Exploring the Narrators Ethnicity through Language in Two Contemporary Pieces of Literature - Case Study Example

Exploring the Narrator’s Ethni through Language in Two Contemporary Literatures Culture versus identity has served as a prominent theme in post-colonial literatures. Realizing the rightful set of norms that motivates self-realization and resolves the identity crisis has been an issue of concern for Asian-American authors. In the context of globalized culture, language can be termed as a tool that not just encourages but preserves self-identity. The Namesake and The Surrendered are two highly influential literary pieces that tackled the theme of taking pride in endorsing one’s true identity along with countering the cultural duality with utmost positivity. The Namesake is a novella turned full-fledge novel from acclaimed author Jhumpa Lahiri. It was published in 2003 and depicts the inert conflicts that arise between two generations of immigrants in America. The Surrendered is a critically acclaimed novel by this age’s most revered writer on globalized culture Chang-Rae Lee published in 2010. This particular story describes the impact of Korean War and globalization of culture. This paper is an attempt to explore how the narrative and narrator’s use of language helps the readers understand the author and/or speaker’s ethnicity, perspective on cultural duality and position in a foreign country. Jhumpa Lahiri’s take on this particular theme is rather explicit and effectively put forth from the very first chapter in The Namesake, which makes it clear right away that Lahiri’s inclination is on preserving ethnic bondage. The narration is in third person and therefore, the author’s stance comes forth quite openly. Lahiri shows how the characters of Ashoke and Ashima find it difficult to adjust to the open and somewhat nuclear social environment of America and use their language as a tool to keep themselves closer to their roots. Lahiri’s characters communicate in Bengali language especially at public places, for instance, when Ashima is in the hospital, Ashoke hides behind the curtain and speaks with his wife in Bengali since he knows that the nurses will not understand it. The author translates English terms into Bengali and explains Bengali traditions, such as Anna Parasam (rice ceremony) and the Mourning Rituals, in a descriptive form to introduce readers to Indian values and norms. Lahiri uses this technique of translation because she believes that “[the] characters must make sense of the foreign to survive” (Dhingra and Cheung 118). However, when they send their children to Bengali language classes, to their disappointment, their children fail to connect. “It never fails to unsettle them that their children sound just like Americans, expertly conversing in a language that still at times confounds them, in accents they are accustomed not to trust.” (Lahiri 65) This shows the conflicts that arise between two different generations and alternately expresses Lahiri’s own dilemmas since she herself was born to an immigrant Indian family. In The Namesake, a lot of emphasis is laid on the significance of naming a newborn in the language of the family’s ethnic background. Bengalis keep two names: a pet name and the good/official name. Since Ashoke and Ashima are Bengali Indians, therefore, their kids must be named in their native language. The pet name is not much important so Ashoke chooses a Russian name Gogol due to his respect for the author Nikolai Gogol and selects Nikhil as the good name. Actually, Lahiri wanted to depict the significance of a person’s name in outlining or portraying self-identity in an alien country. Lahiri believes that in a foreign land, it is the name’s language that distinguishes a person and helps in sticking closer to their roots. Jhumpa Lahiri also depicted her personal experience through this aspect because she also chose her pet name as her official name because she “never felt comfortable with her name” (Mishra and Kumar 69). The argument between the characters on the official name that the protagonist Gogol should carry shows the conflicts that arise between two generations of immigrants. Since Gogol is not an Indian name therefore, Ashoke could not allow his son to make it his official name. “It doesnt look right; pet names are not meant to be made public this way.” (Lahiri 36) In this aspect of the story lies an important point. Lahiri shows that no matter where a person migrates to, it is the native language that provides him the true identity that he must endorse. Lahiri mentions “[In Bengali families] individual names are sacred, inviolable, they are not meant to be inherited or shared” (Lahiri 28). This notion is shared by Prins et al. as well as they assert “personal names are important devices for self-definition in all cultures. It is through naming that a social group acknowledges a child’s birthright and establishes its social identity. “ (134) However, Gogol wants to break free from the cultural duality; he cannot understand the importance of a name while what he does not realize is that it is not the name but the language of the name that matter to his parents. However, inevitability of accepting ethnic reality as identity is presented by Gogol’s return. “Gogol returns to the bosom of his ethnic community by marrying an Indian American, returning again to his home and family after his divorce” (Friedman 115). The element of return in this novel therefore, symbolizes reconnection. The narration style in The Namesake is also very much inclined towards sustaining the language. Lahiri does not at any point tries to write in a westernized manner. She introduces the reader to numerous Bengali terms like Daknam (pet name) and Bhalonam (good name) instead of just using the English versions (Lahiri 26). By making references to Bengali cuisine, clothing style, culture and values with heavy usage of actual Bengali terms Lahiri makes it clear that she is very much attached to her culture and language. The language used in The Namesake is very expressive, which might have been an outcome of the colorful and rich Indian culture that Lahiri belongs to. It is a blend of references and narration with lots of Bengali phrases. In Imaginary Homeland, Salman Rushdie described that loss of language is “what makes a migrant such a pathetic figure because roots, language and social norms have been three of the most important parts of the definition of what it is to be a human being” (Agarwal 22). Language although strengthens a person’s identity but it also acts as a barrier in a foreign country and through the storyline of The Namesake the main idea that Lahiri showcases is that in such a situation loss of language is probable but not mandatory if one respects it truly. Gogol’s decision of changing his name to Nikhil when he is about to join Yale university is an expression of this point. He is annoyed because “no one he knows in the world, in Russia or India or America or anywhere, shares his name. Not even the source of his namesake”. (Lahiri 78) He feels alienated with everyone just because he is unable to connect with a Russian name and this happens because, as stated by Malti Agarwal “one needs to choose a language of one’s choice for self-expression” (178). Language, therefore, encourages self-expression and in majority of immigrant families it happens to be the person’s native language that does it. In The Namesake, after the death of Ashoke, Gogol wanted to express his pain and realizes that it is the Bengali language that he feels closer to and therefore, he converses frequently in Bengali. He has clearly chosen his native language for self-expression and probably same was the case with Lahiri, which is evident from the novel’s narrative structure. Chang-Rae lee’s The Surrendered is an acclaimed historical saga set in the backdrop of Korean War but a careful analysis suggest that it also contains cultural diversity and one’s strong connection with ethnic background as significant theme. Lee’s selection of Korean War as a subject depicts his own ethnic background as well. The Surrendered is much more than merely a narration of wartime horrors; Lee provides an exclusive message through his narrative that no matter how different a new culture or land may appear, one must learn to adapt and be humane instead of being reclusive. “War brought a tide of blood and it has swallowed everyone. But it doesn’t mean we should so quickly give up our humanity that we should be so indifferent” is the narrator’s stance (Lee 3). This novel is about defying the ethnic dilemmas and being content with what provides personal satisfaction and sense of fulfillment. “Great literature always redefines the social boundaries, so Lee is an author who continually insists that we rethink what is Asian American, What is American?” says Professor Anne Chang (Leung 28). For Lee, literature cannot be political, hence, this novel is not just Asian-American (Song 4). Unlike Lee’s previous works including the Native Speaker and A Gesture Life, The Surrendered characters “aren’t struggling to fit in. Far from it, they are focused on staying alive” (Leung 27). Structuring this novel in various continents, that is, from Asia to America and in the end Europe the author portrayed that in this age, culture and language serve as tool for self-expression instead of a barrier that makes someone confused. The Korean June Han, for instance, marries and divorces Hector, an American, then establish a successful business in the US but nowhere in the novel she loses her identity and remembers everything accurately about Korean culture and environment. She remembers that while she was in Korea hills were “the colors of pumpkin and hay and pomegranate and the skies depthless and clear” (Lee 2). Likewise, Hector is an ex-American soldier bearing a Greek prince’s name, works in Seoul and marries an Asian-American girl, which leads to the birth of a boy Nicholas who lives in Italy. Despite such diversity, the characters never get confused. Lee suggests that ethnicity cannot be borrowed nor can it be taken off, it just stays with an individual. June and Hector get separated but eventually reunite in New York however, both have been living in the same vicinity for years. Symbolically, this aspect of the narrative explains that ethnicity is deeply embedded in one’s persona since birth; no matter how far an individual travels, it never goes away just requires acknowledgement. In The Surrendered, Lee’s narration style is more visually descriptive than linguistically. “Lee is a quiet and restrained writer who uses language powerfully but without pyrotechnics; the horrors that befall his characters are intensified with dense visual detail” (McDonald). His writing appears confusing at some points due to his usage of two adjectives together for instance, “matted, tangled” or “scraggly, patchy” and also due to repeating such as “beneath her skin, her flesh” but it is also impressive to the extent of being poetic especially when he describes a setting (Robson). This expresses that the author is at ease with the environment and the culture where he belongs. Lee narrates gruesome wartime horrors in a very graphic manner, which may be disturbing but actually portrays a significant aspect of the speaker’s central idea. “Lee uses the horror of what they experienced as explanation for the people they become and the half-lives they lead” (Sankovitch). The point is that a war either emotional or physical can be devastating for the person. Same rule can be applied on cultural disparity; the more one fights to surpass the cultural dilemmas, the more they get strengthened and eventually create a sense of emptiness. Lee takes pride in his ethnic background but respects the land too which provided him shelter when his native country was a warzone. This is the first novel in which Lee has employed a third person narrative, which makes it easier to understand the author’s own ethnicity and view-point over cultural duality (Wagner-Martin 181). Chang-Rae Lee is an Asian-American immigrant of Korean origin who came to the US when he was three years old. In this particular novel, Lee described real-life events that his family witnessed during the war and most of the characters and incidents have been inspired from what he learned from his father. He even replicated the death scene of his mother and brother in the exact same manner as his father told him through the death of June’s siblings. However, this aspect also portrays the same point that all that matters is survival. Just as “Lees father went on to raise a family of his own in the United States, talking little about the Korean War and focusing on the future through his children and their accomplishments” he wants other to employ the same approach. (Sankovitch) Lee in this quote expresses the need to stay connected to one’s roots. “This world was littered with those cut off in mid-bloom, all this wasted beauty and grace, and that it was their humble task to gather as many as they could and replant them.” (Lee 88) Here, those who were cut off in mid-bloom can be taken as the generations of the immigrants and they performed the task of gathering bits of their culture. The novel’s title “The Surrendered” itself is an important element that depicts the entire theme and central idea of the narrative structure. Lee requires people caught in between the complexes of cultural duality to face the present in order to ensure a better future. There are sparks of cultural influences and attachment present in Lee’s language in The Surrendered as well and the particular scene when June, finds “a half-dozen packets of beef jerky and a can of Spam” in an abandoned American airplane explains it clearly (8). Her mother refuses to savor and shows her resentment to flexibility towards a new culture or country by “professing not to like its smell” (Lee 8). Similarly Lee addresses Koreans as orphans in a dialogue from the old man, “the whole country has been orphaned” showing that since they had to leave their culture behind to save their lives therefore, it is like being orphaned (Lee 5). Just like The Namesake, when June learns that her life is about to end due to stomach cancer she realizes the importance of finding her son before she dies, which symbolically can be taken as a person’s inevitable journey back to the roots. Lee’s narration relies heavily on intricately developed metaphors too in this context. Hunger, for example, portrays not just the traumatic eventuality of a war but it refers to one of the Buddhist six realms of existence “the Hungry Ghost” (Davis). June Han turn into a hungry ghost since she was “constantly famished” as a refuge, however, ironically she develops stomach cancer afterwards (Lee 8). By depicting June’s constant hunger then later her disease Lee shows that a person entirely detached from his roots is an empty person and such an approach may ultimately cause identity crisis. Through Hector Brennan’s character Lee depicts his trademark literary inspiration. Since Lee’s forte in writing is the theme of global culture, therefore, he chose a famous Greek hero’s name for one of his main characters. Lee did justice to the name by portraying Hector’s traits in accordance to the Greek hero. “Lee decides, inexplicably, to endow him with godlike physical attributes: Hector is the most beautiful man any of the characters has ever seen, he heals mysteriously fast, can drink endlessly without becoming drunk, and has superhuman endurance” (Churchwell) Ilium is an alternate or modern name of the city of Troy, which directly connects Hector to the Greek era sort of epic-ness, because he hails from Ilion, New York. Lee intelligently focuses the narrative on June and makes her a tough character having immense courage to get attuned and adjusted in a foreign environment, thereby depicting that determination is the key to survive in an alien land. Lee’s character June according to Hector is “the strongest person he had ever known” (Lee 451). “She stayed with him as long as she could. But when the last car of the train passed her she rose to her feet and steadied herself. And then she ran for her life” (Lee 14). This quote shows the courageous personality of June, who was only 11 years of age but was ready to take life as it is without dwelling into dilemmas or confusions. She eventually settled in the US without feeling disgusted that it was the same country that caused her abrupt and traumatic departure from her homeland. It can be concluded that both the authors Jhumpa Lahiri and Chang-Rae Lee claim their ethnicity through their text by writing on their native land and culture. Both have tackled the theme of cultural duality, ethnicity and one’s position in the US in ways driven by their personal perspectives. The Surrendered is not about searching for self-identity through selecting a particular culture as in The Namesake but surrendering to the present scenario and being satisfied with it without compromising on ethnic values. It is like endorsing the best of both worlds. The Surrendered draws the reader’s attention towards the significance of being flexible, determined, and endorsing a fighting spirit whereas The Namesake insists on sticking to the roots firmly in order to attain emotional peace. It is, however, clear that both the Asian-American authors have acknowledged and embraced the foreign land as their own and are at ease with their cultural duality, which is evident by their comfortable attitude in writing on themes of immigrants and globalized culture. Works Cited Agarwal, Malti. New Perspectives on Indian English Writings. Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2007. 33. Print. Churchwell, Sarah. "The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 19 Jun 2010. Web. 28 Nov 2013. . Davis, Lauren B. "Giving in ." The Globe and Mail. he Globe and Mail Inc., 06 Apr 2010. Web. 29 Nov 2013. . Dhingra, Lavina, and Floyd Cheung. Naming Jhumpa Lahiri: Canons and Controversies. Lexington Books, 2012. 119. Print. Friedman, Nathalie. "From Hybrids to Tourists: Children of Immigrants in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake." Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 50.1 (2008): 111-128. Print. Read More