Language revitalization is imbued with tensions, and while it often is emancipatory, reclaiming a language can be a painful, silencing experience. Processes of colonization have led to epistemological absences (Santos 2012), which may be conceptualized as manifestations of silence. Understanding how and why silences come about and linger today is important for overcoming challenges those engaging in language reclamation may face. Therefore, paying attention to silences and emotional aspects of revitalization processes is important. In order to explore the inherent tensions of revitalization processes, I investigate lived experiences of language reclamation, focusing on emotions and silences in revitalization processes of Sámi in Northern Norway. European nation states colonized not only in the global South, but also ‘at home’. Thus, the South, in the form of silenced and marginalized populations, also exists in the global North (Santos 2012). Drawing on perspectives from Southern Theory and Gordon’s (2017) sociology of haunting, I investigate silences, emotions and tensions in language reclamation to shed light on how our colonial past may re-emerge in processes of language reclamation.

中文翻译：

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从沉默到沉默？语言复兴中的矛盾与张力

语言复兴充满了紧张，虽然它通常是解放性的，但重新使用一种语言可能是一种痛苦的、沉默的经历。殖民化过程导致了认识论的缺失（Santos 2012），这可以被概念化为沉默的表现。了解今天沉默是如何以及为什么会出现并持续存在的，对于克服那些从事语言改造的人可能面临的挑战很重要。因此，注意恢复过程中的沉默和情绪方面很重要。为了探索复兴过程的内在张力，我调查了语言复原的生活经历，重点关注挪威北部萨米人复兴过程中的情绪和沉默。欧洲民族国家不仅在南半球殖民，也在“国内”殖民。于是，南方，以沉默和边缘化人口的形式存在，也存在于全球北方（Santos 2012）。借鉴南方理论和戈登 (2017) 的困扰社会学的观点，我调查了语言回收中的沉默、情绪和紧张，以阐明我们的殖民历史如何在语言回收过程中重新出现。