If it’s not in English, then your knowledge doesn’t count: 

 

English language dominance by default, defines what is “not real” and what does not constitute knowledge and it does so not by debate, or by argumentation.  Instead the process occurs through exclusion, marginalization, and even by invisiblizing the “Other.”  Worse than being voiceless, non-English perspectives tend to be imageless and presence-less, particularly when, even if they exist, most search engines do not find them or prioritize them, and access to the sites is made problematic by slow or overwhelmed servers, a lack of bandwidth, and an inability to view the site if it is not in a font that the most prevalent browsers – Netscape’s Communicator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer – do not support.

 

Return to English Language Hegemony on the Internet home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© susan smith nash, 2002