Sociolinguistics of literature: Nonstandard English in Zadie Smith's White Teeth

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Drama, Anthologies
Cover of the book Sociolinguistics of literature: Nonstandard English in Zadie Smith's White Teeth by Daniela Wack, GRIN Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Daniela Wack ISBN: 9783638540643
Publisher: GRIN Publishing Publication: September 2, 2006
Imprint: GRIN Publishing Language: English
Author: Daniela Wack
ISBN: 9783638540643
Publisher: GRIN Publishing
Publication: September 2, 2006
Imprint: GRIN Publishing
Language: English

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Freiburg, 20 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: White Teethhas widely been celebrated as one of the best multicultural novels in recent years. The Whitbread judging panel called it a 'landmark novel for multicultural Britain, as well as a superb portrait of contemporary London.'. Claire Squires notes that the voicing of different characters and their ethnic group is one of the most apparent feature of White Teeth. From Archie's bumbling homilies to the 'appalling pronunciation' of the customers Samad takes orders from in the restaurant, from Alsana's wacky images to the hybrid street slang of the 'Raggastani,' and from Irie's rising, soap-opera influenced, Antipodean intonation to her accusation that Millat's Caribbean-toned speech is 'not your voice'. You sound ridiculous!' Smith displays a finelytuned ear for linguistic inflections and their sociocultural nuances. This paper takes a look at these 'linguistic inflections and their sociocultural nuances' and analyses various varieties of English that are employed in the novel. The main concern, however, is not the description of nonstandard varieties, but the question if these varieties are realistically represented with regard London's linguistic landscape. In other words, in how far can nonstandard language in fiction be taken as a reliable source for a sociolinguistic analysis? For this purpose, various examples of direct speech as well narrative comments will be compared with real language use. The paper is structured as follows. Starting with a chapter on literary sociolinguistic, I will discuss the conditions and problems that have to be taken into consideration when taking fiction as a source for sociolinguistic research. Then, I will reflect on different approaches in sociolinguistics that are important for the study of nonstandard language that represents ethnic, regional, social and age-related variation. In the major part of this paper, the different nonstandard English varieties that appear inWhite Teeth,such as Cockney, youth language, and Jamaican Creole, as well as language crossing, will be analysed and compared to sociolinguistic studies. The use of Bengali in White Teethhas to be omitted as the study of a language of its own would go beyond the scope of this paper. In my analysis I will also reveal the semiotic and symbolic potential of the literary nonstandard varieties in comparison to their representation in reality.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Freiburg, 20 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: White Teethhas widely been celebrated as one of the best multicultural novels in recent years. The Whitbread judging panel called it a 'landmark novel for multicultural Britain, as well as a superb portrait of contemporary London.'. Claire Squires notes that the voicing of different characters and their ethnic group is one of the most apparent feature of White Teeth. From Archie's bumbling homilies to the 'appalling pronunciation' of the customers Samad takes orders from in the restaurant, from Alsana's wacky images to the hybrid street slang of the 'Raggastani,' and from Irie's rising, soap-opera influenced, Antipodean intonation to her accusation that Millat's Caribbean-toned speech is 'not your voice'. You sound ridiculous!' Smith displays a finelytuned ear for linguistic inflections and their sociocultural nuances. This paper takes a look at these 'linguistic inflections and their sociocultural nuances' and analyses various varieties of English that are employed in the novel. The main concern, however, is not the description of nonstandard varieties, but the question if these varieties are realistically represented with regard London's linguistic landscape. In other words, in how far can nonstandard language in fiction be taken as a reliable source for a sociolinguistic analysis? For this purpose, various examples of direct speech as well narrative comments will be compared with real language use. The paper is structured as follows. Starting with a chapter on literary sociolinguistic, I will discuss the conditions and problems that have to be taken into consideration when taking fiction as a source for sociolinguistic research. Then, I will reflect on different approaches in sociolinguistics that are important for the study of nonstandard language that represents ethnic, regional, social and age-related variation. In the major part of this paper, the different nonstandard English varieties that appear inWhite Teeth,such as Cockney, youth language, and Jamaican Creole, as well as language crossing, will be analysed and compared to sociolinguistic studies. The use of Bengali in White Teethhas to be omitted as the study of a language of its own would go beyond the scope of this paper. In my analysis I will also reveal the semiotic and symbolic potential of the literary nonstandard varieties in comparison to their representation in reality.

More books from GRIN Publishing

Cover of the book Poetry in Irish prose - poetic devices in Sean O'Faolain's short stories by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Zum Einfluss neuer Cleavages auf die Akkommodation islamischer Immigranten in Westeuropa by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Stalins Gulag - organisatorische, psychische und physische Gesichtspunkte des Gefangenenlagers by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book German tourists. Development of spatial patterns of demand by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Die Fair Value-Bilanzierung als Katalysator und Beschleuniger der Krise by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Mexican Immigration by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Unilever Case Study by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Differentiation between inpatriation and expatriation: Factors of success and failure of inpatriation by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book The educational system of Iceland by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Interactive path planning and real-time motion synthesis for articulated humanoid characters in virtual environments by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book International Business Networks and Networking by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Integration or Separation? by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book Transcendentalism by Ralph W. Emerson by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book The principles and skills of project management should be taught much earlier by Daniela Wack
Cover of the book The Impact of Reformation on the Historical and Social Development of Christianity in South-South Nigeria by Daniela Wack
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy