Music and Lyrics

I am not a linguist. My grasp of English is just enough so that I can function on a daily basis; ask for food, ask where the bathroom is, and write blogs.

That's about it.

I have absolutely no authority to tell anyone what to think about English becoming the dominant language of the world. The only way I think, for me to talk intelligently about language is to relate it to my chosen field: music. Music and language are almost perfect analogues. They both stand as symbols for ideas and emotions, they both can be recorded and written down, and they both are difficult to understand if they are not in your native tongue.

English language is the language of business and politics. If you want to compete on the world stage, you are pretty much forced to learn English. This is awesome for me because I already speak it. The problem comes when English gains such a monopoly on the world that cultural expression is hindered. American music, like American English, is also poised to take over the world. We can already see it in the popular music of Africa, and India. In Africa, they have abandoned their mbiras and djembes in favor of amplified guitars and synths. India's music is such a mishmash it is hard to find anything “Indian” about it. Has our cultural imperialism gone too far?

(Pagodes, from Estampes , Claude Debussy)

Perhaps instead of looking at this mixing of cultures as a stagnating homogenization, we can see it as an active learning and borrowing between cultures. Cultural exchange goes both ways, I think that musicians see something they like and add it to their repertoire. At the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition Claude Debussy was exposed to the music of the Javanese Gamelan. This music was exceedingly strange to European ears, but cast a spell on Debussy that influenced him for the rest of his life. Were the Javanese responsible for changing French impressionist music irreparably?

(Javanese gamelan: Kebogiro)

I think a distinction needs to be made between evolution and homogenization. I concede that in some cases, English is responsible for the dilution of culture, but for the most part, it is the driving force for allowing all cultures to share and communicate with each other.