Reflection about “Achieving Community”

In the article “Achieving Community”, Suresh Canagarajah describes a senerio in his survey on language maintenance in the Sri Lankan Tamil community. He was glad to meet someone who could talk Tamil. However, exceeding his expectations, the Tamil guy could not understand Tamil. This incident left he rebuffled. Why there are some part of migrated Tamil people have totally forgotton their language and culture? Status differences might have something to do with this unusual behavior. In Sri Lanka, access to English is restricted to those from high class groups, even though few who from low caste tried to study the language through limited resources were discriminated by privileged people. In this case, when they moved to English-Speaking countries like Canada, they could feel the freedom by cutting off old identities associated with Tamil language and culture.

Coming to another country to live can be an uprooting experience. Immigrants have to face a new language and a different culture. I think it’s normal for those people to forget their mother tongue because it associated with some miserable memories that they could not be bearable to recall. Those people who managed to learn English were discriminated by the high caste people in Sri Lanka, in contrast, by immigrating they would have more freedom. They could mask their old identities and reformulate their identities by moving to other countries. Distancing their native language could help them to forget some unhappy experiences. In the new place, unprivileged Tamil would not be restricted by the conventional forms that might dampen their mobility and creativity. It’s really a good chance for them to resonstruct themselves.

Therefore, discarding the traditional culture and homeland is not a bad thing all the time. “Rather than be chosen by community, they choose their communities” discussed by the author. Moving into a new place means new possibilities for immigrants.