Just because you speak a lesser spoken language you can no longer assume that that what you write will be confined to your small language group. Not so long ago, Marie Krarup, a member of the nationalistic Danish People’s Party was invited to New Zealand as part of a parliamentary delegation learning about the New Zealand defence situation. On her return to Denmark, Krarup wrote about her visit in Danish in a blog post which was critical of two main things:
1. The Maori welcome the delegation received which was ‘grotesque’ and symptomatic of a minority culture overwhelming the majority and
2. New Zealand’s defence policy which was described as irresponsible for no longer including offensive capabilities.
Before Google Translate this may have been confined to a domestic argument between the approximately 6 million people who speak Danish, but with the easy availability of translation tools it didn’t take long for the New Zealanders to pick up on what had been said and for the incident to escalate into a major diplomatic incident between the two countries which ended with the DPP reprimanding Krarup for her article.
At first Krarup defended herself by saying that what she had said had been ‘lost in translation’ but I read the original Danish and there is no mistaking the meaning. Then she said that it had been a humorous article but it is difficult to see the humour in it when in a later TV interview she confirmed that she did feel ‘idiotic’ when rubbing noses and hearing the Maori language being spoken when she knew full well that the people she was meeting could speak English. So that wasn’t the bit which was meant to be funny!
So be aware that whatever you write online in whatever language has the potential to spread globally.
Links
The Danish People’s Party (no English version, please use Google Translate or consult the Wikipedia link!)
http://www.danskfolkeparti.dk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_People%27s_Party
Marie Krarup (no information in English please use Google Translate)
http://www.mariekrarup.dk/33303282 (page devoted to New Zealand incident links).
Original article:
http://www.b.dk/politiko/aldrig-kan-et-folk-forgaa-som-ikke-vil-det-selv?page=1
Quick Translation :
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10876319
Daily Mail UK
The New Zealand view:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8521904/Dane-MP-labelled-racist-after-NZ-visit
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10876537
Image credit: Geoftheref on Flickr http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-2488495943