Date of Graduation
2002
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MA
Committee Chair
Janice Spleth
Abstract
This study contends that Reunionese and Caribbean identities can be construed in part through an examination of orality and language in the literature of the islands. In preparation for an analysis of the dynamics of Creole and other oral features in Huet`s Zaza, la Réunion des années 50 and Brodber’s Jane and Louisa Will Soon Come Home, some linguistic preliminaries establish Creoles as full-fledged languages, a step that helps explain the post-colonial subject’s behavior towards a language initially imposed by the colonizer. A comparison of the nature, mechanics, and purposes of oral structural devices in the two literary works leads to the conclusion that such behavior is either one of resistance or assimilation. Finally, both authors use language to exemplify the notion of hybridity in the post-colonial process of identity-formation.
Recommended Citation
Gaulin, Weena Isabelle, "The Dynamics of Orality, Language, and Identity in David Huet’s Zaza, La Réunion des années 50 And Erna Brodber’s Jane and Louisa Will Soon Come Home" (2002). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD). 10626.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/10626