Finvenkismo
Encyclopedia
Finvenkismo is an ideological
current within the Esperanto
movement dating back to Zamenhof
, the initiator of Esperanto. The name is derived from the concept of Fina Venko ("Final Victory") denoting the moment when Esperanto will be used as the predominant second language
throughout the world. A Finvenkisto is thus someone who hopes for and/or works towards this "Final Victory" of Esperanto. According to some Finvenkistoj, this "Final Victory" of Esperanto may help eradicate war, chauvinism and cultural oppression.
Recently some Esperantists have been trying to replace the expression "Fina Venko" (Final Victory) with "Fina Sukceso" (Final Success) because "Fina Venko" reminds some people of war, like the German "Endsieg
".
created Esperanto with the goal of eventual use by everyone as a second language for international communication, Finvenkismo has been around for as long as Esperanto itself. In the early days of the Esperanto movement, being an Esperantist practically implied being a Finvenkisto, i.e. hoping for the "Final Victory" of Esperanto. However, as the Esperanto movement (i.e. the movement for the propagation of Esperanto) grew by convincing people of the ideals of Finvenkismo, the Esperanto community (i.e. those who speak Esperanto independently of whether they propagate it) became a lively language community, and thus got more and more independent of the Esperanto movement with its ideology of Finvenkismo. Thus, one could now be an Esperantist without being a Finvenkisto at all.
, whose members should not concentrate on the propagation of the language but rather on its cultivation. The term Raŭmismo comes from a manifesto signed by many participants of the Youth Esperanto Congress
in the Finnish town Rauma
in 1980.
Soon the word Raŭmismo acquired two different meanings: According to some, a Raŭmist is just someone who uses Esperanto without propagating it. According to the more ideological Raŭmismo, a Raŭmist is someone who considers the Esperanto community a self chosen linguistic minority and supports attempts to get a state-like representation for this minority. This more ideological Raŭmismo is now often called Civitanismo, because it is the official ideology of the Esperanta Civito (Esperanto Citizens' Community), an organisation which attempts to be such a state-like representation of the Esperanto diaspora.
Even though nowadays most Esperantists highly value cultivating the language -- and the proportion of Esperanto-speakers who cultivate the language without propagating it is larger than ever -- the ideological Raŭmismo (Civitanismo) has isolated itself somewhat within the Esperanto community because Civitanistoj are perceived to spend more energy on criticising the Finvenkist Esperanto movement than on cultivating Esperanto.
In response to the criticisms from Raŭmismo, the Finvenkista Esperanto movement has produced the Prague manifesto
, which attempts at showing the importance of Finvenkismo in our modern society by emphasizing democratic communication, language rights, preservation of language diversity, and effective language education.
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
current within the Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
movement dating back to Zamenhof
Zamenhof
Zamenhof is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:* Rozalia Zamenhof, née Sofer , mother of Ludwik* Romana Zamenhof , a Jewish Polish female Esperantist and pharmaceutist...
, the initiator of Esperanto. The name is derived from the concept of Fina Venko ("Final Victory") denoting the moment when Esperanto will be used as the predominant second language
International auxiliary language
An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
throughout the world. A Finvenkisto is thus someone who hopes for and/or works towards this "Final Victory" of Esperanto. According to some Finvenkistoj, this "Final Victory" of Esperanto may help eradicate war, chauvinism and cultural oppression.
Recently some Esperantists have been trying to replace the expression "Fina Venko" (Final Victory) with "Fina Sukceso" (Final Success) because "Fina Venko" reminds some people of war, like the German "Endsieg
Endsieg
Endsieg is German for "final victory". It is used in the meaning that a victory is taken for granted even though all odds are against it.- Origin and historical usage :The word became commonly used in World War I...
".
Origin
As ZamenhofZamenhof
Zamenhof is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:* Rozalia Zamenhof, née Sofer , mother of Ludwik* Romana Zamenhof , a Jewish Polish female Esperantist and pharmaceutist...
created Esperanto with the goal of eventual use by everyone as a second language for international communication, Finvenkismo has been around for as long as Esperanto itself. In the early days of the Esperanto movement, being an Esperantist practically implied being a Finvenkisto, i.e. hoping for the "Final Victory" of Esperanto. However, as the Esperanto movement (i.e. the movement for the propagation of Esperanto) grew by convincing people of the ideals of Finvenkismo, the Esperanto community (i.e. those who speak Esperanto independently of whether they propagate it) became a lively language community, and thus got more and more independent of the Esperanto movement with its ideology of Finvenkismo. Thus, one could now be an Esperantist without being a Finvenkisto at all.
Raŭmismo/Civitanismo
Since 1980, Finvenkismo encountered criticism by so-called Raŭmismo. This ideological current interprets the Esperanto community as a language diasporaDiaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
, whose members should not concentrate on the propagation of the language but rather on its cultivation. The term Raŭmismo comes from a manifesto signed by many participants of the Youth Esperanto Congress
International Youth Congress of Esperanto
The International Youth Congress of Esperanto or Internacia Junulara Kongreso is the biggest annual meeting of young esperantists in the world. The participants come from all over the world for an entire week and they usually number around 300, although there has been a congress with more than...
in the Finnish town Rauma
Rauma, Finland
Rauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...
in 1980.
Soon the word Raŭmismo acquired two different meanings: According to some, a Raŭmist is just someone who uses Esperanto without propagating it. According to the more ideological Raŭmismo, a Raŭmist is someone who considers the Esperanto community a self chosen linguistic minority and supports attempts to get a state-like representation for this minority. This more ideological Raŭmismo is now often called Civitanismo, because it is the official ideology of the Esperanta Civito (Esperanto Citizens' Community), an organisation which attempts to be such a state-like representation of the Esperanto diaspora.
Even though nowadays most Esperantists highly value cultivating the language -- and the proportion of Esperanto-speakers who cultivate the language without propagating it is larger than ever -- the ideological Raŭmismo (Civitanismo) has isolated itself somewhat within the Esperanto community because Civitanistoj are perceived to spend more energy on criticising the Finvenkist Esperanto movement than on cultivating Esperanto.
In response to the criticisms from Raŭmismo, the Finvenkista Esperanto movement has produced the Prague manifesto
Prague Manifesto (Esperanto)
The Prague Manifesto is a set of seven widely-shared principles of the Esperanto movement. It was drafted at the 1996 World Congress of Esperanto which occurred in Prague by officials from UNESCO and attendees of the congress...
, which attempts at showing the importance of Finvenkismo in our modern society by emphasizing democratic communication, language rights, preservation of language diversity, and effective language education.