| This thesis is a study of the literary function of code-switching in Dionne Brand's "No Language Is Neutral". The poem switches between the language of Trinidad English Creole speakers in Toronto and the language of the predominantly white Canadian literary elite. The study tries to make explicit that which is stated implicitly by the switches at particular points in the text.;In Chapter Two, some practical and theoretical issues are raised that must be considered before the text can be analyzed. A close look at the text shows that the two codes are not easily separated, since they are a creole whose lexicon is predominantly borrowed from English (Trinidad English Creole or TEC) and Canadian English. Pidgin and creole linguistics is consulted to see how variation is modeled for TEC speakers, who incorporate a huge amount of variation between creole and English as part of their communicative strategies.;In Chapter Three, the code-switches in the poem are analyzed against the themes of the poem. The first six paragraphs describe Trinidadian landscapes, family history, and oppressive family relationships. Code-switching carries out a wide range of functions, but much switching is participant-related; a young Trinidad girl attempts to negotiate a personal identity while trying to access the identity of a female ancestress.;In the last seven paragraphs code-switching into TEC signals alienation. Code-mixing also occurs as the code of expatriates, who do not give up their membership in either group indexed by the two codes, but who, in these paragraphs, live an uncommitted existence that prolongs the speaker's period of alienation. In the last few paragraphs code-switching does not occur at all; in non-creole English the poet verbalizes an epiphany about the validity, in any code, of expressions of personal experience, self-acceptance, and love. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
