Not only are non-American dialects associated with characters who are outsiders and possess mal intent, but are also linked to characters who takes away “fun” or create boundaries. Zazu (Mufasa’s bird friend and right-hand) speaks in a British accent and lays strict rules for Simba and Nala to obey. Zazu essentially is shown to try to take away Simba and Nala’s fun and illustrates that again, people with non-American accents are disliked. This portrayal is also shown in another Disney classic, The Little Mermaid, as Sebastian has a Jamaican accent and tries to discipline Ariel and order her to follow rules while encouraging her to forget her dreams. The Lion King and The Little Mermaid are two of many Disney classics that carry this underlying
1. As a writer who was also an anthropologist and a folklorist, Zora Neale Hurston studied
For this summary I watched a video called Voices of the World: The Extinction of Language and Linguistic Diversity. The video starts off with how people believe that there are about 6, 000 languages. David Crystal talks about how with all these different languages half of them are endangered of becoming extinct. Each different language offers a different point of view of the world and culture. He said that if different languages are lost then “we lose the meaning what is it to be human.”
.... Relationships, friendships, and love were the underlying emotions within this performance. The ensemble skillfully undertook each character with delicate care and respectfully balanced humor and sincerity to accommodate each character distinctly. The cast worked wonderfully as a team working and playing off the audience as opportunities were presented. The participants in this performance, although quite inexperienced, had quite an enjoyable time performing this comedic adaptation of Pirates. The actor playing the Pirate King showed off his stunning, powerful voice and agility in addition to his quirky sense of humor hilariously flexible. Comparing this actress to other females who have conquered this role typically noticing the successful female performers voices sound just as good on the ultra high notes as most of her male counterparts can on the low ones.
Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...
An individual’s background is where one comes from and how he or she is raised. Tan is Chinese American. She has a traditional Chinese mother who speaks “broken” English. Tan states that, “It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than ‘broken’, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed[. . .]” (Tan 43). Tan is an American school girl. As Tan listens to her mother use that type of dialect, it causes her perception of her mother to be distraught. Tan believed it “[. . .] reflected the quality of what [her mother] had to say” (Tan 43). For instance, department store clerks, bank employees and restaurant workers will ignore her mother when they can not understand her. Tan is a writer who loves the use of language. She says, “Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all-all the Englishes I grew up with” (Tan 41). She is able to adapt her dialect to her audience. With her mother, she uses “broken” English; with her colleagues, she uses correct English grammar.
When asked to define ones cultural identity people usually take the path that leads to their country of origin. They describe their beliefs and tradition which mirrors the values of people within that geographic location. But what about the people who are torn between two cultures? How would they define their cultural identity? This is the problem faced by Henry Park, the protagonist of the book Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee. Originally from Korea, he immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was little. However, his struggle of trying to find his acceptance into the American culture still continues. The book outlines his endless uncertainty of trying to define his cultural identity and his feelings as an outsider to the American Culture. Not being able to commit to either of the cultures leaves Henry confused regarding his true Cultural identity which Chang very artfully presents as a fuzzy line between the American and Korean Culture.
Lippi-Green maintains her argument by concentrating on "three aspects of language use in Disney films" (87) that she had found through watching the different animated films made by Disney. She had viewed twenty-four films multiple times and analyzed characters from such movies for their use of different language in automatically creating a character. On page eighty- seven of her article she gives us her main points: the portrayal of African-Americans in the Disney films; "the way certain groups are represented---particularly lovers and mothers" (87) and the manipulation of French accents that can be considered as a positive stereotype but can result as to being "negative and limiting" (87) for that particular culture.
The exposure to these negative characteristics starts with children. Perpetual imagery of the negative stereotypes can lead to the immunity of children to what kind of effects that this might have on the population that is being represented. Critically acclaimed productions such as Peter Pan and Pocahontas contain many of the master narratives that are written about Native identity. In the film Peter Pan, there is a musical sequence titled “What Makes the Red Man Red” in which a tribe describes to the visiting characters why they are red. The chief’s dialect is toddler like; broken English with incorrect grammar which is attributed to the perception that Native people are uneducated. The tribe can be seen as animal like in comparison to the character of Wendy, a young, proper, British girl that did not subscribe to what the tribe was promoting. Further, almost every tribe member was red, except for the young females who appear light skinned with resemblance to Pocahontas. This classic movie reinforces the animal like, uneducated version of Native people to children who will be carrying this perception into adulthood. Another movie that targets children is Pocahontas, in which the idea of the ‘Pocahontas Perplex’ is introduced. This concept explains, “Indian women have to be exotic, wild, collaborationist, crazy, to qualify for non-Native
The United States is made up of multiple cultures, race, and languages. Many people come from Mexico or Asian parts of the world, like China in search for a better life. One of the struggles many people have when coming from a different country is the language, in this case English. Everyone has a unique way of communicating. In the United States, after people learn English they realize they use different Englishes without knowing, in order to communicate, whether it be with parents, professors, or your own pets.
Smith, Caroline. “The Not So Wonderful Word of Disney.” University of Alabama Arts & Sciences Department. Retrieved 13 Dec. 2013 from < http://www.english.uga.ed u/fyc/barnett/smith2006-07.pdf>.
Have you ever been to another country, state, or even city and realized how different your accent may be? Have you been asked to repeat a word or phrase that you may say differently? Sometimes we were asked for a good laugh, but that’s not always the case. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, both authors use personal narrative to demonstrate how their lives and identity are affected by their language and culture.
I enjoyed watching Disney films while growing up, and Pocahontas was one that I watched often. In the movie, Pocahontas was portrayed as being an “Indian Princess” that was one with nature as well as submissive. One of my favorite Disney movies was Peter Pan. Both films obviously contain many Native American stereotypes, such as that Native Americans are an unprogressive people and savages. In Peter Pan, the characters wore sacred headdresses, sat in a circle and smoked tobacco while chanting to a stereotypical Indian drum beat. “What Makes the Red Man Red?”, a song in Peter Pan, contains incredibly offensive terms such as “injun” and “squaw” in the lyrics. In Pocahontas, the terms “savage”, “devil”, and “primitive” are used to describe Native
The Hakkas are a unique ethnic group of "Han" Chinese. They are thought to be the earliest "Han" settlers in China. One theory states that many of the early Hakkas were affiliated with the "royal bloods." After 17 century, the sailing skill was improved and developed, therefore, about in the early Qing dynasty, a lot of Minnan and Uedong people sailed across the sea to Taiwan. But Hakkas were much fewer than Minnan people. There were two reasons: the first is that during the Kang Xi period, the Hakkas of Chouzhou Fu and Huezhou Fu were banned from sailing across the sea to Taiwan because of the prohibition; the other is supposed to be that most Hakkas living in the mountains were not familiar with watercourses, so they preferred to stay in the mountains. Fortunately, Fujian and Guangdong Hakkas were not limited by the prohibition, so Hakkas from Zhangzhou Fu, Dingzhou Fu, and Guangdong could migrate to Taiwan. As the time going, with the repeal of the prohibition, Hakkas from Chaozhou Fu, Huezhou Fu and also Jiayingzhou Fu came to Taiwan gradually. Besides Taiwan, during the last hundred years or so, Hakkas migrated to South East Asia, East Africa, Europe, South America, Canada and U.S.
...ed by its culture just as it affects its culture, but its underlying worldview contains patriarchal and racist dimensions. In addition, the portrayal of Scar and the hyenas as having a dark mane and dark coats in the Lion King seems to be a symbolic coding. Our society has associated it darkness and evil and it has become an issue that is very offensive to AfricanAmericans. In addition to sending conflict messages about valuing all races, Disney implies that in Pocahontas, certain personality types are not considered and valued. Similarly in Hercules, the one and only Muse who is not beautiful stereotypically is the one muse who is the comic. What this means is that only the extremely beautiful and fun loving people are valued in our society (Booker 38). The mixed message brought out is that all people are valued, but really only fun and lively people are valued.
Yann Martel uses language in Chapter 94 to explain Pi's thoughts, feelings, and reactions to finally being saved. The author uses diction, metaphors, similes, symbolism, and more to tell the story. This helps the reader understand Pi better as a character. On page 285, Pi reflects on his abrupt farewell to Richard Parker through detailed imagery. Pi explains how he thinks that someone one must have closure to fully let something or someone go. To me, this shows how sensitive and empathetic Pi is towards animals. The imagery helps me to feel how Pi is feeling. On page 286, Pi thanks Richard Parker for keeping him alive. Yann Martel uses parallelism and diction to help convey Pi's feelings. The use of language throughout this chapter, along