Transformation of English Language in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide

Zakiyah Tasnim

Abstract


With millions of non-native English language users, English has gained the position of ‘global language’ in the last century. English literature also has a significant number of non-native writers from around the world. While grasping their own cultures in English, these non-native writers have been transforming English language to a remarkable extent. On many occasions, these transformed varieties are recognised as versions of English language. This essay explores the notion of translingual writers and their use of English language, taking The Hungry Tide, a novel of the Indian translingual writer Amitav Ghosh, as an example. The novel is studied, along with the works of other researchers, with the sole focus on the transformation of English language in it. This study looks for the answers of two questions. They are: 1. How do the translingual writers justify their transformation of English language?; and 2. How is Amitav Ghosh transforming English language in The Hungry Tide and why is he doing it?

Keywords


Transformation of English Language,translingual writers, ‘Words’ as Migrants

Full Text:

PDF

References


Achebe, Chinua. ‘The African Writer and the English Language’, Morning yet on Creation Day: Essays. London: Heinemann Educational. 1975. 91-103. Print.

Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. The Empire Writes Back. London: Routledge, 1989. Print.

Crystal, David. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

Print.

Ghosh, Amitav. Sea of Poppies. New Delhi: Penguin Group, 2008. Print.

----------------- The Hungry Tide. London: HarperCollins Publishers Limited, 2004. Print.

----------------- The Ibis Chrestomathy [Amitav Ghosh’s Webpage]

[accessed 4th March 2018]

Griffiths, Gareth. “Silenced worlds: Language and experience in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide”. Kunapipi, 34(2), 2012.

[accessed 4th March 2018]

Kachka, Boris. ‘Amitav Ghosh’s Floating Berlitz Tape : More Fun than Learning a new Language: Reading One’ New York Guides.25 August 2008.

<< http://nymag.com/guides/fallpreview/2008/books/49502/>>

[accessed 4th March 2018]

Kachru, Braj B. The Alchemy of English. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1990. Print.

Kellman, Steven G. Preface. Switching Languages: Translingual Writers Reflect on their Craft. Ed. Kellman. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. Print.

Ngũgĩ, wa T. Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. London: J. Currey, 1986. Print.

Okara, Gabriel. “African Speech … English Words.” Switching Languages: Translingual Writers Reflect on their Craft. Ed. Kellman. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. 185-187. Print.

Rao, Raja. Foreword. Kanthapura. By Rao.2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. v. Print.

Rushdi, Salman. “‘Commonwealth Literature’ Does Not Exist.” Imaginary Homelands. By Rushdie. London: Vintage, 2010. 61-70. Print.

List of the Books consulted, but not quoted in this paper.

Ghosh, Amitav. The Shadow Lines. New Delhi: Ravi Dayal Publisher, 1988. Print.

Ghosh, Bishnupriya. When Borne Across: Literary Cosmopolitics in the Contemporary Indian Novel. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2004. Print.

Hawley, John C. Amitav Ghosh. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print.

Mondal, Anshuman A. Amitav Ghosh. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2007. Print.

Mukherjee, Minakshi, The Perishable Empire: Essays on Indian Writing in English. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.

Sailaja, Pingali. Indian English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. Print.

The Post-Colonial Studies Reader (2nd edition). ed. by Bill Ashcroft and others. London and New York: Routledge, 2006.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.9n.3p.145

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2010-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

Advances in Language and Literary Studies

You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.