The Language IssueGuy S. Antoine
November 1998Are the languages truly in opposition to each other? I have yet to see a fork (on its own) attack a spoon, or to witness the fork and the spoon plotting against the knife. You could choose to debate which of the fork, the spoon, and the knife is truly the most useful. As for me, I 'd rather have all three.
Though if all I really had to my disposition were a fork, I would not want you to teach me the art of eating a fine meal with a spoon while you're eating and I starving...
For our discussion on language to become truly relevant, we need to frame it better. We need to establish some parameters. When we speak of education for instance, are we talking about literacy (I almost wrote alphabetization, though the word in English means something entirely different from the French alphabetisation, and in Kreyol we know that there is a "betiz" in there somewhere), are we talking about etudes primaires, etudes secondaires, or etudes universitaires? It would help to know just what you have in mind.
Are we talking about learning how to first speak, read, and write, or are we talking about speaking in Kreyol to President Clinton (though he could well use a dose of Haitian wisdom), to Fidel Castro (though I have a feeling he would understand), to Jesse Helms and Jean-Marie Le Pen (now, I KNOW they would not understand)?
Are we talking of conducting world diplomacy in Kreyol, or are we talking about the basic affairs and responsibilities of the State in regard to its citizens? Are we talking of conducting commerce with the Dominican Republic or with Nassau, or whispering some "bons mots" in the ears of the beaux and belles that we might wish to seduce? In that case, I would suggest Italian.
In a country as polarized as Haiti, are we talking of the privileged (who certainly did not attain their status due to their mastery over any language... but predominantly to other factors) or are we talking about the great majority of Haitians who currently speak nothing BUT Kreyol, and do NOT know how to read and write?
Why is it that in Haiti, every Haitian understands Kreyol, yet many Haitians would not be caught dead speaking Kreyol to other Haitians in certain social settings? Why? Please answer that.
Why is it that Danish people can learn in Danish (and yet learn to speak German, French, Spanish, Italian, or Russian as a second or third language), but Haitians are thought to be frivolous when they speak of educating Haitians in the primary Haitian language (and still have the opportunity to learn to speak German, French, Spanish, Italian, or Russian as a second or third language) ? Why? Please answer that.
Did not the Catholic Church stop using Latin as the exclusive language for conducting its masses, when it finally realized that people were mouthing prayers without any true understanding of what they were saying? Some still regret the solemnity. It could be that there no longer is a mystery about their communication with God. Why, it suddenly appears so mortal, definitely less magical, and wasn't it so much more beautiful when we really could not understand it? I know... I was an "enfant de choeur".
Learning a language is not an easy process. Albert Einstein declared that it was the greatest single feat that could be accomplished by the human brain (he should know!) and that the second greatest was learning a second language. But with Haitians, many of us had rather teach them French Literature BEFORE they learn of the existence of any work of Haitian Literature written in Haitian-or-Kreyol. Some of us would like them to speak well a second language when they have been made to feel inferior for speaking their first language! They would have Haitians out-einstein Einstein himself.
It would be foolish I think to advocate the restriction of other languages when we undeniably live and operate in a geopolitical and economic sphere where the key players speak English and Spanish, and when so much of our cultural history is so thoroughly soaked with the French... yes, that would be the biggest of "betises". But should not the Haitian people learn to feel comfortable in their own skin before caressing the skin of others? Should not we all learn the basics of Kreyola Sutra 101?
Once you feel liberated inside, there is no telling how far you can really go on the outside. All that talk about what Kreyol can or cannot do is really just a smoke screen. The KEY concept here is participation in the national life, and to what extent you are allowed to use the tools you already own.
Personal thoughts on French: I grew up speaking French as the primary language spoken to my parents and all of my school teachers. Today, however, I consider French for what it really is: a language, a specialized and wonderful tool for communication with French-speaking people, but no more and no less. It is truly NOT "the language of the Haitian people", but the language spoken by an ever insignificant middle class in Haiti. It is the language of our colonialist past. I do not reject it, because I embrace all world languages, but I am ever cognizant of French's historical role as a stringent class demarcator in Haiti, a role that is still enforced by Haitian society today.
Personal thoughts on English: Though as beautiful a language as any, English does not lend easily to the expressiveness, inventiveness, and sheer poetry of good Kreyol speakers. I say "good" to distinguish such speakers from the tortured language artists of the Diaspora, who often mix in all manners of French and English in the language. However English is fast becoming the de facto primary/secondary language among Haitian-Americans and Haitians living in the U.S., and increasingly so among Haitian youths in Haiti as well. Some people see this as a form of cultural corruption. I see it as an awakening to the reality that we are geo-politically isolated with our French colonialist baggage. Haitians need to become more fluent in both English and Spanish in order to communicate on the level with our North American, Caribbean and Latin American neighbors. This does not mean that speaking French is a sin, far from it, but we should recognize the limitations of speaking only French (5% ???) and Kreyol (100%), in a geo-political and commercial sphere that is predominantly English/Spanish. Haitians learn to speak English with relative ease. After all, English syntax is much easier to master than the formidable French syntax.
Personal thoughts on Kreyol: As Kreyol goes, so do the Haitian people. Daniel Fignole, Maurice Sixto, Felix Morisseau-Leroy, and other great practicioners of Kreyol passed away but their messages live on. Kreyol pale, Kreyol konprann. There are different ways of interpreting this Kreyol saying. But I attach to it a certain universality that transcends the language itself. No matter what language we speak, what we communicate is often independent of the actual words we use. The message is what counts.
At this moment, the message spoken by our elites and our politicians to our Haitian countrymen might as well be conveyed in the most obscure of China's dialects. Until the Haitian people start to enjoy the fruit of their labor, and participate to a much greater extent in the reshaping of our national life, all of our words are not worth a damn.
December 1, 1999
Some ideas on this recurring debate:
On document translation: They would not have to be translated if they were written in Haitian Creole, Haitian, Creole, or Kreyol in the first place.
If you create a body of work in the language of the people, literacy will follow (not necessarily, of course!) As the Americans say, "Build it, and they will come." It's an oversimplification, but a useful one.
The paucity of texts written in Kreyol (or whatever appellation your heart desires) is a major stumbling block in the literacy movement. We need funds to motivate people to write the books, to produce them in large enough quantities, and to distribute them to the rural communities. Of course, the full backing and participation of the Haitian Government is necessary (or should this basic responsibility be fully privatized for best results? In the end, will Friends of Haiti or foreign investors teach Haitians how to read and write their own language?)
Where will those funds come from? Will they be diverted as usual?
Should literacy and malnutrition (and agricultural reform) be seen strictly as competing economic activities? Certainly I would not be interested in holding a book, if my stomach was growling or if all I had the previous day was water boiled with stones to ease my hunger pangs. I would also be totally oblivious to mistakes of French written on the board by a poorly prepared teacher. I would only think of food. Agreed!! But the more interesting question is: can literacy lead to a technical and really quite basic but utilitarian education which could help me participate in improving my chances of survival and the day-to-day economic activity of MY family?
I love the French language. I love Haitian Literature written in French or perhaps the particularly delectable Haitian French version. But an honest look at the social history of my country forces me to admit that the French language has been a malediction for our country, always has been, and will be so for a very long time. A sheer malediction. It's not the French language that is at fault, it is US, Haitians.
Would I want to prevent anyone from learning French? Far from me such thought. This would be sheer hypocrisy. I would defend the right of any Haitian to learn French or any other language for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER.
Is rural education feasible in the French language? As soon as Haiti builds a mission to send the Haitian Flag on Jupiter... or defends the island of Navassa against American invaders!
If all the French speakers from France, Belgique, and Quebec, came to Haiti at once and instructed the Haitian people how to speak, read and write French, it still would be a colossal failure, on a social level. The influence of Kreyòl would be too strong. They would maintain a peasant accent and a peasant way of speaking, and consequently would be laughed off, laughed at, and laughed away hysterically by the "good French" speaking elites. Can you imagine the mass of "dyòlsirèt" (candy mouths)? As I see it, the upper/middle classes of Haiti need to reinvent themselves more urgently than the Haitian masses need to be re-educated.
French enriches us culturally, but we need sufficient numbers of Haitian people to be competent speakers of English and Spanish as well, so as not to be isolated geopolitically and economically. The majority of people in Haiti will ALWAYS speak Kreyol, unless you exterminate them altogether. The languages complement each other quite nicely. They are not at war with each other: It is US, Haitian people who have been at war with each other, God knows since when, and use the French language as a weapon rather than just another tool of communication.