Changing English Forever

Term Paper # 108400

English
Language

An examination of how post-colonial literature has influenced a change in the English language.

2,007 words () | 10 sources | MLA | 2006 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses language change and presents the reasons for change. The paper states that literature offers one of the most important ways in which new perceptions are expressed. The paper gives examples of how political power, British culture, post colonial writers and untranslated words had an influence on the change in the English language. The paper comments that using these methods of taking English and changing it into a language that reflects the post colonial experience is one of the ways that the English language is changing.

From the Paper:

"Another method of replacing language is when the author uses untranslated words in their work. Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin explain that this method is a widely used device that conveys a sense of cultural distinctiveness. It is used both to distinguish between cultural differences but is also important when trying to interpret cultural concepts (63). Jamaica Kincaid uses this method in her story "Girl." She leaves a number of words such as benna and doukona untranslated (564). Deciding to not translate the words for the English speaking reader is a purposeful act, it forces the reader to feel out of the loop and uncomfortable, the way that many postcolonial writers are made to feel when writing in English."

Sample of Sources Used:

Achebe, Chinua. "Civil Peace." Gioia and Gwynn, 42-6.
Ashcroft, Bill, Griffiths, Gareth, and Tiffin, Helen. The Empire Writes Back. Routledge: London, 1989.
Brians, Paul. Post Colonial Literature: Problems with the Term. January 5, 2006. Washington State University. April 1, 2006. http://www.wsu.edu:8001/~brians/anglophone/postcolonial.html
Gioia, Dana and Gwynn, R.S. eds. The Longman Anthology of Short Fiction. Longman: New York, 2001.
Hastings, Wally. Post Colonial Theory. Northern University. April 2, 2006. http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/PCTHEORY.HTM