been possible without the people of Diyarbakir who opened their homes and agreed to be interviewed, who shared their feelings and opinions. In addition to them, I would like to express my gratitude individually to the people whom I consulted with regarding the field and topic of the research. On that note I would like to thank: Hikmet Korkmaz (branch director) and Sidar Gülen (member) from Eğitim Sen in Diyarbakir: Leyla Bağatır, Pelda Yalçın and Gulan Bingol -teachers working in the educational support centers governed by the local authorities; Zeynep Demir -social services expert; Nașide Buluttekin and Nevin Yakut from Umut Ișığı Cooperative for Women, Environment and Culture; Fatma Yıldırım from the Department of Public Relations of Metropolitan Municipality, Ahwelat Turhallı Altın, Sadiye Bulut, Müzeyen Aydın Arnık and Makbule Altuntaș for their contributions. I would like to emphasize the role of the participants of the panel discussion in developing this work. They shared their opinions and reviews during the discussion panel that was organized on the 22nd of February 2014 to present the findings. When coping with problems during the research preparation process and especially when writing it, I have always felt the moral support of Beril Eyüpoğlu and Minu İnkaya. They supported me with their friendship and constant encouragement.
Introduction
The impact of the assimilation process on language does not show itself immediately; it is revealed only through the passage of time. According to linguist David Crystal (2010: 98-99) the sequence of events affecting the endangered language, the language subjected to assimilation, seem to be the same in all geographies and follows three stages. The first is a stage of pressure. People are put under pressure to speak the dominant language. Pressure can come from political, social and economic sources. It can be in the form of various incentives or it can be directly regulated by law. This process can be accompanied by the "bottom up" peer pressure or by fashionable trends in society. Whatever the form of pressure may be, it results in the emergence of a second stage-the stage of bilingualism. In this stage people start to use more efficiently the dominant language they have learned while retaining their competency in their native language. Over time, the new language starts to displace the old one, which, in turn, brings the language facing assimilation to the last, threatening stage. In the last stage the young generation becomes proficient in the new language and finds the native language unnecessary to address their needs; they identify themselves with the new language. Using the old language is accompanied by ...
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