The Prism of Power of Language - Essay Example

Literary Analysis Literary Analysis Both “Native Speaker” by Lee Chang-Rae and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan are dedicated to language barrier of Asian American within English-speaking society. The writers belong to American-born generation, which has come across the problem of bilinguals. Having moved in a foreign country, their parents tried to preserve national language and culture within the limits of their own families. Knowledge of English allowed Asian American children to realize themselves, but created a generation gap between them and their parents. Multiple layers of English language create different socio-cultural context for every generation; thus, they are separated in spite of consanguinity. The works under discussion contain autobiographic motive, because the writers have experienced disadvantages of being bilingual. The novel “Native Speaker” describes life of a mixed marriage in New York through the prism of power of language. Henry Park is a non-native speaker, who has made a successful career in Glimmer and Associates, but is not separated from his national roots. He works among multicultural staff, that’s why he should be tactful and flexible enough. His wife Leila teaches English at school and comes across linguistic barrier and conflicts in multi-cultural society. In the essay “Mother Tongue” the author demonstrates variety of language in everyday life. Tan’s mother belongs to a well-known and respected family in Shanghai and has been living there for several decades. For people of her age it is not so easy to adapt to new social and cultural conditions in the USA. “The lack of shared languages and cultural logics remains a central theme throughout all the narratives in Tan’s book. This absence transcends the simple linguistic dichotomies or cultural misunderstandings.” (Bloom et al, 2001) In this case, poor knowledge of language is the main obstacle for Asian Americans. It affects perception and attitude towards representatives of ethnic minorities in different spheres of life. The episode at the hospital shows that medical staff breaks official rules and treats Mrs. Tan improperly only because they lack of time to find a lost medical record. She is a middle-aged Asian American, who speaks emotionally and makes many mistakes; thus, many English native-speakers would consider Mrs. Tan as a limited, slow-witted person. This is a long-term effect of a wrong historical theory that white race prevails over other ethnic groups. Although US society is multinational, Eurocentric model of thinking is a dominating one. Linguistic, cultural and religious achievements of such ethnic groups as Chinese, Korean or Mexican Americans are often being neglected. As Amy Tan analyzes her attitude towards power of English language as a professional writer, the main hero of “Native Speaker” regards the same problem from within. There is a world outlook of non-native speaker within a multicultural society. Henry Park grew up in the suburbs of the big city and communicated with Mexican, African, or Chinese Americans. Fort example, Ouboume and Bouhoame spoke broken English with terrible accent, but they found common language with their customers. Henry watched generation gap between them and their sons through the prism of power of English. According to him, they are worth of respect and success, despite of knowledge of English. Nevertheless, English creates obstacles for such children, who might remain strangers, immigrants in the USA. This is the tragedy of modern Asian American students, who often have to choose profession not at their discretion, but according to their knowledge of language. “Asian students, as a whole, always do significantly better on math achievement tests than in English. And perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math and science, which is what happened to me.” (Tan, 2009) Amy Tan’s remark represents actual situation in the US education, where white students are traditionally considered more inclined for languages then Asian or Mexican American ones. The teachers take this doctrine for granted and often drive Asian American students off English language and literature as professional sphere. Mediocre knowledge is more than enough. Thus, there is an evident discrimination of Asian American students in education. The Parks belong to Korean American minority, that’s why their informal social position is not high. American-born white citizens regard them as immigrants, whose rights are limited. The majority of immigrants is low-income and live on the outskirts of the cities. Medical insurance, prestigious colleges and universities are often inaccessible for them. This socio-economic injustice excites displeasure and anger of immigrants, who have been looking for better life in the United States. So, they join in local ethnic communities to support each other. The whole plot is built upon contradiction of Korean culture and American values/ way of life. The readers discover and understand specific cultural surrounding from Leila’s point of view. She is a typical American woman, that’s why she strives to follow socio-cultural balance with her husband’s mental world. For instance, notion of ahjumah (“aunt”), which means “madam” in Korea, is strange for US culture. As for their family relations, Henry’s attitude towards Leila is unusual, as it is built on Korean traditional values. His love reminds national love songs, where tenses represent past, present and future. The main purpose of Park’s father was to provide Henry with an appropriate education and, thus, to get rid of language barrier between him and privileged English-speaking majority. Henry’s experience proves how much Asian American children suffer from two-sided misunderstanding at school and at home. “But I always hear myself displacing the two languages, conflating them - maybe conflagrating them – for there’s so much rubbing and friction, a fire always threatens to blow up between the tongues.” (Chang-Rae et al, 2004) Life in a bilingual world and separation of school and family life results in detachment from traditional socio-cultural values. Both writers hint as generation gap within Asian American families, where parents do not understand aspirations of their children. Lee Chang-Rae and Amy Tan express their attitude towards role of English language in their life, using specific narrative strategies. These strategies do not fully correspond to the standards of “perfect English”. The writers do not miss mistakes, incorrect expressions, slang, broken and brutal words. Chang-Rae’s sentences are often broken, unfinished, because readers should understand sense by themselves. Childhood memories of Henry Park and discussions with his wife are also full of broken sentences with slang, incorrect words, because target audience should imagine psychological state of Korean American boy, who gets over the difficulties in learning foreign language and misunderstanding at school and at home. Thus, Lee Chang-Rae’s narrative strategy is personal and informal, as the book is primarily intended for Asian American readers. The same can be referred to “Mother Tongue”, because the author describes her personal life and relations of mother and daughter through the prism of linguistic barrier. At the beginning of the essay, when the writer speaks of the linguistic conference, one comes across carefully structured and grammatically correct sentences. Mrs. Tan’s conversations, on the contrary, contain many mistakes, incorrectly pronounced words, Chinese metaphors and comparisons that are not typical for classical English. That’s why only a few Amy Tan’s acquaintances understand her mother’s speech well. At the same time, the writer understands her perfectly and likes her “broken” language, “mothers version of English gives her bicultural insight and strength”. (Bloom et al, 2001) Consequently, her narrative strategy is oriented on both English-speaking and Asian American audience, because the problems touched are on the agenda in modern US society. Problem of children and parents is one of the most important in the works under discussion. The heroes analyze their life experience related to learning English and power of language. For example, Henry Park regards perfect knowledge of English as key to making a successful career. At the same time, it often provokes step-by-step detachment from the homestead, traditional values, world outlook and family relations. Younger generations of Asian Americans are “social outcasts” in their own families. They fail to combine national and American values and, thus, they have to choose among them in order to survive. “Language and identity are always positioned within a hierarchical power structure in which the Chinese American immigrants’ form of life has never been granted a status equal to that of their European counterparts in the history of this country.” (Bloom et al, 2001) There is a gender discrimination against Asian American women in the sphere of education, linguistics, journalism and literature due to low proficiency of perfect English. This is an old-fashioned stereotype, as there are many gifted Asian Americans. Asian male and female writers will bring innovations in American literature, using lively and picturesque language. Amy Tan is a pioneer and her writings attract a large target audience. Using her personal experience, the writer touches issues actual not only for Chinese Americans, but for other ethnic groups and immigrants in the USA. In the “Mother Tongue” she develops her theory of multi-layered English, which includes an influence of national language, culture and family values. Such influence is exceptionally positive as it shapes an individual’s world outlook without breaking with national roots. Percentage of Asian Americans increases, that’s why they can obtain socio-economic and cultural benefits in US society through active participation in social life and public opinion. It will help various generations of Asian Americans to speak the same language. The title of Tan’s essay has a double meaning, because the word mother hints not only at native language, but relations between several generations of one family. Mothers and daughters often quarrel and try to show their priority, because they speak different kinds of English. Mothers’ version of English is grammatically incorrect, folk-related, and Chinese-oriented. It is built up on Chinese literature, cultural values, customs and philosophy. Also it includes an impact of mass media and popular literature that is understandable for Asian Chinese readers (Amy’s mother watches Forbes, Wall Street Week, reads Shirley MacLaine’s books). On the other hand, daughters speak correct English, though their results at achievement tests are B’s. “Mastering this imaginary perfect English for the American-born daughter turns out not to be a simple ticket to American success. This linguistic competency, ironically, signifies her departure from her mother (and her motherland), deepening the chasm between generations and cultures.” (Bloom et al, 2001) Their language consists of two clusters; the first one covers mother tongue, national culture and family values and the second one – dominating language and culture. This contradiction begins from early childhood, when US educational system changes children’s national identity. They learn English to communicate with the other pupils, but their offers and knowledge are not properly estimated at home. Lee Chang-Rae and Amy Tan indicate a large role and power of English for Asian Americans. On the one hand, this is a way to high education, professional success, making career at one’s own discretion. Young generation have benefits as they have more opportunities and skills for learning English and combining with national culture. They will easier adapt within the new country. On the other hand, older Asian Americans are primary barrier of their ethnic culture and should preserve it even in the English-speaking society. The writers promote a flexible cooperation between different generations of Asian Americans. The topic discussed and styles of writing are intended for a broad target audience. Bibliography 1. Bloom, Harold. (2001). Amy Tan. Philadelphia: Chelsea House. 2. Chen, V. (1995). Chinese American Women, Language and Moving Subjectivity. Women and Language, 18 (1), 3 - 8. 3. Chang-Rae, Lee. (2004). Native Speaker. New York: Pocket Books. 4. Tan, Amy. (2009). Mother Tongue. In D. Palumbo (Ed.), Essay (pp. 28 – 33). Westport: Ct, Greenwood. Read More