bell hooks Text Comparison

"I imagine them hearing spoken English as the oppressor’s language, yet I imagine them also realizing that this language would need to be possessed, taken, claimed as a space of resistance. I imagine that the moment they realized the oppressor’s language, seized and spoken by the tongues of the colonized, could be a space of bonding was joyous.”

From this quote found in her essay, bell hooks is trying to explain the advantages of having to speak multilingually in a daily basis based on her experiences of being a black person needing to speak a ‘foreign’ language as a way to speak to other people in different communities. Some texts regarding this issue agree with what bell hooks have quoted. One of those texts is a text written by Garry Engkent named “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English”.

This text explains the difficulties of his mother obtaining a Canadian Citizenship due to the fact that she has limited English proficiency. In this case English can be seen as the oppressor’s language as she is limited to speaking English outside the Chinese Community. English has also limited the mother’s ability to participate in activities outside the restaurant she works in as mentioned in the text. 

On the other hand, Garry have mentioned a couple of times about the reason of his mother still having a somehow limited amount of English capability. She believed that she would lose her Chinese identity once she tries to speak English and tries to assimilate to the Canadian community. She sees that without the use of English, she can live joyously with her son. Garry Engkent have used some Chinese words and phrases to reflect his mother’s fresh (Chinese cultured) thoughts. 

She believes on keeping her Chinese identity because she likes being Chinese and it is authentic to her. She tries to do so by trying to limit the use of English as it may have ‘oppressed’ her. Her husband, also mentioned in the text, also believes in this as he wants her to keep her Chinese identity as it may change her overall identity. This can also be seen when Gary Engkent presents us the younger Chinese generations in the community as they have limited to no closeness to their own culture as they have fully assimilated to the Canadian culture. I believe that she did not want that to happen to her. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[ENGLISH] A Study in Igbo - Persuasive Speech

Honourable guests and residents of the Committee, Over the past few years there has been a significant increase in the loss of our Igbo culture and practices that was once important to all of our lives. Once a society who lived in harsh conditions of the West African environment have changed to a more "Eurocentric" society with European beliefs and a European mindset with no recollection of the Igbo culture.Not long ago people would live peacefully. People would practice their religion peaceful. People would mingle with each other peacefully. That was what our lives were like until Christian Missionaries infiltrate our land. The Church Missionary Society were the first to enter Igboland at the beginning of the Conquest of Africa . Our people thought that such actions would not be harmful to us. We did not know that they would exploit our manpower and resources. The annexation of Igboland to the British Empire truly changed the future of the rich Igbo culture in a way that i
Read more

[ENGLISH] A Good Name -Analysis to my real name

Our view of the world is shaped with the help of the people around us. This molds our identity and it solidifies over time. But some of these identities stick with us since birth and (will probably) not be changed throughout the course of our lives. One of these identities is our names. We get our names from our parents who are influenced by their surroundings. Names are unique depending on where you come from.   My full name is Azim Masrizki Baruno.  In Indonesia, the majority of the population consists of Muslims. Islam takes part in a daily life of a Muslim Indonesian. These influences have influenced in naming me. Azim comes from the word Al-Azim which translates to The Great One in Arabic. The name Al-Azim comes from the 99 names of God. This is a part of my religion. It defines as the Beautiful Names that describes God. We use these names to praise God, to thank him and to seek forgiveness to him. The 99 names of God is commonly used and seen in many Islamic countries. These n
Read more

[ENGLISH] Self Interview: All About Me

Image
I have made this self interview to Introduce myself to the the world. I have also included information such as my address and social security number for the stalkers. Facts are correct at the time of publishing. Without further ado... Self Interview: All About Me Oh Yeah! Lets get started.
Read more