From: FRAGANO S LEDGISTER <f.ledgis-AT-morehead-st.edu> Subject: Re: Pedantic Postcolonial Point Date: Thu, 21 Nov 96 15:19:14 EST > > > >Just a point. Naipaul is a _Trinidadian_, his 'own language' is a creole > >of English (and he has written in it, you should read _Miguel Street_). > > I think that Naipaul has more than one language. He certainly functions > well in both standard english and creole. To suggest that his "own > language" is creole is to ignore the complexities of identity that his > multi-lingual position and his writings explore. Naipaul did not exactly > embrace creole throughout his career, although he uses it in _Miguel > Street_. But I do see some ambivalence in his use of nation language in > _MS_. > > karen > 'Nation language', eh. Fi yu miggle name mussi Kamau. :-) I take your point (we could certainly add Bhojpuri to the list). However, in defence of what I say above, I should note that by 'own language' I mean the vernacular he grew up speaking and in which he thought his first thoughts. You are correct to say that he 'did not exactly embrace Creole' (actually, for a Trinidadian, English Creole is 'Dialect', the word 'Creole' being reserved for the now all-but-extinct French Creole). But that's hardly sur- prising given the social context of the vernacular, the racial context in which it functions, and the high status of 'proper speech'. --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005