Comments on: Filling The Gaelic Gap: Cultural Reclamation and Revival In The Diaspora

By: Susan McIntosh

Susan McIntosh — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 02:03:39 +0000

Thanks so much Sine! I wanted to speak a little more to my thoughts on what I perceive as going on in terms of Scottish Gaelic studies in Canada. We know there’s nothing afoot here in the United States. The scene seems more promising in Canada but still it seems that things aren’t where they really need to be. So I wrote another blog post. Check it out here: http://www.scotclans.com/scottish-gaelic-studies-in-the-diaspora-isnt-nova-scotia-doing-this/ I would love to hear your further thoughts!

By: Chas Mac Donald

Chas Mac Donald — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 21:25:01 +0000

The idea? Fair. The approach? Lacking in any real meaningful substance. Why? Because there is no such thing as Gàidhlig culture. There is culture practiced or forms expressed through Gàidhlig, but making the language totemic is a fundamental problem at the beginning, and ine which will do damage down the line. It is no more accurate or useful than to say Highland culture. Or Scottish culture. These things are overarching category errors. Culture is determined by people and their actions, and their actions are determined by their interactions, or connections. The language is far too big, used in far too many spheres, to be a useful tool for understanding the culture(s) it is posited to represent. The only way to understand culture is in its forms. Song culture, for instance, will have influences from at least three main sources. If we are to accept that the diaspora are Scots (in itself a very contestable idea), then we have to accept that the Scottish forms of culture in the diaspora as they evolved two and three plus generations after emigration, will have other influences. So Gàidhlig automatically becomes a bit part, albeit a fairly important one.

What we have here is a clutching at a totem. This is not a bad thing in its intent. Far from it. And much to be admired. But it will restrict the scholarly ambition. Or it will become so diverse that this anchor point will cease to have any meaning.

An old man came to my parents several years back from Nova Scotia. He was a lobster creeler, much like we have plenty of on the west coast. He was taken out for a day with a local creeler. His host was of east coast heritage. Neither spoke Gàidhlig. But they shared cultural practices through their activities. Are these two to be excised from this conversation? I certainly doubt that is the intent.

In short, be careful about the lens used to inspect the object. If it is only rose tinted, you’ll get no further than a rose tinted outcome. And at least somewhere you indicated that was not the goal. The music culture … music, not song … has a completely different language attached. Pìobaireachd does not use the language of man, but relies on other languages. That should be confirmation enough.

By: Sine McKenna

Sine McKenna — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 18:11:50 +0000

Hi Susan,
Thank you for a great article and one I will definitely use with my students in our Celtic Studies programme at The University of Ottawa. We teach Irish and Scots Gaelic language and traditions as well as Welsh. We used to offer the Breton language,but unfortunately there wasn;t enough interest.

The Chair was founded by Dr. Gordon MacLennan in the 1970s and Dr. Pawl Birt, his successor, has done a first class job offering courses of a high caliber and ensuring that the authentic cultures of the these languages are taught. We have several hundred students who enroll in our courses each year and offer a minor in Celtic Studies.