Search for my Tongue Flashcards
(10 cards)
Poet
Sujata Bhatt
Summary
Bhatt expresses the fear of losing her native language, exploring the struggle of maintaining her cultural identity while adapting to a new environment.
(How identity is formed by our earliest experiences.)
Structure and Form
- written in FREEVERSE which allows the language to flow naturally and organically.
LACK OF RIGID STRUCTURE allows it to change over time which could denote the speaker is influenced by their culture, environment and experience
reflecting the instability of moving between different languages.
- The absence of structured rhyme scheme could mirror the speaker’s INTERNAL CONFLICT; being torn between the mother tongue and dominant language, further supporting the idea that language is dynamic, evolving, rather than following a predictable structured pattern.
What’s the address?
- It is in direct address of ‘YOU’ which creates a confrontational TONE, suggesting she feels misunderstood and isolated because of being forced to learn a new language.
- It further draws the reader into the speakers experience, positioning the reader as an OUTSIDER, reinforcing the idea that language barriers create division and misunderstanding, HIGHLIGHTING the emotional gap between the speaker and reader.
Two STANZAS in English and one STANZA in Gujarati
First stanza ends with ‘While I dream’
First stanza ends with a comma
- Two stanzas in English and one stanza in Gujarati using JUXTAPOSITION of these languages to highlight her INTERNAL CONFLICT.
First stanza ends with ‘While I dream’ using ENJAMBMENT to flow into the next stanza, which could portray that her native language cannot be repressed.
It could further denote that when she goes to sleep, she becomes her true self not hiding her identity.
- She finishes the first stanza with a comma, CONNOTING that she wants to bring both experiences together, as well as suggesting that her language is at the heart of her identity.
The reader might feel relieved for the poet, as she shows she can still remember her mother tongue, not losing her true self, becoming a crucial part of her identity.
It illustrates her pride in her language, wanting the reader to experience what may seem foreign to them but deeply familiar and sentimental to her.
- On the other hand, SEPARATION between these languages could demonstrate a clear divide about her identity, presenting the conflict between her Indian culture and foreign language, as well as presenting the dominance of English in her life.
This sudden switch, could also allow the reader to experience the linguistic alienation and exclusion that she feels, making the reader READ THE STANZA PHONETICALLY, ‘munay hutoo’ which creates a sense of confusion, highlighting how uncertain bilingual people may feel trying to fit into a certain culture, allowing them to feel empathy.
use of enjambment and end stopped lines
The poem alternates between enjambment and end-stopped lines, which may symbolise the conflict and tension between the mother tongue and foreign tongue. The fluidity of enjoyment could represent the natural flow of the speaker’s native language, suggesting ease. On the other hand the abrupt end-stopped lines may reflect barriers and difficulties she faces in expressing herself in the foreign language, creating an underlying tension about her identity
‘If you had two tongues in your mouth’
- Vivid and unpleasant imagery, forcing the reader to feel the uncomfortable struggle that she experiences, illustrating discomfort she may feel having to adopt a new language, leaving behind her old one.
-The direct address of, ‘you’ could insinuate her trying to make the reader experience her struggle, presenting this through the violent imagery to convey the deep pain she experiences. - ‘Tongue’ is repeated being further used as a metonym and a metaphor for language and identity, reinforcing the deep connection between her language and culture making the struggle more intimate, emphasising the significant tie between her language and identity.
‘Rot and die in your mouth’
- Presents an unpleasant image, emphasises the extreme nature of the act, has had to discard her mother tongue signifying the pain and significance of losing it.
- This is illustrated through the aggressive plosive, ‘rot’ which creates an abrupt and harsh sound emphasising her emotional intensity becoming frustrated by her loss in language, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere for the reader. - She accentuates the struggle she feels between her first language and her second, in her new environment, mirroring the emotional strain she feels, conveying images of loss and deterioration, showing how extreme her fear is of forgetting her language.
- She demonstrates how being bilingual means more to her than just trying to uphold two languages; it could suggest she is looking for part of herself.
- She expresses how there is not just the worry of retaining her first language, but struggles more with the loss of her culture, fearing it may die away, establishing the idea of the close connection between language and self identity.
‘It grows back’
- She compares her language to a plant, using natural imagery to illustrate her vulnerability and resilience, having power for her language to regenerate despite suppression and neglect.
- The use of the noun, ‘veins’ builds on this, connoting lifeblood and a deep rooted connection to her identity.
- Sujata could be showing that language is an integral part of you and your identity, switching the volta at the end of the poem from tense and loss to buoyant and hopeful, this could mirror the regeneration of her identity, as her native language reasserts itself, presenting how language can not be forgotten, reflecting her emotional journey, switching between languages.
‘it blossoms out of my mouth.”
- The use of natural imagery conveys a sense of hope and beauty, suggesting it being a natural part of her identity, not being able to be forgotten. She is shown to become triumphant, reflecting the excitement she feels, expressing her pride in her cultural identity becoming a powerful part of her.
- The positive end of the poem suggests that by using her native language, the speaker has regained part of herself, emphasising the unstoppableness of the growth.
