Мовні особливості збірки Дж.Діаса “Зануритися"

 

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ, МОЛОДІ ТА СПОРТУ УКРАЇНИ

ПОЛТАВСЬКИЙ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ ПЕДАГОГІЧНИЙ УНІВЕРСИТЕТ

імені В.Г.КОРОЛЕНКА

Факультет філології та журналістики

Кафедра англійської та німецької філології

 

Курсова робота

Напрям підготовки: 6.020303. Філологія. Мова та література (англійська)

 

”Мовні особливості збірки Дж.Діаса “Зануритися”

 

Рекомендовано до захисту

Протокол №___________

від «____»  ____________

Зав. кафедри___________

Виконав:

Мурай Олександр Владиславович,

студент ІV курсу, групи Ін-56

факультету філології  та журналістики

підпис ____________________

Керівник:

к. пед. н., доцент

Криницька Наталія Ігорівна

                                          підпис ________________

 

Полтава–2011

 

 

ContentS

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………..3

CHAPTER 1.GENERAL FEATURES OF HISPANIC CUTURE IN THE USA…. 6

1. Spanglish as language phenomena in American life……………………………..6

1.2 Junot Dias and short story collections “Drown”………………………………..10

CHAPTER 2.LANGUAGE PECULIARITIES OF the SHORT STORY cOLLECTION “DROWN”…………………………………………………………17

2.1. Use of  Spanglish in “Drown”…………………………………………………..17

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………...22

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………....24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

Nowadays the World is very changeable. It’s not possible to predict what will be tomorrow or even today. Every day we get to know about some hurricanes, overflows, tsunamis or even wars. Sometimes it concerns us, sometimes it doesn’t, but anyway it always concerns some people and it influences their destinies. That makes people move and be in search of a new place, new beginning of life. All these causes breed human migrations. Migrations influence the lives of citizens of new lands. Mostly it affects a culture and, of course, the language of a country. That’s a great topic for investigations, thousands of linguist study changes of languages caused by migration. It’s a kind of language an exchange; they absorb their elements, mostly lexical units.

The perfect example of the role of migration is the USA. The country’s population includes the representatives of all countries from all over the world. At first there used to be Standard English, but because of widespread Hispanic culture, there appeared a new language phenomenon that’s called Spanglish. Mostly it’s used by people originated from Latin America, Mexico or Cuba. Their language community is approximately 30 million people, that quite a lot. That’s not a secret that all official documents and warnings in the USA are written in both English and Spanish. As it has been written above about the Afro-American writers, there also appeared Hispanic writers who began to write in a mixture of English and Spanish that was called Spanglish. That’s the point to linguists and there is a science of such a phenomenon, that’s called Sociolinguistics. [15]

Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way a language is used, and the effects of language use on society. Sociolinguistics differs from sociology of language in that the focus of sociolinguistics is the effect of the society on the language, while the latter's focus is on the language's effect on the society. Sociolinguistics overlaps to a considerable degree with pragmatics. It is historically closely related to anthropology and the distinction between the two fields has even been questioned recently.

It also studies how language varieties differ between groups separated by certain social variables, ethnicity, religion, status, gender, level of education, age, etc., and how creation and adherence to these rules is used to categorize individuals in social or socioeconomic classes. As the usage of a language varies from place to place (dialect), language usage varies among social classes, and it is these sociolects hat sociolinguistics studies.

The social aspects of language were in the modern sense first studied by Indian and Japanese linguists in the 1930s, and also by Gauchat in Switzerland in the early 1900s, but none received much attention in the West until much later. The study of the social motivation of language change, on the other hand, has its foundation in the wave model of the late 19th century. The first attested use of the term sociolinguistics was by Thomas Callan Hodson in the title of a 1939 paper. Sociolinguistics in the West first appeared in the 1960s and was pioneered by linguists such as William Labov in the US and Basil Bernstein in the UK [16].

In the first chapter of this work we are going to investigate the influence of Hispanic culture on American English, to work with such language phenomena as Spanglish, to keep trace of its development and spreading around the United States of America, to learn who studies this mix of English and Spanish languages, and actually to understand how spanglish works. In the second part of this chapter we shall get acquainted with short story collection “Drown” that is an object of our term paper investigation.

In the second chapter of my term paper we shall work with the text of the short story collection “Drown” and shall cover its 10 chapters analyzing the language peculiarities of them.

The aim: to study the Afro-American slang and Spanglish as phenomena of English, and to investigate the specificity of usage of Afro-American slang in the play “Fences” by August Wilson and Spanglish in the novel “Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz.

The object: The short story collection “Drown” by Junot Diaz

The subject: the language peculiarities of the short story collection “Drown” by Junot Diaz.

The following methods were used in the work: the descriptive method, the lexical-semantic analysis, the method of comparative analysis, the inductive and deductive method, the analytical and synthetic method, and the structural and typological methods.

The scientific novelty of the given work deals with the absence of researches in this field.

The scientific and practical importance of the research is connected with the fact that its results can be applied to conducting the school English lessons, used for lectures and seminars on methods of teaching, writing the articles, course, bachelor’s, diploma and master’s theses.

The author’s contribution deals with the fact that the whole research is done by the student.

The work consists of the introduction, two chapters, conclusions and references. The number of pages is 25. The list of references embraces 19 sources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 1.GENERAL FEATURES OF HISPANIC CUTURE IN THE USA.

 

1. Spanglish as language phenomena in American life

          Spanglish – is a hybrid of Spanish and English languages – is increasingly making its way into mainstream America, a trend critics say could hamper the advancement of Hispanics who may not learn proper English.

Spanglish words and phrases can be heard on television shows like WB's "Mucha Lucha," in music lyrics like Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca," in restaurant kitchens, on school playgrounds and at after-school programs where educators encourage Hispanic children to express themselves in both languages.

The controversy over Spanglish is largely the same as that over ebonics, or black English, during the late 1990s: Is Spanglish just slang or is it a legitimate dialect? Will children and adults learn and adjust better if they are forced to speak and write purely English in schools, or should schools and businesses accommodate the mix of English and Spanish?

Critics of the movement said the only way Hispanics will advance is if they know how to speak both languages well.

"The idea is good English and good Spanish. Spanglish has no future," said Antonio Garrido, director of the New York-based Instituto Cervantes, which was created by the Spanish government to promote Spanish and Hispanic-American language and culture. "A person who doesn't speak English well in the United States doesn't have a future," he said. Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, a professor of Hispanic and comparative literature at Yale University, agreed. "We're going to end up speaking McSpanish, a sort of anglicized Spanish. I find it offensive the United States' values and cultural mores, all of that, are transmitted through the language filter into Spanish culture," he said.

Spanglish speakers and those who study it, however, claim it is an expression of pride [8, p. 34-36].

"Spanglish is proof that Latinos have a culture that is made up of two parts," said Ilan Stavans, a professor of Latin American and Latino culture at Amherst College. Mr. Stavans recently finished translating into Spanglish the first chapter of "Don Quixote" and is working on the Spanglish dictionary, which is expected to be published next year.

"You live on the hyphen, in between," Mr. Stavans said. "That's what Spanglish is all about, a middle ground." Heather Williams, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College, shared Mr. Stavans sentiments. "It's a way of celebrating their culture," said Miss Williams, who teaches classes on social movements and Latin American politics. "It's a way for them not to be quite part of the United States and not quite from their homeland."

Spanglish is everywhere. It's spoken throughout the United States by many of the country's more than 35 million Hispanic residents. It varies by region and nationality, including Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in New York, Mexican-Americans in the Southwest and Cuban-Americans in Florida. Immigrants still learning English may turn to Spanglish out of necessity. Bilingual speakers may dip into one language, then weave in another because it's more convenient, educators say.

In an after-school "Spoken Word" class in San Francisco, Hispanic middle school students experiment with writing by mixing the sounds of Spanish and English. Freedom to speak as they want builds the students' confidence in becoming more fluent in whatever language they find challenging, educators say. A number of universities are offering courses on Spanglish, its history and development.

It's also on the radio, from the Spanish group Las Ketchup with "The Ketchup Song" to Mexican singer Paulina Rubio singing all of her songs in Spanglish when she opens concerts for Enrique Iglesias. Then there's the cartoon show "Mucha Lucha," whose characters' dialogue is peppered with Spanglish. [13, p. 8-9].

The sounds of Spanglish also can be heard in restaurant kitchens, where 16 percent of the 11.6 million employees in the industry are Hispanic. It's also in stores. Hallmark, the greeting-card giant, is expanding its line of Spanish-language cards with some Spanglish messages. One card reads: "Una mujer defines herself sin palabras (without words) in her style in her confianza (confidence) in her libertad (freedom) in her integrity." Those cards are aimed at younger recipients, not an older audience, which "may not approve of mixing languages," according to company officials. Magazines have caught onto the trend, too.

Latina.com features plenty of stories that blend English and Spanish. The latest issue features a story on "belleza" (beauty) blunders, or singer-actress Jennifer Lopez talking about "las" Christmas.

Spanglish is not a new phenomenon in the United States, said Jorge Osterling, an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University. Rather, Spanglish is just one of more than 100 dialects in the English language, Mr. Osterling said. "It's a worldwide phenomenon," said Mr. Osterling, who works at the university's Center for Multilingual/Multicultural Education. " Spanglish is just one more example of what happens when two languages come together. You've got to ask yourself, what is the purpose of a language? It's to help people communicate efficiently, and if that's the purpose then it is OK." [4, p. 13-16].

Adults who use Spanglish say they enjoy its light, lively and conversational tone. Suburban educators say Spanish-speaking children rely on it as a way to get along with their English- speaking peers. But many Hispanics worry that as it grows more popular, Spanglish will erode American Hispanics' knowledge of, and respect for, the Spanish language and culture.

"Spanglish is fun. It's cute. But it has its place," said Hernandez, an assistant professor of Spanish at Harper College in Palatine. "It should not be accepted as an alternative to formal Spanish. It's getting to the point where we're murdering our language." Others say the growth of Spanglish is something to be celebrated, not feared.

One of its chief proponents is Ilan Stavans, a professor at Amherst College in Massachusetts and author of "Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language." Stavans says Spanglish isn't a threat to formal Spanish, but a dynamic new voice for American Hispanics.

"The emergence of Spanglish is very exciting," Stavans said. "It's a new way for Latinos in America to communicate, to establish an identity for themselves. It's not about replacing Spanish - or English for that matter. I think Spanglish can coexist peacefully with those languages."

Spanglish has existed in one form or another for decades, experts say, with some arguing that it dates all the way back to the mid-19th century, when much of what is now the southwestern United States was transferred from Mexican to American control.

There's little doubt, though, that the use of Spanglish has exploded during the past 10 or 20 years, to the point where it's commonly found in advertising and pop culture (for example, Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous "Hasta la vista, baby!" line from the "Terminator" movies).

The simplest form of Spanglish consists primarily of "code switching," moving from one language to another in the same phrase or sentence: "Welcome to my casa."

Another form of Spanglish creates a new vocabulary by "hispanicizing" English words. In other words – so to speak – lonche would be used to mean "lunch," instead of the formal Spanish word for lunch, which is almuerzo.

A third type of Spanglish uses Spanish words in a sentence that relies on English syntax and grammar. An example is saying "como puedo ayudarle?" to mean "How may I help you?" instead of the traditional que desea, which when translated literally means "what do you want?"

Spanglish isn't the only hybrid language to emerge in the world. Stavans said other hybrids have occurred in places where two countries border each other or where two cultures have settled together. The mixture of French and English that's spoken in sections of Louisiana is one example. Spanglish is different, though, because it's not confined to a particular part of the country, Stavans said. Spanglish is largely a creation of uneducated, working-class Hispanic immigrants looking for ways to make themselves understood in their new country, he said. Spanglish has a loose, improvisational feel that Stavans likens to jazz music [6 p. 4-6].

It's that loose quality that makes Spanglish so irresistible, Stavans said, and that has fueled its spread beyond the working class. It's now spoken even by people who are fluent in both English and Spanish and don't need an "in-between" language just to get by, Stavans said. "You hear it from executives, CEOs, and from the people who clean their offices," he said. "Spanglish is everywhere now."

American Hispanics aren't turning their backs on their cultural heritage when they embrace Spanglish, Stavans said. Instead, they're asserting their unique identity as people who straddle two worlds: Spanish and English. "It's a mistake to look at this as an attack on the Spanish language," he said. "I don't think it's an 'either-or' situation. Spanish doesn't have to die in order for Spanglish to be recognized. English doesn't have to die. They can all exist together and be equally important."

The suburbs, home to a rapidly growing Hispanic population, have not been immune to the Spanglish phenomenon. Suburban Hispanics say they hear it every day, spoken by people of every age and education level. Local teachers say it's prevalent on school playgrounds, where Spanish-speaking children use it to get by as they learn English. "I think it helps them. It's an easier way for them to communicate at first," said Migdalia Gonzalez, a third-grade teacher at Highland Elementary School in Elgin. "But it's not just the students. Teachers use it when we get together, too." [5, p. 46-47].

But local educators aren't willing to grant Spanglish the leeway that Stavans seeks. Gonzalez described it as "street talk" and said it has no place in a classroom. She, like Harper College's Hernandez, believes that encouraging young people to use Spanglish would result only in the continued mutilation of the Spanish language.

"I correct my students whenever I hear it," Gonzalez said. "It's not proper Spanish or proper English. And Hispanic students won't succeed anywhere if they don't master those languages."

GRAPHIC: Speaking Spanglish

- El heater esta trabajando –"The heater is working." (formal Spanish: el calentador esta funcionando);

- Te llamo pa'tra – "I'll call you back." (phrase mimics English syntax, the formal Spanish: Te llamo en unos minutos);

- Que cute! – "How cute" or "how pretty." (formal Spanish: Que lindo!);

- Carpeta – "carpet" (formal Spanish: alfombra; note that carpeta usually means "portfolio" or "binder" in formal Spanish);

- Panper – "diaper" (adapted from brand name "Pamper"; formal Spanish: panal). [3, p. 213-215].

After having prepared this chapter I got to know that Spanglish is really wide-spread phenomenon in the USA, it’s a matter not just of separate states but of the whole country. It’s spoken all over the America, and approximately 31 million of people speak “Spanglish” as native language.

 

2. Junot Dias and short story collections “Drown”

      Junot Díaz was born in Villa Juana, a neighborhood in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was the third child in a family of five. Throughout most of his early childhood, he lived with his mother and grandparents while his father worked in the United States. Díaz emigrated to Parlin, New Jersey in December 1974, where he was re-united with his father. There he lived less than a mile from what he has described as "one of the largest landfills in New Jersey".

       He attended Madison Park Elementary and was a voracious reader, often walking four miles in order to borrow books from his public library. At this time Díaz became fascinated with apocalyptic films and books, especially the work of John Christopher, the original “Planet of the Apes” films, and the BBC mini-series “Edge of Darkness”. Díaz graduated from Cedar Ridge High School (now merged to form Old Bridge High School) in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey in 1987.

       He attended Kean College in Union, New Jersey for one year before transferring and ultimately completing his BA at Rutgers College in 1992, majoring in English; there he was involved in Demarest Hall, a creative-writing, living-learning, residence hall, and in various student organizations. He was exposed to the authors who would motivate him to become a writer: Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros. He worked his way through college by delivering pool tables, washing dishes, pumping gas, and working at Raritan River Steel. Reflecting on his experience growing up in America and working his way through college in 2010, Diaz said: "I can safely say I've seen the US from the bottom up... I may be a success story as an individual. But if you adjust the knob and just take it back one setting to the family unit, I would say my family tells a much more complicated story. It tells the story of two kids in prison. It tells the story of enormous poverty, of tremendous difficulty." [2, p. 3-5].

       After graduating from Rutgers he was employed at Rutgers University Press as an editorial assistant. He earned his MFA from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1995, where he wrote most of his first collection of short stories. Currently, Díaz teaches creative writing at MIT and is also the fiction editor for the Boston Review. He is active in the Dominican American community and is a founding member of the Voices of Our Nations Arts Writing Workshop, which focuses on writers of color. Diaz was a Millet Writing Fellow at Wesleyan University, in 2009, and participated in Wesleyan's Distinguished Writers Series.

         Diaz establishes an interesting technique that brings together different genres of North American pop culture: the comic book, science fiction film, and 1960s television programs. It's a clever way to sensitize Hispanic-American readers in the United States about the complicated series of tragedies that the Dominican Republic has had to face over the years. In some ways, Juno Diaz's pop culture technique is reminiscent of Guillermo Cabrera Infante and Manuel Puig, two writers who were able to make names for themselves in North American culture long before Diaz. Cabrera Infante, a great novelist and the author of “Tres tristes tigres”, is remembered in the United States primarily for writing the script for the movie “Vanishing Point” (1971 and 1997), which influenced Quentin Tarantino's film “Grindhouse” (2007). Manuel Puig is known for “Kiss of the Spider Woman”. Both authors used US movies and Latin American popular culture as intertext in their work. It would seem that what film, serial novels, and soap operas were to Cabrera Infante and Manuel Puig, television series and comic books are to Junot Diaz. [11, p. 10-13].