The issue of multilingualism vs lingua franca in science (and in society) is certainly very complicated, but the recent article by Gregory Crane raises some questions and a few concerns. In general, I think everybody would agree with Miran’s appeal on Humanist: “Let us invest in language diversity”.
There are countless documents supporting multilingualism in science, but it is interesting to look at the conclusions of the 2011 European Science Foundation Young Researchers Forum on Changing publication cultures in the Humanities:
While also aiming for multilingualism, we should preserve linguistic diversity in humanities research. Diversity has to do with creativity, which is a precondition for the humanities. A key instrument of diversity is translation.
I think we will never stress enough the value of translation. I’m currently reading the fascinating story of the Jesuit Orientalist Yves Raguin, for whom philology, spirituality and cultural awareness coincided. It is the responsibility of dominant languages and cultures to translate from marginal or less influential languages.
Read more here, and see Gregory Crane’s response in the comments: Towards monocultural (digital) Humanities? | Infolet – Informatica e letteratura