Feb. 21 may feel like just an ordinary day to you, but from the viewpoint of promoting awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, it is a special day: International Mother Language Day, launched by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In order to join the international celebrations of the day, the National Museum of Taiwan Literature — located in Tainan, the cradle of Taiwan’s cultural development — set up the five-year “Permanent Exhibition of Taiwan’s Literature in Mother Languages” in 2010 — which will run through April, 2015. In response to today’s universal use of the Internet, the museum’s researchers have digitized the exhibition, and beginning on International Mother Language Day last Thursday, the museum has accommodated people’s busy schedules by offering the option of viewing the exhibition from the comfort of their homes with just a click-of-the-mouse.
The exhibition is divided into three themes: Aboriginal, Hakka and Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) literature. After entering the museum’s official Web site at www.nmtl.gov.tw, click on “online exhibition” under the “exhibition” dropdown list. There, a seahorse nicknamed “A-hai,” the little host of the virtual exhibition, will take visitors on a trip through the digital world of mother language literatures. The museum reminds readers to turn on their loudspeakers while taking the online exhibition tour, a feast for the eyes and ears that allows visitors to experience the tenderness and brilliance of Taiwan’s mother language literatures.
Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature
照片由國立台灣文學館提供
“Multilingualism is a source of strength and opportunity for humanity. It embodies our cultural diversity and encourages the exchange of views, the renewal of ideas and the broadening of our capacity to imagine,” according to UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. The late Taiwanese writer Yeh Shih-tao once said that, “It is appropriate to write literature in one’s mother language; in other words, an ethnic group should create in its own mother language.”
The online exhibition allows visitors to appreciate the abundance and insights of Taiwan’s diverse literary landscape, including the Aboriginal, Hakka, and Hoklo literatures. There is also a hope that it will make people understand the ethos and value of mother language literatures in Taiwan’s literary context.
(Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times)
Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature
照片由國立台灣文學館提供
二月二十一日之於你,或許不過是平凡的一天,但從促進語言和文化多樣性與多語種化的角度來看,它是聯合國教科文組織訂定的「國際母語日」。
為了與這個國際母語大日接軌,位於台灣文化發祥地台南的國立台灣文學館,早在二○一○年即推出「台灣本土母語文學常設展」,預計展出五年,展期至二○一五年四月為止。為順應e化潮流,台文館研究人員將實體展覽內容數位化,在上週四「國際母語日」當天起推出線上展覽,方便忙碌民眾在家「隨手」觀展。
線上展覽分為「原住民語文學區」、「客語文學區」、「台語文學區」等三大主題,民眾進入台文館官網(www.nmtl.gov.tw),點選「展覽」選項下的「線上展覽」,即可跟著虛擬網站的小主人海馬「阿海」,一起遨遊於母語文學的數位浪潮。台文館特別提醒讀者在進行線上流覽時,記得要打開喇叭,讓眼與耳同時體驗母語文學的溫柔與精采。
聯合國教科文組織總幹事伊琳娜‧博科娃表示:「多語言使用有助確保全民良好教育。它體現文化多樣性並促進觀點交流、思想創新,以及增廣我們想像的能力。」已故作家葉石濤曾說:「文學用母語來寫,是正當的,也就是說一個族群用自己的母語來創作是應該的。」
線上展覽讓民眾在家即可飽覽原住民、客語、台語等多元豐富的台灣文學內涵,也期待讓民眾領略本土母語文學在台灣文學脈絡中的內涵與價值。
(台北時報記者林亞蒂)
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