Language and “development” in Papua New Guinea

303

CASE STUDY

LANGUAGE AND "DEVELOPMENT" IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Angela M. Gilliam

I have only been able to use a language that en- slaved me, and therefore, the messengers o f my mind always come shackled [ 1 ].

The real universe o f ordinary language is that o f the struggle for existence [ 2 ].

Like many Third World countries, Papua New Guinea is engaged in a struggle to "develop." This effort however, is encumbered by a complex history of colonialism imposed on a multilingual and multicultural, agricultural society for which two goals are paramount.

Firstly, there is the pressing need to gain access to the benefits of the natural resources of the country as well as the control over the distribution of these resources.

In addition, Papua New Guineans face an urgent need to be able to communicate with each other and with the outside world.

Hence, this study of "development" is one that frames an interdisciplinary approach to the issues discussed herein. It is hoped that this work serves not only as a confrontation to the self-serving, colonialist myths about Papua New Guinea, but also as a frame of reference for in- vestigating the relationship between economic power and language politics in a multilingual society. It has also been the intention to

Angela M. Gilliam is Associate Professor in the Politics, Eco- nomics and Society Program at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, and was visiting lecturer in the Language and Linguistics Department at the University of Papua New Guinea from 1978-1980.

contribute to those intellectual workers in Papua New Guinea who have begun to engage in the necessary task of historical reconstruc- tion and reinterpretation [3].

NATIONALISM AND COLONIAL COMMUNICA- TIONS SYSTEMS

Traditional inter-clan and inter-tribal conflicts were primarily centered around struggles for regional influence and land disputes. These have been blown up all out of proportion by Western students of these conflicts in order to rationalize missionization and other forms of colonialist domination, and as part of the "exo- tification" of Papua New Guinean cultures. The other ethnic disputes are recent and connected to uneven capitalist penetration; a ver- sion of the "we-were-contacted-by-Europeans- before-you" attitude can be found in virtually every human society that experienced a vari- able rate of exposure to colonialism and West- ern culture. All of this notwithstanding, the ap- preciation Papua New Guineans manifest for differing cultural expression and physical type is evident during such activities as the perfor- mances of the South Pacific Festival of the Arts in 1980, for example. On those occasions, Papua New Guineans from all walks of life went to parks to attend the free musical events from every country in the Pacific. The pro- found enthusiasm which greeted these quite varied cultural forms - which were performed in many parts of the country - could be a model of cultural internationalism.

304

Papua New Guinea is a country of a little more than three million inhabitants in which it is said that 750 distinct languages are spoken. One fifth of all the world's languages are to be found there. Yet, who knows what precise number of languages Papua New Guinean language workers and linguists will ultimately categorize? As Fabian points out, "Any number will be an artifact of linguistic classification rather than an accurate indication of communicative praxis" [4]. Hence, the amount of languages existing in Papua New Guinea may be based more on the "ways of seeing and know- ing" of the observers (who, by and large, are not Papua New Guinean) rather than on the actual day-to-day process of communication among human beings. Fabian also maintains that in Africa the "classificatory diversity [of languages] was declared a problem.., and an obstacle to civilization," an argument which was used to rationalize colonial rule [5].

Nonetheless, cultural and linguistic diversity is evident; this is a nation of people who are tolerant of human difference.

The languages are from two groups - Austronesian languages reached the region about 10,000 years ago from the Southeast Asian area while non-Austronesian languages are estimated to have been in Papua New Guinea as long as 50,000 years ago [6]. One sixth of the Papua New Guinean population - or 470,000 people - speak Enga, Kuanua, Melpa, Kuman or Huli; the rest of the population speak the other approximately seven hundred and forty five languages [7]. In addition, there are presumably many minor languages with fewer than ten speakers, all of whom are likely to be bilingual in one of the major languages [8]. Though it is probable that a process of cultural convergence and integration would have led to a gradual reduction and absorption of languages through time, the history of colonialism has resulted in many minor languages becoming identified as symbols of cultural and linguistic authenticity. In spite of this symbolism, there is evidence that some langu-

ages are losing speakers due to the fact that younger members of these speech communities are choosing to no longer speak their mother tongue [9].

With the advent of colonialism, two trading languages emerged - Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin. Hiri Motu was formerly known as Police Motu due to its usage and expansion by Papuan police officers at the turn of the century [ 10]. Tok Pisin was previously known as Neo- Melanesian or New Guinea Pidgin - primarily by foreigners.

Motu is the language of the Papuan people in the coastal region in and around the capital of Port Moresby, and is primarily spoken by that group alone. This is in contrast to other multilingual, Third World countries where the language of the ethnic group near the "port-city- metropolis" (usually the capital) is so tied to urbanization processes and power that other groups which reside there feel they must learn it (cf. the situation of Lagos, Nigeria, which is part of the Yoruba region). As the national lingua franca, Tok Pisin serves this purpose; in all of the Papua New Guinean cities, Tok Pisin is the language people of different ethnic groups use for communication with each other.

Back in 1975, Piniau maintained that only 16 percent of the population could be reached functionally through print. According to calcu- lations, 36 percent could be reached directly through the radio; 26 percent could speak Tok Pisin, but only 12 percent could read and/or write it [ 11 ]. More recently, Lynch [ 12] maintained that "Tok Pisin is by far the fastest growing [language] ... over half the population of Papua New Guinea speaks [it] ."

When looking at those figures, one has to keep in mind that there is only one hour of radio programming (of news) in Tok Pisin and/ or Motu daily in the capital of Port Moresby. Much of the rest of the programming is in the English language and is similar in content to pop music or news programs in Australia or the United States. (The second Michael Somare government - elected in 1982 - has postponed television indefinitely.)

305

It is therefore critical to note that much of the radio programming is comprehensible to only a minority of the population. Papua New Guineans are strangers in their own country.

Of the newspapers serving the country, there is the Australian-owned Post-Courier, and Niugini Nius which are English-language dailies; Wantok, a Christian weekly is in Tok Pisin. In 1980, a more Papua New Guinean-oriented English language paper, The Times, was added as the fourth national vehicle of printed information. Yet, it appears to be directed primarily to the elite in government.

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND DOMINATION

In spite o f the primacy of the English language in most spheres, national Parliament is by and large conducted in Tok Pisin, the lingua franca, since many elected representatives do not speak English.

Yet, the government sees the development of "national unity through the national language," which is English [13]. Although this policy has been adjusted somewhat to allow the primary school curriculum to use "vernaculars" in the teaching of "cultural subjects," there are no governmental resources yet provided to make this adjustment viable [ 14].

Since the country only recently received its independence from Australia in 1975, the English language is one of the indices of potential acquisition of power. In the professional sphere, the English language is the operational measure of intelligence; what is presumed to be academic potential actually represents the degree of cultural Australianization in this neo-colonial society. People who are con- sidered "articulate" are those who sound Westernized. In short, the way a Papua New Guinean reproduces the English language de- fines the extent of this socialization process. That is, the degree to which a Papua New Guinean appears to demonstrate in speech production that he or she might have traveled to Australia or other English-speaking countries

usually represents the degree to which that person is acceptable to the powerbrokers in Papua New Guinea. In addition, those Papua New Guineans who are less privileged show de- ference to Papua New Guineans they perceive as having communicative power. As Chimezie noted for Nigeria, "the English language is not just a medium, but the message itself" [15].

However, the use of the English language is not the principal issue, but the relationship between English and power only helps to rein- force the consolidation of power by a national elite whose status and social mobility is based more and more on the English language. As Calvet noted:

This means that every nominal liberation tha t is not accompanied by a defeat o f the linguistic superstructure is not a liberation of the people - who speak the dominated language - bu t rather a liberation of the social class that spoke, and continues to speak, the dominant language [16] .

Those who speak English and get rewards for the same may not want to lose their privileged status by altering language policy in Papua New Guinea, since the access to power - and resources - is clearly related to access to the English language. This then is the manifestation of the growing class struggle in Papua New Guinea, because the English language is what Bourdieu and Boltanski refer to as the cultural capital that is in the hands of those who have increased access to resources [ 17 ].

To compound the situation, education in Papua New Guinea has not superseded its colonial function of training "native managers of other natives." Thus, the national models of development have come via colonialism. As we shall see below, local Papua New Guinean definitions of development, which have a traditional basis, have taken second place to those models that have come from outside the country.

LANGUAGE AND "DEVELOPMENT'"

Are these external models of development

306

useful for Papua New Guinean economic o r

linguistic development in the long run? Some Pacific researchers are raising these

questions. In examining theories of development, Takendu criticizes most development theories as being too Westernized:

Whose definitions of development should we adopt while framing research: the Western or indigenous?... How is the process of development explained - from a progressive or a terminal point of view [ 18] ?

The Fijian economist, Samy, suggests that many Western definitions of development lead to the concept "that private happiness consists in the accumulation of mass consumer goods, and public happiness in the greatest such accumulation by the greatest number of individ- uals" [19]. Yet, in a country where agriculture started 9,000 years ago [20] and where 90 percent of the population still depends on some form of agriculture for survivial, "development" has come to be associated with the po- tentially great wealth available in natural and/ or mineral resources like timber and copper. Furthermore, Australian interests are paramount in this neo-colonial economy where trade agreements with Australia are such that fully 50 percent of Papua New Guinea's total imports are supplied by Australia [21]. Thus, the models of development have not only been provided by the colonial relationship with Australia, but continue as a result of continued Australian control of the economy to its ad- vantage. In this way, Papua New Guinea is like many other ex-colonies. As Babu has maintained,

Almost without exception, all the ex-colonial countries have ignored the cardinal development demand; namely, that to be really effective, the development process must begin by transforming the economy from its colonial externally-responsive structure to one which is internally- responsive [22].

Prior to colonization, Papua New Guinea appears to have been similar to the way Samy de- scribes pre-colonial Fiji. It consisted of a "large

number of local small-scale systems, each representing local kin-based groups, within which production, social life and exchange were organized" [23]. Waiko maintains that the fact that so much of the natural environment is in- tact "indicates clearly the success of the eco- logical adaptation of the small communities in the [Pacific] Island world" [24]. The self- sufficiency of these units contributed to their isolation from each other as witness the development and maintenance of so many ethnic groups and languages. Colonialism unified these social aggregates under a basically plantation economy. As Papua New Guinea moves away from the plantation-based, Australian-controlled copra colony towards a multinational- controlled, copper neo-colony [25], the Papua New Guinean administrators may conclude that it is necessary to bring back this heritage of self-sufficiency. Indeed, self-reliance is one of the Eight Aims of Independence. Of critical importance is understanding that Papua New Guinea already has what multinationals con- sider a "most favorable investment climate: cheap labor, abundant resources, new markets and the political climate to maximize the first three... [thus] development is defined in terms of corporations and their associates..." [ 26]. In line with this reality, the structuring of labor organizations has also been con- strained by the fact that the forces of state power - including the Bank of Papua New Guinea - share the World Bank view that "it is particularly important that the [Papua New Guinea] government remains firm in its deter- mination to contain salary increases" [27]. This guarantees a continuation of "external- responsiveness" of the Papua New Guinea economy and clearly makes it paradigmatic of many other Third World countries. Like other ex-colonial countries, Papua New Guinea inherited a "legacy of colonialism" which left it saddled with an "export-led development strategy," to use Wachtel's phrase [ 28 ]. Papua New Guinea is definitely experiencing the process of progressive underdevelopment. In his

307

critique of the National Development Strategy and the National Investment Strategy, Amarshi notes that these documents point to the "vital" role multinationals are to play in order to achieve a "strong, healthy economy" [ 29 ]. In summary, there is no plan in order to alter the patterns of resource allocation or to attempt a plan for addressing the growing inequalities in the distribution of Papua New Guinea's goods and services.

As the Valentines showed in their work, "national development schemes are shaped to serve two sets of interests, collecting revenue for the central government and making money for foreign international companies" [30]. Since the local people who comprise the labor force in areas of rural "development" projects are also the ones who have little access to elite communication power, they are also the ones who often feel most like foreigners in their own country. Also, they are the persons most likely to speak only Tok Pies (the local vernacular or language). Hence, many members of the advantaged elite are not only consolidating their power and concentrating decision-making and wealth, but this group's relationship to the majority of Papua New Guineans is such that control of the English language is a virtual re- quirement for participation in national, economic power.

The result of this socio-economic structure is that the development and modernization of Papua New Guinean languages is not greatly encouraged; in fact, modernization of them has just begun, for example, at the University Ex- tension Center at North Solomons. Moderniza- tion usually requires the socio-political context that permits allocation of skills and resources to operationalize what is often communicative reality. The primary task for linguistic development is in lexical expansion, whether through borrowing or coining, and whether through official direction or speech practice. Wurm has this to say about Tok Pisin:

It is in the field of vocabulary that internal language plan-

ning would have to play its most vital role in New Guinea Pidgin. This work which could perhaps be directed and ear- ried out through some official body or institution... [31].

But it is the structure o f society that determines how much creativity and national linguistic domination is accompanied by standards of correctness imposed by external forces. Ultimately this leads to lexical arrest. If the speakers of a language move to a situation in which the tasks and labor they perform in their society are progressively restricted by a reduction in their productive lives, gradually the lexicon of labor specialization will also be reduced. Lexical arrest is the manifestation in speech of alienation. Hence, the development of economic underdevelopment leads to the development of linguistic underdevelopment. What Bourdieu and Boltanski discussed vis-g-vis the fetishism of language and linguistic dispossession has relevance for this discussion of Papua New Guinea. "The [English] language is linguistic capital which yields, within each social rela- tion, a profit of distinction" [32]. That is, it produces privilege in which value is tied to its rarity or exclusivity of use and access to acquisition.

As economic underdevelopment proceeds and subsistence farming is gradually replaced by export-oriented production, people flock to the cities looking for work; urban drift pro- gresses. Those from the village are progressively more disadvantaged by the economy, which reflects itself in another contradiction. The Papua New Guinean becomes increasingly angry about the inequality and at the same time defensive about his/her Tok Ples (local vernacular or language). He or she becomes ashamed to speak it outside of the village. Lin- guistic and/or ethnic loyalty appear concur- renfly with shame and embarrassment about speaking one's local language. As Sankoff states:

There are two mutually reinforcing phenomena here: first, the extent to which lack of knowledge of a particular language or language variety block access to other resources or

308

goods within a society - education, jobs, wealth, political positions, and so on; and second, the extent to which the inferior political and economic position of a particular group results in a devaluing of its language or language variety, and in feelings of inferiority and worthlessness on the part of its speakers [33].

In the rural areas, Tok Pisin is often assumed to be the language of those in power or with economically influential positions. In writing about this question in his village of Womsis, the Papua New Guinean linguist, Otto Nekitel, states that, historically, colonial administrators referred to those who were not fluent in Tok Pisin by derogatory names such as "bus kanaka" (bush nigger) [34].

It is useful to point out that one linguist in Papua New Guinea - Lynch - has asserted that "true development of a political, economic or social nature cannot take place unless there is also development of a linguistic nature" [35]. One can certainly agree with the state-

ment. Yet in the same article, he suggests "some steps which might be taken to help encourage linguistic development, and thereby encourage development of other kinds" [36]. Here he suggests that what comes f i r s t is linguistic development. Though he mentions the linguistic prestige and immediate employabil- ity of English speakers, he avoids taking into account the economic relationships within the country and their subsequent relationship with external forces. It can be demonstrated, however, that economic underdevelopment sets the stage for linguistic underdevelopment.

One example of the interaction between language and definitions of development is the struggle of the Binandere to have a say in the management of their traditional forest lands. John Waiko, Papua New Guinean historian and member of the Binandere ethnic group, has maintained that the discussion of "development" and "progress" has not engaged Papua New Guinean definitions of either "development" or "underdevelopment" [37]. The Binandere concept of "development" - S i n e n e m b a r i - relates to that particular use

relationship of Binandere forest or timber lands that allows for maintenance and continuity of the forest. Hence to have defined "development" as something that destroys the forest would not be s i n e n e m b a r i . 'q 'he Binandere villagers regard progress as accepting the subsistence living as a basis, and they seek ways and means to earn limited cash to meet a specific need as it arises. The cash earned must not contribute towards destroying that basis, but must support and improve it" [38]. In waging a fight against the Papua New Guinean government and against the multinational timber companies, the Binandere Papua New Guineans utilized oral tradition in their attempt to de- scribe accurately the economic concepts needed for adequate mutual comprehension of the issues. According to Waiko,

Oral tradition, as a means of understanding and relating to the real environment and the mechanism to incorporate any change from it, as an instrument to deal with real life situations, loses its capacity to convey meaning and arouse awareness when confronted with the mystification of "development" [39].

Therefore, the Binandere initiated the process o f integrating classic oral tradition with lexical specialization in the Binandere language in order to formulate mutually intelligible concepts needed to discuss the issues.

WOMEN AND THE "DEVELOPMENT" PROCESS

The role of women in the "development" process is critical to a discussion about communication power in Papua New Guinea.

For one thing, the question of institutional- ized power is dirrectly related to the interface between the English legal system and Papua New Guinean customary law. The Australian colonial administration never tried to abolish certain customary laws (for example, "bride price") but rather to use them to its own ad- vantage [40]. Some Papua New Guinean women are disadvantaged by the structure of traditional conflict and dispute settlement in

309

which male relatives speak on their behalf. In addition, as is true elsewhere, the language of the law in general is inaccessible to most Papua New Guineans - male or female. Yet, the ways in which women attempt to manipulate their status are interesting. Some women are offering to pay their own "bride price" to their families in order to gain more control of their lives, enter the work force, speak for themselves, or even separate from husbands. The latter example is particularly critical for the woman in patrilineal ethnic groups whose children "be- long" to her husband's village.

In addition, those women who reach university are rarely in excess of 10 percent of the total student body population. And, notwithstanding the presence in Papua New Guinean government and/or Parliament of powerful women nationalists, (i.e. Nahau Rooney, Josephine Abaijah) [41 ], the following excerpt from the twenty-first South Pacific Conference in 1981 is of note:

The subservient role of women is made principally evident in education and employment statistics; the glib response so often given is that this simply reflects the traditional pattern of Pacific Society, yet practices of custom are not, and were never meant to be, totally unchangeable. Custom is being used to oppress the female population of the region, which is particularly wrong as in so many of our societies the full participation of the community in the decision making process was the foundation of its social cohesive- ness. Yet at a critical time for us in the region and when grave issues are facing the Pacific, not the least being the vital fight to declare it a Nuclear Free Zone, all the resources of our people are needed; that women's full participation is denied is wasteful and nothing short of foolish [42].

Similar views were expressed during the 1982 Waigani Seminar when Papua New Guinean women from all walks of life addressed the problems they faced as women and workers [43]. A point brought out at this conference was that the labor of women is often unpaid (or paid very little) even though women may do more than half the work involved. In one instance, this wage inequality led to Papua

New Guinean women refusing to grow crops as retaliation for exploitation [44]. Another important point made was that women were sometimes ignored in surveys and the data- collecting process [45]. This type of gender- based, quantitative bias is paradigmatic of much of the research encumbered by international organizations (including the United Nations) in the Third World [46]. Hence a literal reinterpretation of data and gathering of new information is necessary to adequately discuss the relationship between gender and communication power. Certainly many questions are raised about the relationship between gender and cultural transmission and linguistic transformation. What is the relationship between transculturation or culture change and the Papua New Guinean woman in the centers of culture contact? Given that women often do not speak for themselves in traditional or customary inter-group communication, what is the relationship between gender and Tok Ples loyalty?

There are many such questions that must be made part of a strategy of the Papua New Guinean social scientists to deal with falsifica- tion and/or exclusion of women since "inclu- sion of that which has been excluded is the responsibility of the critical social scientist" [47].

THE SUMMER INSTITUTE OF LINGUISTICS

Among the vital questions that critical social scientists in Papua New Guinea must r~ise are those concerning the relationship between linguistic development and foreign missionaries. It is a question that Papua New Guineans must address since the major portion of "scientific" language work in the country is done by the Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT), a United States-based, Protestant missionary group more commonly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). However tempting the tacti- cal, short-range benefits are to be gained (like

310

the development of dictionaries) from WBT/ SIL work in Papua New Guinea, and irrespec- tive of the good intentions of some individual SIL personnel, the strategic, long-range mission of these linguists is to translate the Bible for the "Bibleless tribes" of the world. As one WBT/SIL worker said to me in 1978, "I am a transformationalist in the Biblical sense, not the Chomskian [linguistic] one."

This is "the largest Protestant Missionary society in terms of members sent abroad" [48]. The WBT/SIL aggregate in Papua New Guinea is by far the largest such institute in the world and occupies the entire town of Ukarumpa. It is not known whether it is an artificially- created one just for this purpose. However, it resembles a U.S. army base in that it has a PX (a type of supermarket/department store found on all bases of the U.S. Armed Forces overseas) with products from the United States unavail- able in any other part of Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guineans are not allowed to shop in this store. I was accompanied by WBT/SIL personnel in order to enter the PX and make a purchase. Papua New Guineans were working in a service capacity in this store and elsewhere in the town. Except for those who do function as servants, there did not appear to be any Papua New Guinean who lived in Ukarumpa, and perhaps even the servants do not reside there. In short, this WBT/SIL outfit was an Australian qua American town with the largest number (546) of personnel in any one WBT/ SIL unit in the world [49]. Indeed, many of the houses were in Papua New Guinean style, but with large picture window modification, which enabled the casual visitor to appreciate foreign furniture within. In 1978, the town also had an airstrip and two small jet planes.

In view of the above, the activities of this group and its frame of reference for linguistic research bear scrutiny in this discussion of language and development. The organization originally arrived in 1956 during the colonial period at the behest of Australian Protestant missionaries and the colonial administration

[50]. It is now headquartered in the Papua New Guinean highlands in Ukarumpa, and is associated with the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. The 1978 Summer Insti- tute of Linguistics Annual Report has at the beginning a letter addressed to "The Right Honorable Oscar Tammur, Minister for Edu- cation, Science and Culture." This letter says in part, "We trust that you have found the work we are doing in line with our agreement." The WBT/SIL director goes on to manifest hope that the "major aspects of our work.., will prove of interest to you." [51]. This suggests a very casual reporting system to the Ministry, and corroborates the concern about lack of sufficient government supervision over WBT/ SIL activities.

As elsewhere, outside the United States, the WBT/SIL projects a "we-are-scientific-linguists" image while also engaging in fundamentalist evangelism. They thus often have an immedi- ately viable vehicle for creating an alliance with whichever national elites are concerned with foreign expertise and "development."

In reality, Papua New Guinea has always been of concern to missionaries of many orders. The ethnocentric bias of the "civilizing" mission of Western religious orders has traditional- ly been linked to literacy and alphabetization [52]. Furthermore, "writing is perceived as a precondition for civilization." Since the pre- literate West is also labeled the prehistorical era, contemporary non-literate societies are in some "ahistorical sphere" [ 53 ] in which the human process forward to a more advanced stage (which presumably includes writing) has been tied to economic domination and the re- jection of "precontact" traditions and origins. As Papua New Guinean writer Leo Hannett says in Disillusionment With the Priesthood, "the very idea of evangelism implies a con- demnation of our people - represents an attitude that does not permit us to be ourselves" [541.

The WBT/SIL documents maintain that In- stitute members "do not see [themselves] as

311

forcing a little understood and culturally irrele- vant religion on an ignorant people... [it is] the presentation of a viable option in belief and life- style which can be accepted or rejected with understanding of the implications.., in a language that is understood" [55]. But the WBT/ SIL workers elsewhere in the Third World have been accused of not merely promoting "deculturation" and cultural imperialism but also of having links to the CIA [56] and of serving as the spearhead for the advance of multinationals [ 57].

Calvet provides the following information:

In the space of two years and across five or six Latin Amariean countries the WBT/SIL group is reproached for 1) its ties to the C.I.A. 2) the organization of counter- insurgency camps (particularly in Mexico and Colombia) 3) forced sterilization of the indigenous peoples 4) drug traffic 5) trafficking in gold, uranium and emeralds 6) organization of tourist voyages through the Amazon Basin 7) its ties to American oil company research projects [58].

Whether any of this is true in Papua New Guinea remains to be seen. What is known is that because WBT/SIL work is based on the goals of proselytization, it prevents coherent, organized linguistic research. According to Papua New Guinean linguist/educator Mark Solon, had WBT/SIL experts started in one region and worked outwards from one center, they could have built a rational basis for adding new linguistic data upon experience, expertise and information already established [59]. Not only should linguistic work in Papua New Guinea have secular goals in order to serve Papua New Guinea, maintains Solon, but it must be more directly under government supervision than it is currently. However, since the national government has not yet fundamentally changed the colonial language policy, the goals of the pre-Independence colonial agencies - the churches and the colonial administration - that brought WBT/SIL to Papua New Guinea in the first place, remain in force by default as it were. Lynch lays much of the responsibility for

linguistic underdevelopment at the door of these agencies [60]. In reference to WBT/SIL, an interesting dichotomy emerges in the works done by the group. The "scientific"-sounding, linguistic work is written in the English language, a process which essentially enhances the international reputations of the writers as experts; the few works written in newly-alphabet- ized Papua New Guinean languages are sometimes basic language primers and nutrition manuals, but just as often relating to riddles or sermons. In the first instance, the language is often the highly specialized and imaginative code of linguists (for example, Barai Deriva- tional Operations vs. Universal Passivization and Antipassivization) [61 ]. In the second, the titles often belie a patronizing, paternalistic approach to the Papua New Guineans (for example, How the Jews Lived and Biblical Cus- toms). This strategy is in part explained by the bibliography in the aforementioned 1978 An- nual Report, which divides "technical" works from "vernacular" ones. How the Jews Lived was the only written work in four languages (Wads, Tok Pisin, Bunama, Baining) during the year of 1978. A perusal of SIL strategies in other parts of the world demonstrates that this is part of a widely applied methodology:

Linguists are encouraged, however, to begin doing simple Bible stories (not for publication) to help in their language learning and first attempts to communicate the Gospel when they are well into level 3 of the production scale [621.

The language of linguistics further reinforces the mystique attached to the work that this is faultless and rational science. Yet the "science" part has no immediate service function to Papua New Guineans.

Papua New Guineans do not need to understand linguistics in order to develop rational language planning policy any more than any other nationality. Professionalization is not necessary in order to discuss the issue of lexical specialization, for example, and in some Third

312

World countries such a topic is the subject of intense debate. However, the tasks that WBT/ SIL-trained Papua New Guineans are being slated to do is not to engage debates about language but to function as c o n v e r t s who will translate the Bible for the remaining languages [63]. Thus the WBT/SIL work, by doing linguistic research based on a religious ideal that still has goals which are defined by outsiders, reinforces the situation of externally-responsive economic development. It is externally- responsive scholarship. Furthermore, the work aids in the development of linguistic underdevelopment because the speakers of Papua New Guinean languages are not in sociological contexts and tasks (labor) to participate in lexical specialization or generate the elaboration of new vocabularies. An examination of the WBT/ SIL work demonstrates that it is not the language itself - or the morphological features - which constitute deculturation, but the con-

t e n t connected to its learning and transmission, in conjunction with the social relations through which language usage becomes apparent. As mentioned earlier, it is the structure of society that determines how much national linguistic innovation can be produced. Nevertheless, the Papua New Guinean government does recog- nize that the development of national languages will assume greater urgency for the future as populations and mobility increase [64].

TOK PISlN AND THE DECOLONIZATION OF A

NATIONAL LANGUAGE

One of the problems in looking at the question of language usage and development in Papua New Guinea is due to the fact that the fastest growing language is the creole lingua franca, Tok Pisin. On the one hand, more and more Papua New Guineans use it as a way of communicating among themselves across language boundaries. In the rural areas, Tok Pisin often has a status above Tok Pies, the local vernacular. This is especially true in official set-

tings, like hospitals, courts, etc. It represents a new language, a cultural bridge from one language group to another in a country where mobility and domestic travel become increasingly important.

On the other hand, Tok Pisin is advocated as a national language by many foreign creolists and/or "pidgineers" who often do not take into account the relationship between the political economy and language [65]. Those linguists who support the development of Tok Pisin may do so because they realize that English is not easily accessible to the vast majority of Papua New Guineans. Tok Pisin is usually learned without formal schooling in it. A clear understanding of the class conflict involved in the debate about language and national development can be seen in this state- ment by a linguist who advocates Tok Pisin as the principal national language:

Yet while it might be desirable for some of its citizens to be technologically advanced (so they can turn technological knowledge to useful ends) it does not follow that everyone has to be taught English so the few can attain that goal. In- deed the economy of this country is primarily controlled by the plantation industries of copra, coffee, cocoa, tea, and rubber as well as by timber, fishing, and mining industries and these have been run perfectly well for a long time without English. In fact, they have been sustained by the two major lingue franche, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu, and have been primarily responsible for the spread of those languages. The only persons in industry and commerce who have needed to know English in the past and will need it in the future, are a few expatriate managers and/or advisers and a few high-level local executives and government advisers, extension officers or what-have-you (including scientists). Such people need to be able to interact with each other and the outside world, and to apply advances in technology to the local scene [66].

It would be hard to find a better demonstra- tion of the relationship between language, power, and concepts of "development." Some Papua New Guineans can be "advanced" but the rest do not have to be; they can remain "backward" and continue the backbreaking work of providing the cheap labor that sustains the economy. McDonald appears to say that the exploitation of these human beings did not

313

depend on their usage of English, and the only people who need English are the foreign and national elites who are the bosses. Presumably, these are the people who must remain in contact with international "technology" (read multinationals) in order to reproduce this situation of inequality. Though this is a document advocating Tok Pisin as a national language, it actually serves to show that exclusive Tok Pisin usage has been up to this point related to the continued exploitation of Papua New Guinean workers. McDonald is not here advocating the development of Tok Pisin as a multi-purpose language, though he decries linguistic imperialism [67].

Tok Pisin is the language of the Papua New Guinean working class, but in order to better serve them three processes are necessary: 1) the language must undergo lexical decolonization 2) Tok Pisin would have to become a literary language 3) first language speakers of Tok Pisin must contribute to lexical elaboration. Let us examine these processes further.

That lexical decolonization is necessary can be demonstrated by a few examples of current Tok Pisin usage [68]. The term "boi" refers to any male Papua New Guinean, especially if he is a laborer or servant; "masta" refers to Euro- peans primarily, but given the progressively developing inequalities between Papua New Guinean workers and national elites, some servants in the capital of Port Moresby refer to their Papua New Guinean employers as "masta." The term "boi" when added as suffix to a term originally denoting professional status in English reflects not only a decreased- status position, but may also have racial over- tones. Thus, "doktaboi" - a derivative of "doctor" and "boy" means "hospital orderly" and implies a Papua New Guinean; "bosboi" means "native overseer," and so on. The same colonialist roots are reflected in the lexicon pertaining to women. For example, "misis" means "European woman"; "meri" means "native woman," and so on. Verbs are similarly affected; "marit n a t i n g " - derived from "mar-

fled" and "nothing" - means "married in customary ceremony," whereas "marit long lo tu" means "married in Christian ceremony."

However, an independent Papua New Guinean has new historical requirements that demand lexical elaboration in keeping with current sociological needs. As Chikobava demonstrated:

A language's dependenceon the productive base is particularly evident from the lexicon, from changes in voeabular- ly as well as in the meaning of words [69].

The second problem concerned with the development of Tok Pisin relates to what Soviet linguists refer to as the literary language. According to Filin, though the written form of a language is important, "just as critical to linguistic development are 1) the conscious culti- vation of the language and 2) stabilization of standards and supradialectality" [70]. The first step in such a process is to eliminate the dis- tance between spoken and written forms.

Yet, one of the contradictions embodied in the writing of Tok Pisin is that the first language speakers are not writing the language. Much of the writing in Tok Pisin is done by people whose first language is often English. Therefore, Papua New Guinean linguists must fight for the social transformation in Papua New Guinea that would enable the first- language speakers to participate in the development of Tok Pisin as a multi-purpose language. One aspect of that process is the struggle for universal literacy. However, the question that Papua New Guineans must answer for themselves is whether it is possible to begin any genuine, national, linguistic development in an externally-responsive economy. In discussing this issue for Kenya, Ngugl wa Thiongo asserted:

One sure way of developing languages is to actively encourage popular drama and literature in those languages... And foreigners no matter how brilliant and gifted, and dedicated and selfless, can never, never develop our national languages, our national theater and literature, and our national cultures for us [71 ].

314

But national cultures and national languages need national resources and interest, or else they take second place to what is perceived as more worthy of prestige. In his former role as head of the Public Service Commission, Renagi Lohia (currently Ambassador to the United Na- tions and United States from Papua New Guinea) at tempted to make Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu required subjects in professional curricu- la. According to Lohia, Papua New Guinean doctors and lawyers often cannot understand Papua New Guinean patients and clients respec-

tively, and vice versa [72]. But would those courses attract students unless they were requirements?

At the very least, the development of pidgins and creoles demonstrates the assertion of dominated peoples to control their speech production and creativity [73]. Yet, there is no deny- ing that the contact situations in which new languages (creoles) emerge have involved hier- archical labor relations that are reproduced in the languages. As national mobility and the pattern of transient labor merge in the larger cities, more and more Papua New Guineans use Tok Pisin as the language they transmit to their children.

EXTERNALLY RESPONSIVE SCHOLARSHIP AND THE FOREIGN RESEARCHER

Development has been defined in terms of outsiders' interests. In addition, "God," "science, . . . . language," have also been defined according to externally-responsive goals. But also in this case, "God," "science," "language" and "development" have been dangerously interlocked. As suggested previously, the WBT/ SIL sees itself in the role of providing "service to host governments but especially to minority groups who have no written language and hence are cut off from a great deal of meaningful communication from the rest of the world" [74]. Yet the fact that "meaningful communication" is defined by non-Papua New Guineans

and only recently even included concerns about "appropriate technology" helps to create a situation in which alphabetization and subsequent literacy in one's language predis- poses the learner to certain religious and political precepts. The mystification of linguistic science as being connected to Christianity and the economic status quo leads to a broad reach- ing effort in which the alternatives to colonialist models of development are "satanized." It would seem that to challenge the social and productive relations as they currently exist is to do the work of the Devil.

In his discussion on the relationship between science, ideology and development, Mafeje points out that "a superstitious belief in science is as ideological as a belief or disbelief in traditional values and practices" [ 75 ]. This ideological association of science has been reinforced by the foreign expert system of financial privilege. The way a foreign expert often remains in Papua New Guinea is by stressing the continuing need for his/her expertise, by elavating the "science" of development and the presumed skills (including language) that foreigners have to mythological proportions. As seen earlier, linguists use the mystique embodied in the language of linguistics to obscure what is often meaningless research. Whether by function or by design, this strategy contributes to the progressive technological arrest of Papua New Guinean people because much of this work is related to the need in some Western, social science circles to find "primitives" about whom one can become recognized as the international expert. As such, language research, as well as much of the anthropological research in general, is often designed to primarily enhance a scholar's academic reputation in the metropo- litan world and to serve Papua New Guinean people only secondarily, if at all.

Another example of "science" reproducing the need for external domination in the interests of outsiders is that part of the Indigenous Mathematics Project in Papua New Guinea

315

which blamed the victims - school children and/or their languages - for the ongoing process of underdevelopment. For example, in noting the relationship between poor performance in school and the underdeveloped regions in Papua New Guinea, one writer in the project r~port hypothesized, "the problems caused by local languages which are not designed for mathematical and scientific use are becoming well known" [76]. There was little discussion of educational and financial resources in the region or other social or economic factors which might have contributed to the performance in school. Rather, the study implies that the blame lay at the door of the indigenous language itself. This is yet another classic example of how the intellectual labor is often externally- responsive as well. Part of this problem is that foreign researchers who engage the question of development do so from the ethnocentric pre- sumptions that "contact" and colonization by Europeans started the path forward from the Stone Age. Thus Papua New Guineans themselves must find a liberating way to discuss stages of development and historical periodiza- tion within a context that confronts colonialist biases about "development." Papua New Guinean social scientist John Woichom says that more research, not less, is necessary, but the issues must be linguistically accessible to everyone in the country. The alternative is to continue wasting resources on "professional scientificism" [77].

Mafeje points out that the ideology of "tribalism" in Western social science produces certain "ideological predispositions which made it difficult for those associated with the [colonialist] system to view these societies in any other light" [78]. Elsewhere, he maintains that the study of [African] towns and cities remained a monopoly of the anthropologists while sociology remained the anthropology of "advanced" societies [79]. Mafeje goes on to assert that the very epistemology of anthropology is in opposition to decolonization [80]. At

the root of this question is the ideological function Papua New Guinea serves for Western anthropology, and how this function affects the "ways of seeing" or-describing Papua New Guinean reality [ 81 ].

The language issues and problems in Papua New Guinea are unique. But many of the debates about the relationship between language and power are also taking place in other Third Word countries. All over the world people are developing strategies to "separate knowledge from language and content from its form"

[82]. It is instructive to note how Sankoff dis- cusses linguistic relativity and equality of language potential and capacity:

There is n o evidence that in terms of the basic machinery of a language cons idered as a c o d e for transmitting messages, i.e., the phonology, morphology, syntax, or even the ov~ail semantic organization, a n y o n e language is inherently supe- rior, more logical, accurate or efficient or in any way preferable to any other language [83].

As stated above by Sankoff, it is as possible to do scientific work in Papua New Guinean languages as it is in any other language. The un- spoken issue is whether or not official knowledge is English-fixated by Papua New Guineans themselves.

Like many Third World countries, Papua New Guinea has an externally-responsive economy. How can there be development when those who are to bring development are part of the structure of domination and therefore contribute to underdevelopment? In Papua New Guinea, the pre-colonial, linguistic egalitarian- ism was destroyed by a system of domination. This initiated a period in which the self-sufficient economic units became united under a system that directed Papua New Guinean labor to effect economic benefits for people and economic units outside of the country. Currently, external-responsiveness still directs the use of scarce capital. Investment is not in the schools or universal literacy, for example, and "production for domestic self-sufficiency was put on

316

the back burners" [84]. This highly dependent situation is due to Papua New Guinea having "been dumped into a capitalistic turmoil," as Talyaga put it [85]. This reality is reinforced by the development of a language policy which is more designed to create and reproduce the need for English-speaking foreign experts, rather than enable nationals to address the questions of "development." An internally- responsive language policy cannot occur in a vacuum, nor can major linguistic research be left to foreigners whose connections to power relationships within and outside Papua New Guinea buttress the situation of growing socio- economic inequality. The social transformation required for authentic, linguistic development will only occur when the country's social relations reflect a more equitable, Papua New Guinean-oriented allocation of resources.

NOTES

1 Area Ata Aidoo, Our Sister KtTl]oy or Reflections From a Black-Eyed Squint (New York: Nok Ptiblishers, 19S0), p. 112.

2 Herbert Marcuse, One.Dimensional Man (Boston: Beacon Press, 1964).

3 I would like to thank those colleagues and/or friends whose critiques and suggestions I have utilized in this article. Collegial support was provided by Christine W. Galley, Philip Harvey, Eleanor Leacock, and Councill Taylor. Acknowledgment must be made of the thorough review of the article by Louis-Jean Calvet, Johannes Fabian, and Archie Mafeje. I am also indebted to Papua New Guinean scholars, Otto Nekitel, John Waiko and John Woichom whose cogent comments and support encouraged me to press forward.

4 Johannes Fabian, "Missions and the Colonization of African Languages: A Framework of Interpretation for Develop- ments in the Former Belgian Congo." (Paper prepared for the World Congress of Sociology, Mexico City, 1982), p. 15.

5/b/d. 6 John Lynch, Chureh, State and Language in Melanasia: An

Inaugural Lecture (Port Moreshy: University of Papua New Guinea, 28 May, 1979).

7 Report of the Review of Information Services in Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby: Information Review Commit- tee submission to Prime Minister Michael Somare, 12 December, 1979), p. 45.

8 J. Lynch, op. cit. 9 Otto Nekitel, "What is Happening to Vernaculars ?" (Paper

prepared for the Waigani Seminar, University of Papua New Guinea, 1980).

10 Stephen A. Wurm, "Pidgins, Creoles, Lingue Franche, and National Development" in Albert Valdman (ed.), Pidgin and Creole Linguistics (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977), pp. 338-340.

11 S. Piniau, "Use of Pidgin for Community Development," Kivung: Journal of the Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea, (Papua New Guinea: Special Publication - Tok Pisin I Go We, May, 1975).

12 J. Lynch, op. cir. 13 National Education Strategy: Papua New Guinea Education

Plan Review and Proposals (Port Moresby: Institute of Ap- plied and Economic Research, 1979), p. 8.

14 Country Paper for Papua New Guinea, lntergovernmental Conference on Communication Policies in Asia and Oceania (Kuala Lumpur: UNESCO, 1979), p. 4.

15 A. Chimezie, "Attitude of Nigerians Toward English." Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 4, No. 2 (December 1973), pp. 215-219.

16 Louis-Jean Calvet, Linguistique et Colonialisme: Petit Trait~ de Glottophagie (Paris: Payot, 1974), p. 137.

17 Pierre Bourdieu and Luc Boltanski, "Le Fetichisme de ia Langue," in Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales (Paris, 1975) pp. 2-32.

18 Daniel Takendu, "Social Research and the Problems of Re- source Use and Development," in Andrew Namak and Grant McCall (eds.) Paradise Postponed: Essays on Research and Development in the South Pacific (Australia: Pergamon Press, 1978), p. 155.

19 John Samy, "Development and Research for Whom?Toward a Critique of Economism in the Pacific" in A. Mamak and G. McCall, op. cir., p. 29.

20 Jack Golson, "Ditches Before Time," in Hemisphere: An Asian-Australian Monthly (Australia, 1977), pp. 13-21.

21 Kenneth Good, "The Development of Australian Capital- ism," in Azeem Amarshi, Kenneth Good and Rex Mortimer (eds.) Development and Dependency: The Political Econo- my of Papua New Guinea (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1979), p. 76.

22 A.M. Babu, "Postscript," in Waiter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Dar Es Salaam: Tanzania Publish- ing House, 1972), p. 313.

23 J. Samy,op. cir., p. 22. 24 John Waiko, "Land, Forest and People: Villagers Struggle

Against Multinational Corporations in Papua New Guinea" (Paper delivered at the XIV Pacific Congress, Khabarovsk, U.S.S.R. 20 August, 1979).

25 A. Amarshi, op. cir., p . 48. 26 Controlling Interest: The World o f the Multinationals (San

Francisco: California Newsreel Film, 1978). 27 K. Good in A. Amarshi et al.,op, cir., p. 146. 28 Howard Wachtel, The New Gnomes: Multinational Banks in

The Third World (Washington, D.C.: Transnational Institute 1977), p. 13.

29 A. Amarshi, "What it Means to be Capitalist, Primitive or Communist for Melanesia" (Port Moreshy: Unpublished paper - University of Papua New Guinea, 1979).

30 Bettylou Valentine and Charles Valentine, Going Through Changes: Villagers, Settlers and Development in Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, 1979), p. 92.

317

31 S. Wurm, op. cit., p. 350. 32 P. Bourdieu and L. Boltanski, op. cir. 33 Gillian Sankoff, "Political Power and Linguistic Inequality

in Papua New Guinea," in William O'Barr and Jean O'Barr (eds.) Language and Politics (The Hague: Mouton, 1976) p. 294.

34 O. Nekitel, op. cir. 35 J. Lynch, op. cit., p. 5. 36 Ibid. 37 Much of this discussion occurred around the theme of

"linguistic innovation in Binandere" when John Waiko addressed the students in the Language and Development course at the University of Papua New Guinea on March 4, 1980. One interesting example of this "innovation" is that the Binandere concept for "dependent development"/"neo- colonialism" is derived from a word which previously meant "fish trap." In this particular type of trap the water and the fish separate so that the fish are forced to the top part of the trap.

According to Waiko, even the Amarshi, Good and Mortimer book is guilty of not engaging indigenous Papua New Guinean definitions of "development" and "underdevelopment."

38 John Waiko, "Konge Oro: Land and Culture or Nothing" in Ulli Beier (ed.) Voices o f Independence: New Black Writing From Papua New Guinea (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980).

39 J. Waiko, "Binandere Oral Tradition: Sources and Prob- lems," in Donald Denoon and Rod Lacy (eds.) Oral Tradi- tions in Melanesia (Port Moresby: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, 1981) p. 28.

40 McRae, Heather 1982 - Former lecturer in the Law Facul- ty at the University of Papua New Guinea. This information was provided in a personal interview in New York City in May, 1982.

41 Nahau Rooney was Minister of Justice in the first Somare government and involved in a controversial challenge to the foreign-based legal structure during her tenure as Minister. Though out of government for a period of two years, she has been reelected to Parliament. Josephine Abaijah is the outspoken opponent of Papuan absorption into Papua New Guinea. She is one of the principal spokespersons for the Papuan separatist movement, Papua Besena.

42 Vanuatu Country Paper, "The Integration of Women in the Development Process in the Pacific Region." (Vila: Twenty-first South Pacific Conference of the South Pacific Commission, 24-30 October, 1981).

43 The Waigani Seminar is a week-long annual conference that takes place at the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby. In 1982 this conference had as its theme the Eight Aims of Independence. The seventh aim - pertaining to women's rights - took up three days.

44 Barbara Rogers, The Domestication o f Women: Discrimina- tion in Developing Socieities (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980), p. 181.

45 Barbara Rogers made this point during her presentation at the Waigani Seminar, 1982 at the University of Papua New Guinea.

46 B. Rogers, op. eit., 1980. 47 Archie Mafeje, "On the Articulation of Modes of Produc-

tion," Journal o f Southern African Studies (October 1981), 48 S. HvaLkof and P. Aaby, Is God an American? An An-

thropological Perspective on the Missionary Work o f the Summer Institute o f Linguistics (Denmark: Survival Inter- national, 1981) p. 5.

49 Ibid. 50 Ibid., p. 18. 51 Bruce Hooley, [Letter to] "The Right Honorable Oscar

Tamur," in SIL: Summer Institute o f Linguistic Annual Re- port 1978 (Ukarumpa: S.I.L. Printing Department, 1979), p. 3.

52 D. Perrot and R. Preiswerk, Etnocentrismo e Historia: America Ind(gena, Africa y Asia en la Visi6n Distorsionada de la 6~ultura Occidental (M6xico: Editorial Nueva Imagen, 1979) p. 165.

53 Ibid. 54 Leo Hannett, "Disillusionment With the Priesthood," in

Ulli Beier (ed.) Niugini Lives: Pacific Writers Series (Australia: Jacaranda Press, 1974) p. 109.

55 Bruce Hooley, Twenty Years in Papua New Guinea, S.LL. (Ukarumpa, S.I.L. Printing Press, 1976) p. 15.

56 Granma Weekly Review, "Summer Institute of Linguistics Finally Begins to Pull Out of Ecuador," (Havana, 9 May, 1982).

57 S. Hvalkof and P. Aaby,op. cir., p. 14. 58 Louis-Jean Calvet, "APropos du Summer Institute of Lin-

guistics" (Paper prepared for World Congress of Sociology, Mexico, 1982).

59 This information came via an interview between Mark Solon and this writer on February 16, 1979 at the Uni- versity of Papua New Guinea.

60 J. Lynch, op. cir., p. 9. 61 Mike Olson, "Barai Derivational Operations vs. Universal

Passivization and Anti-passivization" (Papers presented to the Papua New Guinean Linguistics Society meeting in 1978 in Ukarumpa).

62 David Stoll, Fishers o f Men or Founders o f Empire? The Wycliffe Bible Translators in Latin America (Cambridge: Cultural Survival, 1982), p. 253.

63 S. Hvalkof and P. Aaby, op. cit., p. 18. 64 UNESCO Intergovernmental Conference, op. cit. 65 Whatever the feelings both national and/or foreign intel-

lectuals have about Tok Pisin representing the national spirit, a survey done at the University of Papua New Guinea - as part of the Language and Development course exercises - has instructive results. When the groundspeople and maintenance workers (most of whom were illiterate) at the university were asked whether they would want their children to be educated in Tok Pisin or English, nearly all of them preferred English. The reasons they gave demonstrated a clear understanding in practical terms of the relationship between political economy and language.

66 Bob McDonald, Language and National Development: The Public Debate (Port Moresby: University of Papua New Guinea, Department of Language Occasional Paper No. 11, 1976) p. 7.

67/bid. , p. 9.

318

68 A detailed study of the major Tok Pisin textbook used at the University of Papua New Guinea demonstrates the colonialist functions the book originally had. Conversa- tional New G~tinea Pidgin by T.E. Dutton is not written to prepare Papua New Guineans to learn Tok Pisin as a multi- purpose language. The Papua New Guinean lecturer who formerly taught this course (James Purapla) confronted the challenging task of modernizing - in class - Tok Pisin usage.

69 Am. Chikobava, "On Certain Problems of Soviet Linguis- tics," in John V. Murra, Robert M. Hankin, Fred Hollings (eds.) The Soviet Linguistic Controversy (New York: Columbia University Press, 1951), p. 11. Chikobava was the one Soviet linguist who participated in the debate of 1950 who demonstrated that rigid stadlalism, when applied to linguistic characteristics other than lexicon, led to racist conclusions. Though Soviet linguists have examined histor- icity in language, the writer has not been able to find other Soviet linguists who have continued this important theoretical contribution. Chikobava's work is vital because it reinforces Waiko's position about reactivating the traditional lexicon for new needs, as well as Wurm's postulation that vocabulary is the principal task of language planning for Tok Pisin.

70 F. Filin, "Literary Language - A Historical Category," Theoretical Aspects of Linguistics (Moscow: USSR Aca- demy of Sciences, 1977), pp. 49 -59 .

71 Ngugi wa Thiongo,Detained: A tCriter's Prison Diary (Nai- robi: Heinemann Educational Books, 1981), p. 194. Detained is one of the major manifestos about national language, national elite partnership with multinationals, and intellectual slavery; it was written by Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongo while he was imprisoned. It is required reading for all who would understand the relationship between linguistic underdevelopment and the international economy. It is important to note that Ngugi was jailed in connection with having worked with peasants andworkers in Kenya to produce a play about neo-colonialism entitled "Ngaahika Ndeenda" (I Will Marry Who I Want). It is believed that of- ficials were particularly riled by the fact that this play was in Kikuyu, one of the Kenyan national languages.

72 This information came as a result of a personal interview on April 30, 1982 with Renagi Lohia, current Ambassador of the Papua New Guinea Mission to the United Nations.

73 Angela Gilham, "Language, Literacy and Communication Controls in the Third World: An Exploratory Overview" (New Delhi: Paper presented at meeting of the Interna- tional Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, 1978).

74 B. Hooley,op. eit. , p. 1. 75 Arehie Mafeje, Science, Ideology and Development: Three

Essays on Development Theory (New York: Africana Pub- lishing Company, 1978) p. 75.

76 Alan Biship, "Spatial Abilities and Mathematics in Papua

New Guinea," in David Lancy (ed.) Journal of Education, Special Issue (Port Moresby, 1978) p. 192.

77 Though this concept was put forth by John Woichom in response to this paper, the term has also been used by Argen- tine mathematician, Oscar Varsavsky, who ends an essay on the subject with the following: "All of this conjunction of characteristics of contemporary scientific research is what we would call 'scientificism.' In sum, the seientificist is the researcher who has adapted his or herself to this scientific market, who refused to become concerned with the social significance of his/her work, separating it from political problems, and who gives him or herself to the 'career,' accepting norms and values of the great international centers, cemented in a hierarchy.

Scientificism is an important factor in the process of denationalization that we suffer; it reinforces our cultural and economic dependency and turns us into satellites of certain, world-wide poles of development." Oscar Varsavsky, "O Cientificismo," in S. Anderson and M. Bazin (eds.) C/dncia e in-Dependdncia (Lisbon: Livros Horizonte, 1977).

78 Archie Mafeje, '~The Ideology of 'Tribalism'," Journal of Modern African Studies (1971).

79 Archie Mafeje, "The Problem of Anthropology in Historical Perspective: An Inquiry Into the Growth of the Social Sciences," Canadian Journal of African Studies (1976) pp. 307-333.

80 /b /d . , p. 330. 81 I participated in an informative and controversial debate

around some of these points which emerged as responses to an article entitled 'Indigenous Anthropology in Papua New Guinea,' by Louis Morauta in Current Anthropology Vol. 20, No. 3 (September 1979), pp. 561-579 .

82 This is a quote from Somali linguist and politician Xuseen Adam, who made this observation while guest lecturing at the Politics of Language course at the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury in April, 1977. The full quote was the following: "We were a group of nomads who had been colonized by more than one linguistic entity. We reached Independence with a strong, poetic and oral, pre- literate tradition in Somali, but with an educated elite who wrote memoranda to each other in Italian and/or English. To educate our people and fulfill the dream of Indepen- dence, it was imperative that we learn how to separate knowledge from language and content from its form." An informative book on this process in Somalia is written by David Laitin, Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977).

83 G. Sankoff, op. cit., p. 284. 84 H. Wachtel, op. cir., p. 14. 85 Kundapen Talyaga, "A Need for a New Policy for Foreign

Researchers in Papua New Guinea," in Foreign Research- ers in Papua New Guinea: Building a New Policy (Port Moresby: Institute of Applied Social and Economic Re- search, 1978), p. 14.

Dialectical Anthropology 8 (1984) 303-318 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

Documents

Language and “development” in Papua New Guinea