Linguistics in Social Change - Just to start a discussion!
PALANA (nparinand@cas.org)
Thu, 13 Mar 1997 14:28:53 -0500
Sri Sitaramayya gAru:
Just a twist to your question/suggestion~topic...
Recently Veluri gAru did cover in a comprehensive manner on Gaddar.
That was very educational. Thanks to Veluri and Jampala.
The thing bothers me is how far poets like Gaddar and other Dalit poets can
reach the common folks or for that matter above average citizens.
Gaddar did (does) use social linguistics in his songs. That is palatable and
easily understood. His language is so natural for the ordinary. Did this
bring any effect on the life styles of those ordinary for whom Gaddar has
been writing the songs?
Let us also look at Mahakavi's poetry. Sri Sri, no doubt, did bring a
tremendous change to the poetry-writing but for fact was still caught in the
tangles of "grAndhika" Telugu. I have a lot of respect for Sri Sri for his
violation of Classical Poetry-writing Style but he used a lot of words that
could not be easily understood by a riksha guy or by a mine worker or railway
coolie. With exceptions of a few songs in Maroprasthanam, e.g. oogarA oogarA,
most of Sri Sri's poems are embedded with non-social linguistics.
The impact that a poem/song that brings on the society depends on the style
and lang in which it is written and for whom it is written and above all
the reachability of the poem/song (how the poet could target it). Otherwise,
the poem is just like that bUDidalO pOsina pannIru. Sri Sri mastered the
style, no doubt, but he still used that jAmImdAr language and forgot about
the tongue of that common man in the Srikakulam forests or Visakha shipyard
or Vijayawada railway station.
IMHO Style will not only serve the purpose but also the language coupled
with it will bring the impact on the society. That is what Gaddar or
Digambara kavulu or Dalita kavulu have added onto using Sri Sri's skeletal
framework. Again the question is - Do these post-Sri Sri era poets bring an
impact on society (not that of pakka building dwellers).
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Opinions are mine only.
pAlana
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