A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations

This study examines the significance of language in connection with both personal and national identity. Language and identity have a power to fix thoughts and beings. It roots a nation to a past. Language bridges between a contemporary society and its dead ancestors. Language contains elements of c...

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Main Author:	Ashkoor, Maryam Ataollahi
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English English
Published:	2008
Subjects:	Language and languages - Ability testing.
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/4809/1/FBMK_2008_18A.pdf
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id	my-upm-ir.4809
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-upm-ir.48092013-05-27T07:18:25Z A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations 2008 Ashkoor, Maryam Ataollahi This study examines the significance of language in connection with both personal and national identity. Language and identity have a power to fix thoughts and beings. It roots a nation to a past. Language bridges between a contemporary society and its dead ancestors. Language contains elements of culture, human interaction, environment, working of the human brain and identity. People are marked by the language that they speak. Britannia recognized this significance. Therefore, it could have power not necessarily through physical control but mental control as well. It could change the colonized countries into mimic people who just copy British values, cultures, beliefs, and identities. First, through establishing binary oppositions, Britannia began to justify its settlement in the natives’ lands and Ireland. In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, binarism emerged as lack of moral sense/ moral sense or good/evil and savage/civilized. Prospero introduced herself as a man who is civilized and moral whereas, Caliban is a native who is a barber and has no moral sense. Education was exercised through language. Therefore, Prospero introduced himself as a compassionate “schoolmaster” who had a burden to teach Caliban his language. Under Prospero’s education, Caliban loses his identity. He loses his freedom and changes into a slave that Prospero dares even to insult but in Friel’s Translations, binarism emerged as modern/archaic and standard/nonstandard. Britannia introduced its National schools which are modern, advanced, and new whereas, Hedge schools were traditional and archaic. They also claimed that Irish lands were not standard, without boundaries and map whereas, English villages, towns, and cities were mapped and standard. They introduced themselves as compassionate teachers and cartographers who attempted to modernize and standardize Irish schools and lands. Second, by comparing and contrasting Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Friel’s Translations from different periods, the process of imperial justifications are disclosed. This study presents that Britannia adopted imperial justifications in accordance with the situations and necessities. For instance, Caliban’s situation differs from the Irish. Prospero in The Tempest could introduce Caliban as a savage but Britannia could not claim that the Irish were savages like the natives in the New World. Third, they disguised their justifications in accordance with modernization and standardization. However, imperial justifications differed from period to period with language playing the main role for all of them. Teaching, mapping, christinizing modernizing, and standardizing relied on language. In this study, language is the base for imperial superstructures (justifications). Fourth, this study discusses that a person loses his language; he will change into a mimic character. He forgets his essence, values, cultures, and identity. In The Tempest, losing identity is depicted through humiliation and demoralization as Prospero has nothing for Caliban but nasty words. In Translations, it is depicted through mimicry. Language and languages - Ability testing. 2008 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/4809/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/4809/1/FBMK_2008_18A.pdf application/pdf en public masters Universiti Putra Malaysia Language and languages - Ability testing. Faculty of Modern Language and Communication English
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection	PSAS Institutional Repository
language	English English
topic	Language and languages - Ability testing.
spellingShingle	Language and languages - Ability testing. Ashkoor, Maryam Ataollahi A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations
description	This study examines the significance of language in connection with both personal and national identity. Language and identity have a power to fix thoughts and beings. It roots a nation to a past. Language bridges between a contemporary society and its dead ancestors. Language contains elements of culture, human interaction, environment, working of the human brain and identity. People are marked by the language that they speak. Britannia recognized this significance. Therefore, it could have power not necessarily through physical control but mental control as well. It could change the colonized countries into mimic people who just copy British values, cultures, beliefs, and identities. First, through establishing binary oppositions, Britannia began to justify its settlement in the natives’ lands and Ireland. In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, binarism emerged as lack of moral sense/ moral sense or good/evil and savage/civilized. Prospero introduced herself as a man who is civilized and moral whereas, Caliban is a native who is a barber and has no moral sense. Education was exercised through language. Therefore, Prospero introduced himself as a compassionate “schoolmaster” who had a burden to teach Caliban his language. Under Prospero’s education, Caliban loses his identity. He loses his freedom and changes into a slave that Prospero dares even to insult but in Friel’s Translations, binarism emerged as modern/archaic and standard/nonstandard. Britannia introduced its National schools which are modern, advanced, and new whereas, Hedge schools were traditional and archaic. They also claimed that Irish lands were not standard, without boundaries and map whereas, English villages, towns, and cities were mapped and standard. They introduced themselves as compassionate teachers and cartographers who attempted to modernize and standardize Irish schools and lands. Second, by comparing and contrasting Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Friel’s Translations from different periods, the process of imperial justifications are disclosed. This study presents that Britannia adopted imperial justifications in accordance with the situations and necessities. For instance, Caliban’s situation differs from the Irish. Prospero in The Tempest could introduce Caliban as a savage but Britannia could not claim that the Irish were savages like the natives in the New World. Third, they disguised their justifications in accordance with modernization and standardization. However, imperial justifications differed from period to period with language playing the main role for all of them. Teaching, mapping, christinizing modernizing, and standardizing relied on language. In this study, language is the base for imperial superstructures (justifications). Fourth, this study discusses that a person loses his language; he will change into a mimic character. He forgets his essence, values, cultures, and identity. In The Tempest, losing identity is depicted through humiliation and demoralization as Prospero has nothing for Caliban but nasty words. In Translations, it is depicted through mimicry.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Ashkoor, Maryam Ataollahi
author_facet	Ashkoor, Maryam Ataollahi
author_sort	Ashkoor, Maryam Ataollahi
title	A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations
title_short	A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations
title_full	A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations
title_fullStr	A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations
title_full_unstemmed	A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations
title_sort	colonial and post-colonial assessment of language in akespear’s the tempest and friel’s translations
granting_institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
granting_department	Faculty of Modern Language and Communication
publishDate	2008
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/4809/1/FBMK_2008_18A.pdf
_version_	1747810289072472064

A Colonial and Post-Colonial Assessment of Language in Akespear’s the Tempest and Friel’s Translations

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