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    Arun Kamble

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    Allen George
    The poem explores the identity crisis faced by Dalits in Indian society regarding which language they should speak. The narrator is criticized by both his Brahmin teacher and Dalit grandfather for the language he uses. His grandfather tells him to "talk like we do" representing the social expectations placed on him, while his teacher chides him for not using language "correctly." This places the narrator in conflict between maintaining old traditions symbolized by his grandfather versus adopting Brahmin language. Ultimately, the poem suggests language is a symbol of identity and resistance for Dalits, as using their everyday language seeks to incorporate Dalit vocabularies into the literary discourse.

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    Arun Kamble

    Uploaded by

    Allen George
    4K views2 pages
    The poem explores the identity crisis faced by Dalits in Indian society regarding which language they should speak. The narrator is criticized by both his Brahmin teacher and Dalit grandfather for the language he uses. His grandfather tells him to "talk like we do" representing the social expectations placed on him, while his teacher chides him for not using language "correctly." This places the narrator in conflict between maintaining old traditions symbolized by his grandfather versus adopting Brahmin language. Ultimately, the poem suggests language is a symbol of identity and resistance for Dalits, as using their everyday language seeks to incorporate Dalit vocabularies into the literary discourse.

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    The poem explores the identity crisis faced by Dalits in Indian society regarding which language they should speak. The narrator is criticized by both his Brahmin teacher and Dalit grandfather for the language he uses. His grandfather tells him to "talk like we do" representing the social expectations placed on him, while his teacher chides him for not using language "correctly." This places the narrator in conflict between maintaining old traditions symbolized by his grandfather versus adopting Brahmin language. Ultimately, the poem suggests language is a symbol of identity and resistance for Dalits, as using their everyday language seeks to incorporate Dalit vocabularies into the literary discourse.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    4K views2 pages

    Arun Kamble

    Uploaded by

    Allen George
    The poem explores the identity crisis faced by Dalits in Indian society regarding which language they should speak. The narrator is criticized by both his Brahmin teacher and Dalit grandfather for the language he uses. His grandfather tells him to "talk like we do" representing the social expectations placed on him, while his teacher chides him for not using language "correctly." This places the narrator in conflict between maintaining old traditions symbolized by his grandfather versus adopting Brahmin language. Ultimately, the poem suggests language is a symbol of identity and resistance for Dalits, as using their everyday language seeks to incorporate Dalit vocabularies into the literary discourse.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Arun Kamble

    Which Language should I Speak?

    Chewing totters in the badlands


    My grandpa,
    The permanent resident of my body,
    The household of tradition heaped on his back,
    Hollers at me,
    ‘you whore-son, talk like we do. Talk, I tell you!’

    picking through the Vedas


    his top-knot well-oiled with ghee,
    my Brahmin teacher tells me,
    ‘you idiot, use the language correctly!’
    now I ask you, which language should I speak?

    Which Language should I Speak?


    This poem helps the poet confront a seminal concern for Dalits in the Indian society.
    He talks about the identity crisis that has been carved out of a legacy of cultural
    ambivalence. He is told by his grandfather, "you whore-son, talk like we do. Talk, I tell
    you!". It is clear from his grandfather's words that there are certain social
    expectations from the speaker that precede even his existence.

    There are certain preconceived ideas of what is "authentic" when it comes to their
    language, and this leads to a confusion in the mind of the child, who is told
    something completely else by his Brahmin teacher later on. He is held in the middle
    of a conflict between his Dalit grandfather, who wants him to essentially speak like
    him, and his Brahmin teacher, who is busy with the Vedas.

    Language
    In the poem entitled "Which Language Should I Speak?’’ the narrator talks about the
    problems he had with the language he used and how he was criticized both by his teachers
    and by his family for the way in which he used to talk. In this context, the language is used
    here as a symbol for one’s identity and connection to his community.
    Slurs
    In the poem entitled "Which Language Should I Speak?’’ one of the common motifs is the
    idea that the main character is insulted both by the members of his family and by people
    outside of his family. His grandfather for example calls him "whore-son’’ while his teacher
    calls him an "idiot."
    Symbol for tradition
    Also in the poem "Which Language Should I Speak?’’ the narrator’s grandfather is used here
    as a symbol. The narrator notes how the grandfather was the one on whose shoulders the
    "household of tradition’’ could be found. This implies that the grandfather is used here as a
    symbol for the part of society that still believed in maintaining the old traditions

    On the surface, the poem reads like a fight between a Dalit "dialect' and brahmin 'language'. But
    as we go deper there is a definite hint of the struggle around what constitutes a literary language
    for Dalits. By choosing to express themselves in their everyday language, Dalit writers are
    seeking to incorporate Dalit vocabularies into Indian literary discourse...Dalit writers use Dalit
    language in their creative writing to resist the imposition of an official language and to also assert
    the legitimacy of their own vocabularies. Thus, language becomes an instanceof Dalit assertion.

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