More on Love Letters to/from an Editor

Last week I was criticising the Dominion Post over the Editor’s new rules for letter writers. I had at one point thought I would stand back for a while but itchy keyboard fingers got the better of me. I tossed in a letter about the Insight article published on Sat 12th June. Bingo, the letter made it through, intact, and was published today. The bad news is that according to Lady Fifield’s new rules I cannot submit another letter for a whole month. Anna Fifield is the Dominion Post editor.

For interest sake etc. the letter reads as follows:

The Insight article (Dominion Post, 12th June) did not offer a single cogent argument for English language speakers to take up use of the Maori language. The article comes across mainly as a litany of responses to various criticisms – some of which as debating points were admittedly unhelpful.

The opening question of the article was: Why is a minority still threatened by use of the Maori language? I don’t believe there is anything resembling a threat as such. More to the point I believe a majority, not a minority, are simply not interested in the Maori language and view it as a distraction. And dare it be said, view it as an unwarranted cultural intrusion.

Willie Jackson has recently pointed out that many Maori people themselves do not, or maybe cannot, speak the Maori language. That will arouse some understandable concern among Maori language proponents and points to doubt whether there will be continuing interest in the cause of Maori language.

 

In other words if many Maori do not have any emotional rapport with their own language is there a valid case for it in whatever context?

16Th June 2021

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