Critical Evaluation of Style of English Language - Research Paper Example

?Critical Evaluation of style of English Language - Prajakta Kanegaonkar English language after evolving from Latin in its erstwhile years have certainly transformed in the years to follow. It has become richer and more expressive over a period of time by crossing boundaries of the island of origin. As in the later years with the expansion of colonialism it reached nooks and corners of the world. Eventually it became an international language. Like a flowing river, which assumes the characteristics of the area it travels; English too has donned various forms, styles and cultural influences. English has assumed the language of the continent it went to. The most prominent example is that of Indian sub continent, where highest English speaking population of the world exists. Irrespective of various styles and forms English represents the country it has been spoken into. What makes this unique transformation click and that too per subcontinent? There are clear influences of the local culture, language, adages, phrases and fables etc. on the English language. Not so long ago when English in its purest form was the only recognized form of the language, today admitting these local influences to the language makes it more acceptable on a global scale. When a prominent author like Salman Rushdie makes a statement, “to conquer English language may be to complete the process of making ourselves free”, he means expressing himself on a global scale and yet maintaining ones own cultural identity. Today it is said more than often that the world has come closer as a global village. Means of communication have drastically changed the way we think. In such case for an author it would not be an easy task to maintain fine balance between having a regional flavor and making the story universally appealing. Haroun and the sea of stories began when Rushide upon his son’s insistence began writing stories for children. Later it was realized that the stories are not merely for children, but they are as much for adults too. Based on the style of Arabian Nights, these stories are written in reality plus fantasy model. The characters of the story are the words commonly used in Hindi language which is spoken widely in India. The story also happens at a fantasy location around ‘Dull’ lake in valley K which is the beautiful Indian province of Kashmir. Problems of the sub-continent and those of struggle between creativity versus mundane life feature in this story prominently. Haroun’s father is a story teller who is hired by politicians who want him to make speeches and help winning and election. The fact that Rashid keeps losing his art due to various sad situations in his life represents that creativity is overshadowed by gloom in actual life, and the artist has to put up a strong fight to not to succumb to the gloom. The one metaphor that catches the reader’s eye is the “Mali” the gardener in the story. It is his duty in the story to keep the weeds away from the sea. Every one of us functions with certain orderliness of thoughts. Even if one is a creative and artist individual, one needs to have clarity to even “see” or realize the experience in order to be used as a creative example later in his creations. The duty of the gardener is to keep the stories from getting mixed up which are received by various individuals. Almost all the creative writers all over the world have admitted that being a two-individual-in-one personality. One who is like a common person living and leading life of a common individual and the other however is the creative conscious or creative individual, who keeps absorbing the ordinary daily happening only to make them come out as extraordinary stories. The duty of the gardener is to keep the thinking process clear of clutter so as the writer is able to put across what he feels in exactment. There are several other references in the story which transport the story from being a children’s book to an adult’s fiction. The fight between ‘Gup’ and ‘Chup’ for example is like two obvious clans fighting with each other. But there is more to the fight. It is a clash between what is obvious, put extrovertly and between people who prefer to let it be understood by the person in front of them. The abdicating of the princess although a very blatant fairy tale ingredient also changes in its interpretation the moment the reader connects it with the name she has got. ‘Batcheat’ which literally means chit-chat, being kidnapped indicates the want of shutting down of communication altogether. This is a fearsome problem depicted by a person who is master of words like Rushdie. The story may have been written a few years ago, but will always transcend through times because of this fight which is sketched. Today we have the most advanced means of communication which has resulted in two diametrically opposite situations for mankind. One is when one feels trapped in communication. There is nothing left to an individual’s mind and heart as everything can be tracked down by encroaching of communication media and devices. Paradoxically as if shutting down the communication internally we have really stopped communicating. The propriety of communication and language is lost and hence the troops of ‘Chup’ are lead by the warrior who speaks only through ‘Mudra’ which literally means sign language in Indian classical dances. He doesn’t feel the need to express through use of language. Does that mean that the writer wants to say that after a certain boundary line the realm of silence starts and words become useless? Ironically the girl who gets infatuated by this warrior is painted as verbose, temperamental and to some extent foolish. Again the reader is struck by the writer’s capability of putting contradictory characters in front of each other and makes him think about life’s paradoxes in general. The antagonist of the story ‘Khattam-Shud’ resembles the neighbor who has eloped with Rashid’s wife. The name means ‘completely finished’ and ‘Shud’ means ‘sensibility’. Naturally if all the sensibilities are dead then they have to be revived to make creativity get alive. This blend of Hindi and Urdu name gives the villain of the story a different characteristic altogether. Any person whose sensibilities are dead is the one who can never be creative and hence accepts mundane life as it is. Hence he is the king of the people who keep quiet and don’t prefer to talk, and he is the greatest warrior who expresses through sign language. Hence they want the world to not feel any new wave of expression and control all of them who talk. They get into archetypical villainous activities such kidnapping, manipulating etc. their goddess doesn’t have her voice and hence known as ‘Bezaban’. Rushdie has beautifully used the typical set of children’s stories to express the struggle an artist faces to gain acceptance from the surrounding world. The language heavily borrows from Hindi and Urdu, every name and character in the story bears a special significance and context and yet the story becomes universal due to its perfect blending with English. Although there are kings and queens and fantasies in all the children’s fiction that we read, the book crosses the boundaries of children’s literature due to its universally appealing struggle between ordinary and extra ordinary. The book is no different than Rushide’s style of magical realism. This genre created by him has had a tremendous impact of English and made him the most significant writer in the post colonialism era. His Indian background features in his books predominantly. The names of the characters, the plot set up everything borrows from Indian culture heavily. But what is more important is the thought he has given to English language and fiction writing. He sincerely believes that a strong story should have a strong narration. You cannot be a good story teller if you cannot put your story effectively to the reader. If this is an expectation he sets for himself then almost all his books qualify the test. For a reader, strong narration keeps the interest in the book going and also carries the story forward. His belief in free speech regarding the political events in third world countries also feature in his writings. According to him, developed countries ignore political happenings while third world countries although take a strong note of the same rarely are allowed to comment on the same. Although this could directly be connected with the fatwah that got issued in his name he still makes it a point to interweave the political happenings in his writings. Even in a children’s story book like Haroun and the sea of short stories, he brings in the character of a political leader who hires the story teller to amuse the electorate and get him to win the election. The politician even puts the father and the son in an elaborate and expensive houseboat to flatter him to the job. Perhaps the best confession regarding contribution to the language comes from Rushdie himself. “You draw from your life in a more interesting way. Reality is not realistic and we all fight our own wars, and for a realistic novel to come about we all deal with odd things that pop up.” This thought represented in his novels and literature ahs definitely left a distinct mark on English literature. Amongst the non English writers there is one more writer coming from a different continent who has left a mark on the use of language. Chinua Achebe’s writings are profound depiction of Nigerian culture and beliefs brought back into the mainstream literature. The novel ‘Things fall apart’ which is titled from a line from Yeats’ poem talks about Nigerian culture, the influence and encroachment of white missionaries on the land. The language richly uses social institutions of the Ibo culture, and their traditions of patriarchal society, democratic concepts etc. The fact that makes his writings stand out is his attempt to put the native side across. He is extremely successful in clearing the misunderstandings and misinterpretations about his homeland written by writers prior to him. As he has often stated in his life, he doesn’t undermine the influence and usefulness of English as a language. He believes that although the native languages are important, English gives universality to the story and commonality of expression to the people on his continent. The same thought actually got translated into practical in the freedom struggle in India. India, being a multi lingual and multi cultural country, with the advent of English, suddenly found a common language for communication. This made a profound impact on the freedom struggle of India. The story of ‘Things fall apart’ revolves around young Okonkwo, who fights his way up the social strata of his village through wrestling and steadily taking control of the village as a patriarch. He is leading happy and content life and has taken a painstaking route to the top. He is now given a responsibility of keeping a young kid at his place and to look after him till the kid is summoned and killed. Okonkwo himself lends the fatal blow of death. Upon which he is banished from the village and asked to live in an exile of seven years as punishment. After coming back he sees the transformation of his village by white colonizers. He tries to pull his people together to fight against the invasion on his society and culture. To his astonishment the villagers no longer have the spine and the courage; they are being recognized for and even betray him. They do not fall into his plans and eventually he commits suicide. The simplistic plot brings out the values the Nigerian tribes have been cherishing for generations together. For an individual the acceptance of change that takes place in his life is not easy. The global colonialism brought about changes that were not accepted by the local people. The struggle for new rule versus the old continued as the values carried forward got crushed to be replaced by the new ones. The literature written was no exception to this. As English was the most widely read language world over, the stories that were carried through often tilted towards colonizers. The culture, the values of the locals, their life and traditions did not come into light till someone like Achebe got himself the education to express himself and who took upon himself to set the record straight. The books written by Achebe are of immense contribution. Typically the patriarchal society depicted would contradict the popular belief of equality to women in today’s world. But world over even in the western countries till women received their due recognition, the society was patriarchal. The concept of exercising democracy from within may have been put across by western thinkers through English, but for tribes and villages in African and Indian sub continent it was practiced everyday. There is a distinct similarity in both the cultures we observe. Both the continents, important decisions concerning the village and the society within are taken jointly by the senior and junior male members of the society and the decision is binding on the entire village. The story also talks about changing definitions of masculinity in the society. The protagonist in his young age thinks his father to be lazy and effeminate and strives to not to be like him. His definition later changes to being the patriarch of the village. After his exile his definition changes to stand for the values he has believed so far and against the changes he feels are a threat to him. All this has a universal appeal because it has been put across in English. Achebe also uses various native symbols. Locusts are used to mean the impeding whites. Fire represents Okonkwo’s nature which is fierce, constructive as well as destructive. Drums are used in the narration to bind the heartbeats of the villagers in unison. All these symbols were unheard of in English by then. They bring the local flavor to the international language. Achebe generously uses local Igbo language to demonstrate that it is not an easy language to translate. His intention that the novel should be read by western world first and then the Nigerians is immensely successful. The concept of Chi is also unique to the book. Depicted as every tribesman’s individual god, whose merit is determined by the individuals’ good fortune or the lack of it comes back and forth in the novel. Okonkwo’s troubled situations are to the credit of the troubled Chi he has got and the concept rules his mind all throughout the book. Okonkwo says, “When a man says yes his Chi says yes also”. In such case he is clearly responsible for his own destiny and tragedy. What actually makes both the novels stand apart is the background they are set against. Although being a children’s novel Rushdie manages to touch the chord of a common individual. Set against the simple yet powerful theme of good versus bad fight it stands out in its use of characters used as metaphors and the double edged meaning they carry in the book. At one point of time they are depicted to be the innocent characters of the book where they play their part dutifully, on the other hand they carry the book beyond the boundaries of reality and seem getting realistic. For Achebe although the style is of his own and unique the traditional versus new struggle takes a different metaphysical dimension of clinging to values believed in life and carried them so far with inability to comprehend to the changes happening outside. They are also universally appealing because written in English. Hence English and local literature both while carving a niche have immensely contributed to each other. References: 1. http://www.bowenglobal.com/latest/english-the-language- as-a-global-force.html. 2. http://www.usingenglish.com/comprehension 3. http://www.richardwebster.net/imaginaryhomelands.html 4. http://www.cambriapress.com 5. http://www.ricorso.net/tx/ENG312/Teaching/Resources/Authors/Achebe_C/African_W.htm (African writer and the English Language) 6. http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/nigeria/language.htm (Chinua Achebe and the Language of the Colonizer) 7. http://www.casawomo.com/essays/chinua-achebes-response-to-conrad (Chinua Achebe’s response to Conrad by Robert Reese 2004) Read More