Language status and challenges in Denmark 2021 - TLRC Annual Meeting 2021

 

The situation today in Denmark is that the English language is very dominating in the Danish education system and in society at large, and maybe will be even more dominating in future because of general language use at workspaces, in the media, etc. 

That other languages spoken in Denmark to a large extent suffer from general recognition. We saw one example of that on the threshold of the Covid-19 pandemy, where Danish authorities hesitated to communicate relevant information in other languages than Danish and English. 

That translation between lesser spoken languages should be expanded, which will be one way to brake the dominant position of English.

Therefore, the working guidelines for Danish PEN in this area will be:
We work to strengthen other languages than English in the Danish education system
We work to strengthen the recognition and status of other languages than English in Danish society
We work to promote more translations from other languages and between other languages

 
Sproglig status og udfordringer i Danmark  2021 - TLRC Annual Meeting 2021

Situationen i dagens Danmark er, at engelsk i uddannelsessystemet og i det civile samfund er dominerende og måske bliver mere dominerende gennem sprogbrug på arbejdspladserne, via medierne osv.

At øvrige sprog, der er til stede i landet, i udbredt grad lider af mangel  på anerkendelse. Det har vi blandt andet set i begyndelsen af coronakrisen, hvor det gik noget trægt med at få information ud på relevante minoritetssprog.

At oversættelse mellem mindre sprog bør styrkes, blandt andet med det formål at bryde monopoliseringen fra engelsk.

Derfor er  arbejdsgrundlaget for dansk PEN på sprogområdet:
Vi arbejder for at styrke andre sprog end engelsk i uddannelsessystemet
Vi arbejder for at andre sprog i højere grad end tilfældet er det i dag bliver anerkendt af og i det danske samfund
Vi arbejder for mere oversættelse fra andre sprog, og mellem andre sprog

TOWARDS THE RESPECT AND EQUALITY OF LANGUAGES
In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights

 

Isidor Marí, chair of the Scientific Council of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, who will share about the drafting process and the evolution of the past 25 years

Please see the UDLR here/.  

Tsering Tsomo, director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, who will share their report about the systematic replacement of Tibetan by Mandarin Chinese in the frame of Bilingual Education Policy in Tibet

Please see the report here/.  

Paul Bilbao, General Secretary of Kontseilua, who will share the drafting process and the impact of the Donostia Protocol to Ensure Language Rights

Please see the protocol here/. And here/.

Simona Skrabec, chair of the TLRC of PEN International 2014-2020, who will share about the impact of the DUDL in Africa and elsewhere and the report Culture’s Oxygen

Please see  the report here/.  

100 years of translation and linguistic rights, video here/.

Manifiesto por los derechos lingüísticos, here/.

No Basque video! here/. Password: anti223356

Danish PEN, here/.

Language Rights and Language Justice, here/.

PEN CENTENARY YEAR

Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee Annual Meeting 2021 Online

100 years, hundreds of voices

Representing more languages than ever

25-26 June (Friday-Saturday)
This meeting takes place as we celebrate PEN International’s Centenary and the 25th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights in 1996 – the latter of which led to the conception of the Girona Manifest in 2011 and was key in the development of the Donostia Protocol in 2016.

During the meeting, we will discuss and adopt of TLRC Strategic Plan for the next years and look at the draft of the Linguistic Rights Reports, currently in progress. The importance of linguistic rights, translations, literary production, cultural empowerment, and collaboration within your community will also be discussed.

Day 1
Friday, 25 June 2021
14:00 BST (London time)– Empty Chair #1 Rwanda – Innocent Bahati

14:05 – “The TLRC Committee’s History in the context of PEN Centenary”

Why did PEN decide to unite Translation and Linguistic Rights (TLRC)? Quechua, Pangasinan, Tumbuka, Inuit... what programs have been implemented on the ground by PEN Centres to promote all literatures? From the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights to the Quebec Declaration on Translation and Translators and the inclusion of writers in indigenous languages, a long path has been walked since the creation of the TLRC in 1978.

Historical introduction by Carles Torner (PEN International)

Regional overviews by:
Nina Jaramillo (PEN Argentina), Marita Banda (PEN Zambia) Santiago Villafania (PEN Philippines), Louis Jolicoeur (PEN Quebec)

Moderated by: Carles Torner, PEN International Centenary Director

15:00 – 15:55 – PUBLIC PANEL: TOWARDS THE RESPECT AND EQUALITY OF LANGUAGES In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights

Empty Chair #2 China Xinjiang – Rahile Dawut

It is now 25 years since the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights was adopted in Barcelona. The Declaration was a milestone in the work to support minority languages and its speakers and led to other updated actions such as the adoption of the Donostia Protocol to Ensure Linguistic Rights. Since then, while the world has been losing languages every year, a greater level of commitment and self- consciousness has also been achieved by local and international actors.

Isidor Marí, chair of the Scientific Council of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights
Tsering Tsomo, director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy Simona Skrabec, chair of the TLRC of PEN International 2014-2020, author of PEN’s report Culture’s Oxygen

Moderated by Paul Bilbao, General Secretary of Kontseilua, in charge of Donostia Protocol to Ensure Language Rights (Basque PEN)

16:00 – LINGUISTIC RIGHTS REPORT presentation

PEN International’s TLRC is producing a report on the challenges to linguistic rights worldwide, with a special focus on few cases in Latin America. In the context of PEN International’s Centenary, we are integrating the topic of indigenous rights from a linguistic perspective. We will present the key findings and recommendations from the report and discuss these during the meeting.

Igor Xoyon, Principal at Nimalaj Kaqchikel Amaq’ (Kaqchikel immersion program) in Guatemala
Enrique Pérez, Tsotsil writer, researcher and translator. He is the Paxon of the K'in tajimol of Chenalhó and CELALI of Chiapas
Maialen Sobrino, writer, translator and activist in Garabide – grassroots organization for the revitalization of indigenous languages
Paul Bilbao, General secretary of Kontseilua, promotor of the Donostia Protocol to Ensure Linguistic Rights

Moderated: by Urtzi Urrutikoetxea, TLRC Chair, Basque PEN

Day 2
Saturday, 26 June 2021

14:00 – Empty Chair #3 India – Varavara Rao

14:05 – TLRC Chair report by Urtzi Urrutikoetxea (PEN Basque)
Q&A session

14:25 – Discussion on Linguistic Rights report

15:00 – Strategic planning & Committee business

• Presentation and discussion of TLRC Strategic Planning for the next years. The former TLRC Chair Simona Skrabec established a firm ground to develop the planning.
• Commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the approval of Spanish as the third working language of PEN International, after 75 years in which only French and English were official. It was a milestone that has allowed hundreds of writers from more than 15 centers to participate and meet around PEN, and has brought PEN's work closer to Latin America.
• Presentation of the Declaration on Respecting Macedonian Linguistic, Cultural, and Identity Right and in defence of the Macedonian right to self-determination, by PEN Macedonia Katica Kuvlakova
• Proposal of Kurdish PEN to establish a group within the TLRC to work for the implementation of the Girona manifesto in countries like Turkey that ban most of the concepts mentioned in the manifesto. This group along with centres concerned would work to find means and resources to take necessary steps to appeal for the implementation of Girona Manifesto's articles.

16:00 – Centre updates – based on regional approach with focus on translation issues. 3 mins per Centre

18:00 – Closing of the meeting

 

Please find the updated agenda of the Day 2 of our meeting below and updated Centres list for Centres updates session (attached).

There are more documents to be found in the attachments as:

1. Some useful links and materials from yesterday PUBLIC PANEL: TOWARDS THE RESPECT AND EQUALITY OF LANGUAGES. In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights
   
   
2. Presentation of Maialen Sobrino Lopes, panelist of the panel LINGUISTIC RIGHTS REPORT presentation, who could not join us yesterday because of the technical glitches.
   
   
3. Centre Updates – report on Uyghur language by Uyghur PEN
   
   
4. Some documents, helping to discuss Declaration on Respecting Macedonian Linguistic, Cultural, and Identity Right and in defence of the Macedonian right to self-determination by PEN Macedonia.

 

Second day will be held in the meeting format with a lot of discussions, so please be prepared to share your ideas and updates. We have 58 Centres registered so please try to be as much organised as possible.

 

Day 2

Saturday, 26 June 2021

14:00 – Empty Chair #3 India – Varavara Rao

14:05 – TLRC Chair report by Urtzi Urrutikoetxea (PEN Basque)

Q&A session

14:25 – Discussion on Linguistic Rights report

15:00 – Strategic planning & Committee business

·       Presentation and discussion of TLRC Strategic Planning for the next years. The former TLRC Chair Simona Skrabec established a firm ground to develop the planning.

·       Commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the approval of Spanish as the third working language of PEN International, after 75 years in which only French and English were official. It was a milestone that has allowed hundreds of writers from more than 15 centers to participate and meet around PEN, and has brought PEN's work closer to Latin America.

·       Presentation of the Declaration on Respecting Macedonian Linguistic, Cultural, and Identity Right and in defence of the Macedonian right to self-determination, by PEN Macedonia Katica Kuvlakova

·       Proposal of Kurdish PEN to establish a group within the TLRC to work for the implementation of the Girona manifesto in countries like Turkey that ban most of the concepts mentioned in the manifesto. This group along with centres concerned would work to find means and resources to take necessary steps to appeal for the implementation of Girona Manifesto's articles.

·       Situation of minority languages in France by Occitan PEN

 

16:00 – Centre updates – based on regional approach with focus on translation issues. 3 mins per Centre

18:00 – Closing of the meeting