Messaggi: 104
Lingua: English
patrik (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 02:52:38
This is the way I see it: in order for it to become a strong contender in the world stage, Esperanto should aim to be a cultural blockbuster, albeit not of the "mere popular/populist kitsch" kind (à la K-Pop, that ascendant demonstration of Korean soft power). That is, we Esperantists should create "cultural products"* (literature, art, music, memes, etc.) that would be appealing to an international audience, who would in turn be persuaded into studying Esperanto in order to be able to fully participate in our culture; and this thereby would enable E-o to exert a certain kind of influence.
Of course, this would need a great number of creative, talented, and entrepreneurial people in our community, and we need first to attract those kind of people into Esperanto. A difficult feat in itself.
Well, what do you think? Let the discussion begin!
* - Of course, some would not like this term. But it is what it is.
P.S. How I should say "soft power" in Esperanto? "Mol-potenco", "mola potenco"?
creedelambard (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 05:58:59
Esperanto could benefit from a "killer app." But what would it be?
Bemused (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 06:02:00
You are essentially asking how do we make Esperanto the Apple in a Windows world.
Apple first gained a strong following among the artistic, the rebels, which made it desirable for others.
So find out how Apple did this, and follow their lead.
By the way your link labelled "here" does not go anywhere.
creedelambard (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 06:03:53
brodicius (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 09:00:15
I think a big thing is simply awareness that the language exists. I've had more "I speak Esperanto" - "What's that?" conversations than I'd care to remember.
Also, I think 'molpotenco' would suffice. Perhaps 'molforto'.
Vestitor (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 09:38:39
On the other hand an attempt can be made to artificially create it, like many of the false desires in the world of retail where advertising and PR create the 'needs'. In market capitalism it is the profit motive that drives this promotion and invention of markets, but the more selfless goal of promoting Esperanto may be a tall order for even the most philanthropic 'entrepreneur'.
patrik (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 13:33:38
creedelambard:By the way your link redirects back to this page.Oh, thanks! I've just corrected it.
@Vestitor: W. A. Verloren von Thermaat said this regarding the propagation of constructed languages like Esperanto:
The introduction of a constructed language is similar to a proof by complete induction. A constructed language attracts new users by means of the values created by the present users. The more it succeeds in stimulating its users to create values in the constructed language (values ranging from scientific and literary works to tourist facilities), the more easily it attracts new users. In many spheres of use (literature, public speaking, direct-method teaching) only those for whom the constructed language has become, as it were, a second native language can produce something valuable. (...) So a constructed language which has succeeded in creating at least a nucleus of users who entirely live in it and can do with it anything an equally gifted person can do in his native language has an inestimable advantage in favour of its further propagation.My point is that we should keen on creating "valuables" using Esperanto and these "valuables" would be our means to attract new users into the language. I am not talking of a grand PR exercise here, but about appealing to an individual's sense of value.
As a example, during the late 19th century, after Japan opened itself to the world, Japanese woodblock prints were used as packaging material for porcelain. But the French, seeing it for the first time, were enamoured by it, seeing in it beauty and inspiration, thus sparking a rush to collect prints throughout Europe.
Japan was not a dominant player then, not yet the cultural and electronic behemoth it is now, but its products inspired interest in it, and that interest hasn't waned a bit, even now. That's something we should try to emulate.
As to this assertion:
A language must first be big before it dominates - or plays a large role in - culture, rather than the other way around.What do you make, then, of the success of K-Pop, and of Hallyu (Korean Wave), in general?
patrik (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 13:46:06
brodicius:I'd say Esperantujo is already doing this. Percentage-wise, far more Esperantists I know are producing stories, videos etc. than English-speakers. So I suppose that what you're suggesting we need is something more like an organised large(r) scale effort to produce popular content through various media.Yes, I am suggesting exactly that, except that mention of "popular". Esperanto to me is a "niche market". Rather, we're supposed to be a parallel alternative to the current dominant (super)culture. That is, Esperanto is for those who are disenchanted and bored of the same old popular crap. We're a sui generis community, therefore we should proud of our uniqueness, not driven by ressentiment*, but by the thirst for quality and excellence that got lost in the usual process.
I think a big thing is simply awareness that the language exists. I've had more "I speak Esperanto" - "What's that?" conversations than I'd care to remember.
Also, I think 'molpotenco' would suffice. Perhaps 'molforto'.
Hmm, "mol-forto" didn't sound right to me.
* - In my diagnosis, this is one of the three major "diseases", from which Esperanto is suffering. The others are divisiveness and reformist agendas.
Hundies19 (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 15:02:02
What will work best, methinks, is media related to the Internet, but of a quality equal to popular culture produced in national languages like English and Japanese. Or working to that standard over time (I for one am unable to produce such things). An excellent Movie or Series could bring the demographics of N'avi and Klington to our camp. An open source computer game could bring gamers and programmers also.
Most importantly though, we NEED a way for Esperantistoj to attain fluency in order to make Esperanto sound good to the common man. Incubus, for example, is poison in that regard. We need media that conveys Esperanto in a genuinely fluent way and in a aesthetically pleasing accent.
Vestitor (Mostra il profilo) 10 settembre 2012 15:07:10
patrik:(see quote and post above)
@Vestitor: W. A. Verloren von Thermaat said this regarding the propagation of constructed languages like Esperanto:...
I don't think that scientific work in Esperanto is a realistic prospect. Not because it's impossible, but that Esperanto would have to be an agreed currency first, or enough scientists would have to publish in Esperanto first for it to gain that status and that is just extra-curricular activity for people who are busy enough doing science and conforming to the standard of publishing in English.
Literature is a different thing, but here again we can compare it to what already happens in national languages. A French novel - that is a novel written in a large language - is valued largely on content, it gets translated into English (or whatever language) because large numbers of people are not willing to learn French just to read a popular novel. You can be assured that most of the world (and especially the English-speaking world) has never read Baudrillard or Flaubert in French or Turgenev or Dostoevsky in Russian. They want the content, but not necessarily the medium.
It just makes sense for people to be communicating in a common language, reducing problems of understanding and sharing the same linguistic space, and that is the main virtue of Esperanto. It seems to me mistaken to think that Esperanto needs special cultural objects to promote it rather than the idea that its chief value is the creation and promise of simpler universal communication. Like transport it gets you to where you want to go and that is its value.