How Are Questions of Language, Place and National Identity Inter-Related in Literary Texts - Essay Example

I set about learning Welsh, in order to be able to return to the true Wales of my imagination” (R.S. Thomas). How are questions of language, place and national identity inter-related in literary texts? Nationalism is illustrated to have great importance within the concept of national identity. Anthony Smith presents the ‘ideology’ of nationalism with a core doctrine in his book National Identity, where he argues that ‘human beings must identify with a nation if they want to be free and realise themselves’1. In this case, in order to ‘know who we are’ we must essentially understand where we come from. Moreover, he argues that ‘nationalism is an ideological movement for attaining and maintaining the autonomy, unity and identity of a nation’2. It is this concept of ‘sameness’ and belonging which unifies us individuals to have a sense of pride attached to our country. This issue of national identity is one which is distinct within Welsh Anglo-Saxon writer R.S. Thomas’ Collected Poetry and Irish writer Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. It is interesting to compare the confused identity of Thomas, who was born in Cardiff yet spoke English as a child, to a dominant Irish figure such as Doyle who was born and bred in Ireland, and hence feels justified in glorifying his own country. He does this by using Gaelic phrases in order to present it in a more idealised category compared to the other cultures. Doyle too betrays anguish in his own culture as he presents the underlying woes within an Irish household being those of violence which was common in the 1960’s when the book was written. Nevertheless, one notes a sense of pride and belonging in Doyle, whereas Thomas is still searching in order “to be able to return to the true Wales of my imagination”3. In this essay, I will explore issues of language, place and national identity that are manifest within Thomas’ Collected poems and Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. R.S. Thomas focuses on Wales as his own national identity. For example, in A Welsh Testament, he writes, ‘All right, I was Welsh. Does it matter? I spoke the tongue that was passed on to me in the place I happened to be’4. We find Thomas telling us that although he speaks English, he is unable to speak his ‘mother tongue’, which he believes to be Welsh. There is a defensive hue in his words, as though he is trying to justify his inability to speak their language. This speaks of an anguish in him resulting from not having a full sense of belonging. In the poem Welsh, Thomas further illustrates this anguish when he writes, ‘I can’t speak my own language’5. In the first quotation he refers to the language he speaks now being ‘the tongue’ where he was at the time, whereas in the second he is speaking of the Gaelic language when he says ‘my own language’ in Welsh. It is significant that he uses the personal pronoun, trying desperately to create a sense of belonging to Wales. Having been born in Wales, he clearly is unsure as to what his national identity should be, English being the tongue he speaks. He writes, ‘all those good words; and I outside them’6, implying that he still feels like an outsider not fully belonging to his own country. Similarly, in National Identity, Smith states that ‘nationals outside the homeland’ were deemed as ‘lost’, and the lands they inhabited, especially those contiguous to the homeland, were ‘unredeemed’ and had to be recovered and ‘redeemed’7. Thus, according to this explanation, Thomas’ alienation to Wales makes him one of those lost souls searching for redemption. This shows how place can affect the idea of where an individual thinks their national identity lies, as ultimately, Thomas sees ‘no other way to unity in Wales except through the Welsh language’8, which further signifies the importance of language for Thomas in national identity. In addition, place plays an essential part in Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha as the book is based heavily on Ireland. Gaelic phrases such as ‘leabhair Gaeilge’9, ‘cinuas’10 and Irish sayings such as ‘eejit’11 are important in grasping the concept of where it was set and the culture it formed. The Catholic religion too is dominant in Ireland. Humorous explanations of saying grace before dinner, with the protagonist (Patrick) explaining how ‘grace was always the fastest before meals, probably because we were all starving’12, is comical to a reader who understands the Irish Catholic upbringing and how strict some families were about their religion. Saying grace before meals shows their religious upbringing and background, though their lack of commitment to it (as they are just children) is shown through them ‘rushing’, which more often than not readers who were brought up around that time can relate to. Moreover, Thomas sees place in his collected poems to be dominant in illustrating one’s own national identity. In the poem Abercuawg, Thomas creates an imaginary place ‘where the cuckoos sing’13. It created a sense of searching for this ideal: ‘an absence is how we become surer of what we want. Abercuawg is not here now. But there’14. This confused notion in the poem of not knowing where this place actually is (because it is set in the imagination) reflects how Thomas feels about his culture. He is neither here nor there, and there is no definite place for him, just like Abercuawg is not a distinct place. Furthermore, when looking at how national identity is inter-related in literary texts, we must look at the nature of language. It is the art of words that bind people together. There is a sense of unity in collectively speaking one language in your own country. As Samuel Johnson describes it, ‘words are the daughters of earth, and that things are the sons of heaven’15. This natural imagery of words being founded on the earth, the very base of our civilization, demonstrates how it binds us together as a nation. It relates well with Thomas’ poem Here when he writes, ‘I am a man now... I am like a tree, from my top boughs I can see the footprints that led up to me’16. One feels as though Thomas has fully grown into the person he is destined to be, like the root of a tree, relating yet again to the root and soils of our earth which language is embedded into. This has a theological element which relates back to the time of Creation when Adam was reportedly made from the soil of the Earth. This is an interesting connection to Thomas’ identity, who studied Theology at University. The ‘bough’ of the tree is sequenced throughout his books as it is used to show the symbol of the cross. In R.S. Thomas: poetry and theology, Davis describes the cross depicted in his poems as an ‘untenanted tree with a clear historic and symbolic presence’. The poem entitled Bleak Liturgies portrays a ‘man hanging upon the crossed tree of man, as though he were man, too’. This mystery of Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion runs alongside Thomas’ mystery of what identity he feels he has. It is the mystery of hope and definitive identity17. Mass for Hard Times sees Thomas asking, ‘what after-life is there/for the furies?’18, which correlates well with his confused ambiguous situation in life of not knowing the nation he should belong to. This idea runs alongside Thomas’ idea of national identity being rooted in a place, just as a tree is rooted in the ground. However, Thomas’ struggle as this person is further illustrated when he confesses, ‘I had arrived and yet not found it. And thus there arose again the whole problem of names, and words and things, and the connection between them’19. This constant confusion of not being able to identity fully because of his lack of knowledge of the language is shown through his frustration of being unable to fully ‘connect’. Moreover, in Welsh he writes that, ‘I can’t speak my own language –lesu’20, yet he feels the need to as he says, ‘why must I write so? I’m Welsh, see’21. It is as though he is constantly reassuring himself that he needs to write in Welsh in order to feel this true identity. National Identity sees Smith demonstrating the great influence family has on national identity. He writes, ‘the most fundamental sentiments evoked by nationalism were, paradoxically, those of family... because real families can constitute an obstacle to the ideal of a homogeneous nation wherever nationalism embraces the ideal in that extreme form’22. Ironically, it is the strong bonds of the Clarke family in Doyle’s novel which creates a strong sense of identity. Although there are troubles between Paddy’s parents, the resolution at the end of every argument creates a sense of unity as evident from ‘Da hugged ma when he came home’23. This unity is similar to the sense of attachment and belonging to a certain nation. Smith goes on to write about the metaphor of family being ‘indispensable to nationalism’24. He believes that ‘the nation is depicted as one great family, the members as brothers and sisters of the motherland and fatherland, speaking their mother tongue... evoking strong loyalties and vivid attachments’25. It is the attachment to family members such as parents that bears resemblance to the strong attachment one has to their own country. The fact that a language of your own nation is called the ‘mother tongue’ shows how it relates to your upbringing and your background with your own family. It is loyalty to your own family, like that to your nation, that makes you belong to that place, and this is something Thomas tries to seek throughout his poems. In addition, Thomas coherently tries to portray the Welsh history in order to gain a better sense of national identity. Historically, our ‘homeland’ acts as our ‘cradle’ containing memories where past heroes and saints worked, lived, prayed and fought. It is the rivers and the coasts that become ‘sacred’ places of renovation and places with inner meaning. Such places make us individuals aware of the nation we live in,26 being surrounded by such beautiful and historical landmarks. It becomes a defined boundary for us where, as members, we feel like we belong to, which ultimately builds an attachment between us and that country. This sense of attachment creates a sense of unity between the countrymen, which is why we are collectively happy when we win things as a nation, such as a football match. In Welsh History Thomas writes that ‘we are a people taut for war’ and goes on to say that ‘we were a people bred on legends warming our hands at a red past’27. Using the collective pronoun ‘we’ conveys a sense of unity as though everyone is uniting as a nation. The second phrase mentions ‘legends’ which reflects on the historical aspect of national identity, implying we are somewhat indebted to those historical figures who have fought for our country and become heroic figures. This aspect is inter-related in literary texts such as Beowulf. As a nation, we become proud of the feats such figures have achieved for our country, which is why we allow ourselves to be identified with one particular nation. In addition, Welsh Landscape describes that ‘to live in Wales is to be conscious at dusk of the spilled blood that went to the making of the wild sky’28. This concept of nature is dominant throughout Thomas’ poems as he sees his national identity through the Welsh landscape. Doyle however doesn’t focus on the beauty of the Irish landscape. Instead, he looks at the small events of a normal day in Ireland. For example, when the Clarke family goes out for a picnic, due to the torrential rain they end up going back home to have the picnic. The only bit of landscape we see being beautified is when Paddy’s Ma describes how she wants peace, and Paddy replies, ‘the mountains are peaceful’29. Unlike Thomas though, there is no description of the landscape, implying that identity is not necessarily seen through the countryside but through aspects of their upbringing and language, as shown through the religious themes and Gaelic phrases used. Nevertheless, though Thomas presents his connection of identity through landscape, he still paints a bleak picture of the ‘noisy tractor’ and ‘cries at night’30 which too betrays slight anger towards Wales. Similarly, The Welsh Hill Country conveys further images of dullness attached to Wales by describing ‘the moss and the mould on the cold chimneys’ together with the ‘nettles growing through the cracked doors’31. Such negative images depict Wales’ dirtiness and lack of warmth, which detach us as readers. This detachment runs alongside Thomas’ feelings in that he cannot fully connect with the people of Wales due to his lack of acquaintance with their language. This frustration spills out when he says, ‘this century has produced people who are obsessed with the question of language’32, which is almost a defensive attack at the people who believe he is not truly Welsh. However, it ultimately illustrates a sense of insecurity as he is himself not convinced that he is truly Welsh. In the essay Welsh writing in English: A Yearbook of critical essays, it is clear that Anglo-Saxon writer R.S. Thomas doesn’t know where he stands as a writer of national identity as he confesses, ‘it has come to me many times with a catch in the breath that I don’t know who I am.’ This search for discovery and a sense of belonging to a particular nation is prominent throughout Thomas’ poems as he tries to find secure identity in himself. For example, in Welsh he writes, ‘I want my own speech, to be made free of its terms’33, which again, relates back to the concept of language indicating what secure national identity you possess. The essay continues with Tony Brown’s observation that Thomas’ main issue is that he doesn’t feel he can fully be a Welsh writer as he is unable to write poetry in the native language. The conjured image of a ‘holy Island in sunlight illuminated on the horizon’ shown in Dialogues of self and soul: Autobiographies of W.B. Yeats and R.S. Thomas portrays Wales as an entity that stands for a ‘condition of national unity and independence’34, which ultimately is the focal point of Thomas’ political and personal desires that he feels departed from as a boy being English speaking35. Whilst Thomas still tries to ‘find himself’ in a quest of discovery, Seamus Deane argues that an autobiography ‘is not just concerned with the self; it is also concerned with the ‘other’, the person, events or places that have helped to give self definition’36. For example, for Thomas, it is essential for him to realise that it is also England that has made him who he is, with the tongue of his birthplace being English which was influential in shaping what he later became. For Deane, an ‘idea of Ireland’ is a formulation that seems to elide the personal story of the individual into an encompassing national narrative. This is interesting as Doyle clearly shows the journey of the transition from child to adulthood through protagonist Paddy Clarke, where we not only see his personal process of maturing but also the concept of Irish culture through sayings such as ‘gee’37 and ‘janey mack’38. This dual investment in conceptions of the selfhood and otherness is insightful if we see it rationally. In conclusion, it is clear that Thomas has struggled with his inability to be attached to any nation because he was brought up in England and speaks English though he feels himself to be a Welshman. His desire to find a society that he does not feel alienated from is his priority and he searches for his place within Wales throughout his collection of poems. Roddy Doyle on the other hand devises a book that already has a set identity intact, being Irish. This identity is shown through Gaelic phrases and the ordinary day-to-day life of child Paddy Clarke as he grows up in an Irish working class family. This upbringing moulds Paddy into who he becomes - a member of the Irish nation, which is a journey we never see in Thomas’ poetry. As a reader, it indeed feels as though Thomas is an ‘unfinished man, wrestling with the ignominy and distress of something less than personhood but that he is longing for, but never achieving the permanence and stability that soul promises’39. It is insightful and sad to watch a man that never fully feels satisfied because of his ambiguity of not knowing who he is, though it is also interesting to see how language and place really do have a significant effect on one’s national identity. Bibliography Davis, William Virgil, R.S. Thomas: Poetry and Theology Doyle, Roddy, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1993) Smith, Anthony D., National Identity (Harmondsworth: Penguin,1991) Thomas, R.S., Collected Poems 1945-1990 (Phoenix, 1993) Thomas, R.S., Selected Prose, The Creative Writer’s Suicide (Bridgend: Poetry Wales Press, 1993) ‘Welsh writing in English’, A Yearbook of Critical Essays, Read More