Literary Biculturalism and the Thought-Language-Culture Relation.

N

14

Authors; Biculturalism; Bilingualism; Cognitive Processes; Creative Expression; Creative Thinking; Creative Writing; Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural Interrelationships; Culture; Language Research; Languages; Literary Devices; Literary Perspective; Literature

The extension of languages across cultural boundaries engenders a cosmopolitan literature which is often characterized by the effects of biculturalism. The evidence seems to indicate that bilingualism and biculturalism can exert a subtle influence upon a writer's choice of words, and can penetrate the author's style and grammar. Most of the resulting difficulties for the bilingual writer come from the need to think about and express in one language concepts that come from another language. In other words, the writer finds himself within a thought-language-culture triangle, part of which overlaps another culture. This overlapping creates conflicts in the expression of certain culture-bound concept categories which may differ in both the diversity of what they cover and the depth or intensity to which they cover it. These differences in diversity and intensity may be analyzed and measured. Examples chosen primarily from French and English literature illustrate devices which bilingual writers use in their attempt to escape the influence of the other language or the other culture around him. (Author/AMH)

1980

ED180207