Thursday, October 18, 2007

How To Tame a Wild Tongue

This essay wasn't what I expected. I guess I expect most essays that reference the taming of the tongue to have some Proverbical (not a real word) influence; in other words, I think of the Christian ideal of taming the tongue. When I realized that this essay was instead about Anzaldua's struggle with language prejudice, I was surprised.

The next emotion I felt was frustration. Aesthetically, her combination of English and Spanish looked nice on paper, but she lost me in transition. I don't speak a word of Spanish, and I had no idea when her English thoughts following the Spanish ones were translations or independent thoughts.

However, as I read on, I began to appreciate her technique. Her entire essay focuses on her different codes--they way she speaks and combines different dialects and languages depending on her audience. Sometimes she does it for comfort, sometimes for familiarity, sometimes out of habit, and sometimes to avoid judgment. As an English-speaking Chicago native, I don't have to put this much effort into my speech. I don't have a noticeable accent I need to disguise. I speak my brand of English at school, at work, with friends, in meetings, and in interviews. I don't need to code switch.

Because of this, I cannot appreciate the experiences of Anzulda. But I do appreciate her technique in the essay--sure, I was confused by her intermingling of Spanish and English. But that is her language and that is her norm. That is her code that her culture speaks, and it does not have to be changed to suit my (ignorant, Spanish-lacking) needs.

3 comments:

Elijah said...

Yes, I don't think that she was very thoughtful of her reader. I couldn't understand half of her words, she needed to take her readers context in consideration. I don't know much Spanish, either! This essay contained a good point, but one I had to put together myself (because it wasn't stated).

LMcClellan said...

It seems to me that Anzaldua's point in weaving the Spanish and English together might simply be because we don't understand. True, it was frustrating at first, but maybe we got a taste of what she has experienced in her life. Most times when we get a recording over the phone, there's always the "Press 3 for Spanish" option. Maybe we should focus more on embracing other tongues rather than making "outsiders" feel as though they speak an "orphan tongue" as opposed to a foreign one. Afterall, we are a melting pot, aren't we?

I never really considered my language as a part of who I am as a person until I read this essay. Anzaldua states, "Repeated attacks on our native tongue diminish our sense of self," and "Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity - I am my language." We would do well to take a walk in her shoes and understand the difficulty and the loss of identity that other ethnicities may feel as they submit to the pressures of conformity in America.
Well done Anzaldua.

Jody Heintz said...

Like stated earlier, I am not sure she is reaching her intended audience in the way she may have hoped. I, too, was unsure if she was translating her Spanish into English, as I do not know much Spanish.

I do however, commend her for speaking 7 languages! That is talent, even if it has been forced from her communities. That is what happens when we cross cultures. We must learn their native tongue. She just happened to be in an area where many variations of the same language are spoken, and the children make up their own pidgin language as well.

She definitely gained my compassion, even though I do not completely understand all of her essay.