Goanet next meets in Goa: January 7, 4 pm (meeting point: Kala Academy canteen). Goanet founder Herman Carneiro will be there. See you there! ------------------------------
From:Sergio_Mascarenhas<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Dear Dr. Sergio Mascarenhas, Thank you for the wishes for 2004! We need them in Portugal also. I agree partly with your formulation below, but in Goa's / India's historical context I was not interested in what *some* Chinese or Indonesians did or what *some* Europeans did to themselves, etc. It is no consolation to Goans what others did elsewhere! I am not sure also if the use of the expression *colonial* would be correct in *post-colonial* times. I have here with me as write a volume published by Routledge in London / New York entitled *Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies*. >Instead we should start to write "All powers" have done that by imposing their >language and realise that most of the colonial powers of today are not western. >It's time to treat everybody the same way. As to your opinion which follows, I would suggest reading Cunha Rivara's *Ensaio* on Konkani and his efforts to make the Portuguese policy in Goa bend to favour Konkani just as much as it was favouring establishment of Marathi schools! Was Konkani or Marathi taught at the National Lyceum first? If the situation of Konkani is better today than before 1961, it is for the Goans to appreciate. If things could be better, surely they could. And did the *New Conquests* as such exist before mid 18th century? It is wrong to generalise to divide Goan Hindus and Christians on language issue. If Konkani is official language of Goa, it was possible only because it was not only a Christian cause! >During the Portuguese regime the competence of a Goan was measured by his >capacity to handle Portuguese language. As a result, in his own native land >Goenkar's Konkani was of no use. This is only partially true. It was not true >about the New Conquests up to the 18th century. Contrary to the accepted >wisdom in Goa, there is no proof that the dominance of Marathi among the >hindus of Goa was a product of Portuguese policies. It was mostly because >the hindus wanted it so. What I mean is that when someone speaks about the >cores of Konkani in Goa, one has to be fair and say that it was not only the >result of Portuguese policies. It was also the result of hindu Goan policies. And >the result of Christian Goan policies. After all, among the latter 40+ of post->Portuguese regime did nothing to better the situation of Konkani. Quite the >contrary, it's even worse today than what it was until 61. Is there something called a rhetorical question in Portuguese language? Perhaps it does. One could cry as much as laugh! Depends on which side is the respondent. >How would it be if we had asked the Portuguese to learn Konknni to continue >staying in Goa? It would had been a good laugh. I agree partly with what Segio writes below, and it is precisely because I share and cherish the contribution of TSKK that I requested it to give its view on my citations of Dr. Mariano Saldanha and Fr. Crescencio Monteiro (hence it is not only Dalgado who has been cited by me as suggested below) about the use of sh and x in writing Konknni in devanagari. Fr. Mathew responded quickly and supported what I had to say about those two authors who contributed to Konkani more than 4 decades ago! It is obvious that there is always and there should be always scope for improvement, but I would like to hear if TSKK would not still have the same respect for Dalgado's works as I do till today! I have also requested TSKK to express its opinion about the point raised by Jorge Abreu as regards *Konknni Bhaxa Manddal*, even though I have expressed my view about it. >I Also think that we need not re-invent the wheel by trying to list words of >Portuguese origin that entered as loan-words into Konknni. An elaborate and >scholarly work has already been done by our countryman, Sebastico Rodolfo >Dalgado (etc.) As you say, one needs not re-invent the wheel. On the other >hand, if all the scholarship about Goa done until the 40s, including the >linguistics of Konkani, could not be improved it would mean that there would be >no work for scholars like you dear Professor. Yes, Dalgado did an excellent >work and, yes, no-one should attempt to work on the issue of language >influences in Konkani without referring to him first. But is there no scope to improve on his books? Were there no improvements on linguistics that his works may not reflect? I don't know in-depth the research conducted by the TSKK - nor have the techical preparation to evaluate it - but I know that its researchers have definite view that there is a lot to be done in these fields. It would be interesting to people to refer to Dalgado but also to the recent developments like those carried forward by the TSKK. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
