Poems From Other Cultures and Traditions :: English Literature

Poems From Other Cultures and TraditionsFrom Search For My Tongue Tatamkhulu Afrika, Maqabane (1994)When you read this poem, bear in mind that lyric and the purpose of the take tongue (our own language, the one we were brought up speaking)are very important to any individual. We all take it for granted thatwe toilet use our language if we live where we were born. We dont even drop to think about it. But when you go to live in another country youhave to learn another language, and it can be very confusing. The useof another language, one that is not your own, much functions on anemotional level. Also, after a while you start mixing the cardinallanguages. This is the problem faced by the speaker in this take away.Those of you who were not originally English speaking will knowthe dilemma expressed in this excerptRead the poem once or twice. Go through it slowly after that, in yourmind relating the use of language (tongue) to the physical tongue.Some of you will, of course, recogni se and understand the Gujerati inthe centre of the extract. For some of you this will be your mothertongue But most of you will be unable to decode it.So there will be many different reactions to reading this poem. I wishI were present to hear these reactionsPoint of viewHere we have a first-person speaker addressing you. There appears tobe a conversation going on, as the you has just asked the questionthat prompts the rest of the poem. A conversation is appropriate for apoem on language and communication.Grasping the dilemmaImagine you had two physical tongues in your mouth. Thats how Bhattasks the listener to perceive the problem. We unconsciously relatelanguage to the tongue. How often have we said to people, Have youlost your tongue? when they fail to give us an answer or when theyremain silent? Thats because the tongue is one of the crucial variety meatwe use when speaking.The speaker here has taken a new slant on the question and has saidher tongue has indeed been lost, but s he means her mother language hasbeen lost, not her physical tongue.The extended metaphorNotice as you read and study the poem that the whole extract builds onan extended metaphor - the physical tongue as a metaphor for language.The idea of having two actual tongues (of course the speaker meanslanguages) in your mouth provides a slopped physical equivalent of thediscomfort felt by someone operating in a foreign languageenvironment.The nature of this discomfort if elaborated in lines 5-6.