AW: Language barriers --- financial barriers

[Gruenendahl, Reinhold]

On 9 Mar 2009 at 13:16, victor van Bijlert wrote:

> It seems this forum is being used to wage private battles. Perhaps the

> moderator should discourage this type of discussions. They do not belong in

> a forum that is allegedly devoted to discussing purely academic questions
in

> the field of Indology.

> Victor van Bijlert

I freely admit that this debate is quite a challenge for me. Actually my
difficulties already started with the term "barriers". According to the OED,
a barrier is something "to prevent access". Is it to be assumed, then, that
some indologists publish(ed) in, say, German in order to prevent access to
the results of their research?

I also admit my profound ignorance of any number of languages that might be
useful for my work. But it never occurred to me to see this as "a fence or
obstruction erected [by someone else] to bar [my] advance" (roughly what the
OED says). It is entirely up to me to learn these languages, and should I
choose to ignore the material published in them, it is my sole
responsibility. No tales of domination to be spun here!

Victor van Bijlert could have voiced his concern way back when the debate
turned to finance - hardly "purely academic questions". He didn't. And
neither he nor any member of the committee intervene when Eli Franco started
to spread rumors about the Helmuth von Glasenapp-Stiftung, although they
could hardly be called "well-considered" (as the INDOLOGY rules have it). So
far he doesn't even seem to have considered the possibility that the reaction
he provoked might have something to do with his behaviour.

It is still a mystery to me how the debate was steered into the direction of
the Helmuth von Glasenapp-Stiftung, and I cannot see who expects to gain from
this, except in terms of attention - undeserved attention, in my view. I
would have wished for a little more gratitude and respect (if that isn't a
forbidden word) for a foundation that has been of invaluable service to many
scholars over decades. May it be an example for others.

Reinhold Grünendahl

 
________________________________________________ 
 
Dr. Reinhold Gruenendahl
Niedersaechsische Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek
Fachreferat sued- und suedostasiatische Philologien
(Dept. of Indology)
 
37070 Goettingen, Germany
Tel (+49) (0)5 51 / 39 52 83
 
gruenen at sub.uni-goettingen.de
 
FACH-INFORMATIONEN INDOLOGIE, GOETTINGEN:
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In English:
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GRETIL - Goettingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages:
http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil.htm
 
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