English Justification

Kristy Tyson

Professor Alisha Geary

ENGL 4950

7 February 2013

What Language Does

Sigmund Freud claims that the human mind is a powerful thing. He was evolutionary in his claims that our dreams, our symbols, and our literature reveal how we think, how we remember, and how we associate. He claims that through language, layers of association, layers of connection and memory are recalled. To me, Freud’s claims make the study of language, even the study of literature, critical to one’s ability to process and engage in the world.

Structuralism was the first major theory shift from the traditional approach of Liberal Humanism. Academics’ began to construct patterns in literary works through analyzing language, specifically the arrangement of word choices that ultimately create meaning in a text. This change opened up the possibilities and acceptance of new ways in analyzing literature. One of the theories that evolved from the theoretical shift was Post-Structuralism.

Ferdinand de Saussure is a linguist, who is generally considered to be the Father of Structuralism. Structuralism defends that the world “is something, it exists, but in language we do not find it” (Barry 40). Meaning is not simply there; language creates it. Structuralism seeks to find meaning through text and not reality. Language is thought to be arbitrary arrangements of perception. Saussure’s belief is that words are “purely arbitrary and that these meanings are maintained by conventions only” (Barry 40).

Saussure also emphasizes that “the meaning of words are relational” (Barry 41). As words are arranged, meanings can be derived. If any words were removed from what Saussure refers to as a paradigmatic chain, the meaning of any other words could be affected. First, we create perceptions. Then, we pair opposites like ‘good’ and ‘bad’ which are examples of pairing relational words, which give rise to meaning (Barry 41).

Saussure’s work influences the very essence of Post- Structuralism, another theory that seeks to describe language. According to Barry, “ The post-structuralist believes that we enter a universe of radical uncertainty, since we can have no access to any fixed landmark which is beyond linguistic processing, and hence we have no certain standard by which to measure anything”(Barry 59). If Saussure says this and we understand it to be true, then as we deconstruct language, we will end up in a state of ambiguity, or at least limited to what is identifiably real.

Let’s dig deeper into how Post-Structural applications radically disrupt the way in which the world we live in is viewed. Post-Structuralists’ are concerned with how language is constructed. Post- Structuralism argues that language is not natural. Language is constructed by the conventions of a culture and because of this, there is no certainty that a receiver of information will ever completely understand what the giver is portraying. This has been evidenced in every novel I have read in college. A post-structuralist will argue that individuals or cultures think in a way that comes from their own language, which shapes the way individuals see the world. In addition, because every individual or culture has different perceptions, ideas will never be viewed the same way.

Barry states that, “Linguistic anxiety is a keynote of the post-structuralist outlook”(Barry 62). Linguistic anxiety comes from individuals’ thoughts about how they are conveying information or portraying themselves. Individuals desire to be in control of the linguistic system. Individuals want others to understand the world the same way they do.

Jacques Derrida was a philosopher in the 1960’s who influenced post-structuralism in claiming that nothing is absolute. Fundamentally, Derrida expressed concern with conventional impacts on literature and the English language. Derrida notes; “White Western norms of dress, behavior, architecture, intellectual outlook, and so on, provided a firm centre against which deviations, aberrations, variations could be detected and identified as “Other” and marginal”(Barry 64).

            The western ways of behavior in a conventional culture marginalizes anyone who does not fit the white western norm. Instead, they are pushed into a category known as the signifying “other”. An individual or group must comply with conventional notions that have been constructed or one is reduced to the status or class of an “other”. A post-structuralist identifies social norms that restrict the individuals.

            Post-Structuralism did much to influence other theories that would evolve from the ideas and thoughts about what language does. All theories aim to look at what language does through the use of different lenses.

I had an epiphany when I learned and applied theory to literature. The Critical Race Theory follows the same implications and traces what language does to marginalize the “black” race pushing them to the outer “white” sphere known as “Other”. While races are evident in American Literature, they are not accurately represented. Again, theorists’ claim that this happens because every individual or culture have different perceptions, so ideas will never be viewed the same way.

Toni Morrison’s Playing in the Dark, is a set of lectures that explores the Critical Race Theory. Morrison says that there is “exclusion- of assigning designation and value to blackness” throughout American Literature. (Morrison 1007) She goes as far as to say that the American constructed language does not follow the Constitution, which demands equality. Morrison calls into question what the constructed language does to create binaries and perpetuate racism. She argues that writers cannot separate themselves and their writing from the socially constructed “white” society made up of language and ideas. She says that literature reflects the society the writer is infused in. Morrison notes that it is an act of “becoming” that shows understanding of a racialized society. Morrison believes that the United States does not have the fullness of literature without being able to look beyond what the white society imagines. She says that the consequences of this constructed “whiteness” comes from a culture not being able to analyze their societal views and recognize it for what it is and what it does. To “become” we must be able to access our symbolic culture and see it for what it is and does.

            In Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred, there is evidence intertwined throughout the novel that supports Toni Morrison’s ideas, aligned with Critical Race Theory, that expose “whiteness” in literature and the experiences of the signifying “other”, which in this case is “blackness” and expressing the issue with what it is like to have society in opposition to you, essentially to be the signifying other.  Two characters, Dana and Kevin are watching children play a game of slave trade. Dana says, “My God, why can’t we go home? This place is diseased.” He took my hand. “The kids are just imitating what they’ve seen adults doing,” he said. “They don’t understand…” Dana says, “They don’t have to understand. Even the games they play are preparing them for their future-and that future will come whether they understand it or not” (Butler 99). As they are quietly watching, they recognize the “whiteness” of the society the children are in. Because of the “white” social construction and their desire to project “blackness” as something outside their made up America, “blackness” is excluded from accessing the same America.

            Another key example of whites pushing Africanism to the signifying other is evidenced in the dialogue when Rufus meets Kevin and is trying to make sense of why a white man would be married to a black woman, Dana, and not be ashamed to admit it. Dana quickly jumps in and tells Rufus that where they come from, it is more acceptable to be racially mixed, even though she knows that even Kevin’s sister in the 19^th century is not acknowledging their marriage. But for the sake of adhering to the white western norms, Dana tells Rufus that as long as they are in the south, they have to “play the roles you gave us” “You’ll say you belong to him?” “Yes. I want you to say it too if anyone asks you” (Butler 65).

            Later, Rufus wants to maintain order and control by reducing Dana to the “other” when she is clearly crossing white boundaries. The dialogue is between the two of them;

“I’ve been too easy on you, he said. His voice was suddenly low and ugly. I treated you like you were better than the ordinary niggers. I see I made a mistake.” ‘… For several seconds, he stood frozen, towering over me, glaring down as though he meant to hit me. Finally, though, he relaxed, leaned against his desk. You think you’re white! He muttered. You don’t know your place any better than a wild animal” (Butler 164).

            The black slaves, owned by Tom Weylin, and Rufus, don’t believe that Rufus can change. Although Dana speaks the words, she is saying what the slaves were already thinking. She says, “He’s no good. He’s all grown up now, and part of the system. He could feel for us a little when his father was running things-when he wasn’t entirely free himself. But now, he’s in charge. And I guess he had to do something right away, to prove it” (Butler 223).

             At some parts, it seems that Tom Weylin is aware that Dana is more than an object, but just that haunting knowledge helps him to push her farther into the categorical “other”. This is expressed when he describes her as somewhat supernatural. He says, “Years ago, I would have sworn there couldn’t be anybody like you. You’re not natural! But you can feel pain-and you can die. Remember that and do your job. Take care of your master” (Butler 205). The intellectual uncertainty that Weylin experiences causes him to once again reinforce his whiteness. He cannot see Dana as a person because the society would not accept it. To consider Dana a person rather than an object would mean equalization and the white world was not constructed to look that way. Her abilities have to be considered supernatural, as if there is no way she, herself, could do what she does. This categorical place setting makes her abilities seem only possible by the help of someone greater, maybe a white God.

There are many passages in Kindred that also show how language is used to create meaning for the “Others”. The black “others” are carefully watching how they have limited access to the world. One example comes when Alice is angrily speaking to Dana about how Dana is not really one of them.  She attacks Dana and says, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, whining and crying after some poor white trash of a man, black as you are. You always try to act so white. White nigger, turning against your own people”(Butler 165). Alice wants Dana to know that Dana is not one of them. Alice, though black, is putting Dana into a category as well. Though this passage is meant to show the black world conforming to the white constructed society, I wonder why white control cause blacks to fight against each other. When I read that passage, I wondered what Butler intended by showing the blacks at odds with each other but I think the fight was inevitable to show the collision of two different periods in history. The reality of Alice recognizing Dana as representing more of the white western norms would make sense with what era Dana is living in. In the 19^th century, Dana has been infused in the ways of the white world though she can’t access them fully.

Another passage that displays Dana’s experience and infusion in a white western world is when she is desperate to find Kevin. She hasn’t heard from him and she wants to write another letter. Both the whites and blacks are watching her. She says, “I went to the laundry yard to help Tess. I had come to almost welcome the hard work. It kept me from thinking. White people thought I was industrious. Most blacks thought I was either stupid or too intent on pleasing the whites. I thought I was keeping my fears and doubts at bay as best I could, and managing to stay relatively sane ”(Butler 163). Again when Dana is with Rufus, he is explaining how her resistance to slavery scared his father. Rufus explains that, “Daddy always thought you were dangerous because you knew too many white ways, but you were black. Too black, he said. The kind of black that watches and thinks and makes trouble. I told that to Alice and she laughed. She said sometimes Daddy showed more sense than I did. She said he was right about you, and that I’d find out someday”(Butler 255). Dana has lived with the western white culture for so long and is part white, that she cannot separate herself from it.

The language used threatens the white order, the resistance is not expected and the fact that Dana isn’t afraid to have a voice creates disorder for the whites. Whites are forced to see things differently. As a reader, we deduct this by careful study of language and what it does.

Butler does a beautiful job of refocusing the reader back to the idea that this is not a “white” novel. This exposes the “black” that is kept from white culture and thought. “Blackness” is put off as the “other” as though if one does not know it, they are not part of it and have no responsibility for it. I love the interview with Butler as she describes Dana’s arm amputation. Butler says, “I couldn’t let her come all the way back. I couldn’t let her return to what she was, I couldn’t let her come back whole and that, I think, really symbolizes her not coming back whole. Antebellum slavery didn’t leave people quite whole” (Butler 267). This powerful statement pushes the “white” to contemplate what American Literature does. It reminds us, through careful language, that “Africanism” has been represented destructively in literature. “White” society has forced African isolation by continually using language that represents anyone outside of the white race as the “other”.  Both Butler and Morrison would argue that this forced isolation (expressed in literature) keeps all of the signifying “others” excluded from accessing the same America as the white society inhabits. The Critical Race Theory challenges “white” America to look at what has been created as “blackness”, evaluate what the implications of these constructed binaries are, and then to tell a more representational story.

Reading a variety of texts and literary works and then writing about them has helped me understand language. Language is complex and beautiful. Through my study of theoretical approaches, I now know what language does. I now know that words, themselves, are relational and give rise to meaning. I know that language can isolate people from accessing all of America by marginalizing people. But, I also know that language has the ability to help readers and writers engage in a more representational story. 

The power of the English language and the opportunities to read and write using such language allows one to move past a simple layer of understanding. I think Maya Angelou said it best when she said, “When you know better, you do better” (Angelou). When one engages with literature or picks up a pen to write, a story unfolds. For me, the study of  language, my engagement with literature, and my experiences with writing have helped me connect with the world in new ways. I now know better and I can and will do better!

I believe we live in a world where life is becoming digitalized. The desire for understanding language and its implications are becoming part of a historical past, even an outdated practice for younger generations. Many want something at their finger-tips with little thought.  As an English Major, I believe part of what I take with me from my education is to keep my passion for literature and writing alive. The study of language, even the study of literature is critical to one’s ability to process and engage in the world.

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. "Interview: Maya Angelou." Interview. Interview: Maya Angelou. N.p., 2004. Web. 5 February 2013.

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. New York: Manchester University Press, 1995. Print.

Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Boston: Beacon Press, 1979. Print.

Freud, Sigmund. On Dreams. New York: Norton, 1952. Print.

Morrison, Tony. “Playing in the Dark.” Literary Theory: An Anthology.2^nd Edition. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Massachussetts: Blackwell Publishing, 1998. 1007-1016. Print.