Preserving culture by preserving language

Two documentaries, "To Weave a Name (E Haku Inoa)" and "Tongues of Heaven," look at preserving languages as a part of identity and preserving culture. Both documentaries screen twice as part of the Visual Communications' L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival.

Having studied several languages, I'm a strong advocate for learning more than one language. Going back to Japan and learn Japanese changed my life, so I can sympathize with the impulse behind both documentaries. The first, "To Weave a Name," is about the personal journey of director Christen Marquez.
Marquez is half-native Hawaiian. Her father met and married her mother, a hula teacher named Elena, when he was working in Hawaii. Elena was diagnosed as being schizophrenic and found to be a danger to her children. Marquez's father  divorced Elena and took all three of their children to the mainland.

All three children had Hawaiian names, Marquez's being 63 letters long. When the documentary began, none of the children knew what those names meant. Being a hula teacher, Marquez's mother Elena was more entrenched in the Hawaiian culture and by taking time to stay with her mother, Marquez learns more about the Hawaiian culture and her family.

The story is perhaps too personal and could have used some objective eyes. Marquez's narration is flat and doesn't probe into the exact extent of Elena's mental illness or Marquez's own changing perception.

Anita Chang's "Tongues of Heaven" is set in both Taiwan and Hawaii looks at much the same issue: Four young indigenous women who want to learn the languages of their parents and help prevent the extinction of the language and the culture. In the case of Hawaii, the Hawaiian language has been largely replaced by American English. For the Taiwanese, their native peoples were under Japanese Imperial rule (1895-1945) and then became dominated by Mandarin-speaking Chinese from the mainland when the Republic of China (ROC) led by Chiang Kai-Sheck fled to Taiwan in 1949. Taiwan had also been under Dutch and Spanish rule. One women choose between the language of her mother and the language of her father by considering which one has fewer people. A gain for one language, but a loss for the other.


Of course, language can't survive if only women are the gatekeepers of culture. The challenge will be getting both men and women in not only preserving but also developing the language and seeing how the language explains cultural attitudes.

"To Weave a Name (E Haku Inoa)" screens on 7 May 2013 (Tuesday) at 6:45 p.m. at the CGV Cinemas, 621 S. Western Ave. (between 6th and Wilshire), Los Angeles. On 11 May 2013 (Saturday) the documentary will screen again at 3 p.m. at the Art Theatre of Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th Street, Long Beach.

"Tongues of Heaven" screens on 4 May 2013 (Saturday) at 2:30 p.m. at the CGV Cinemas, 621 S. Western Ave. (between 6th and Wilshire), Los Angeles. On 11 May 2013  the documentary will screen again at 12:30 p.m. at the Art Theatre of Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th Street, Long Beach.

For more info, visit the official website of the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival.