Post-colonical literature: sign post for Pakistani variety of English
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Date
2011
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Publisher
University of Management and Technology
Abstract
This study investigates whether or not post-colonial literature in English
provides impetus for emergence of Pakistani variety of English (Pinglish). The study
holds the assumption that language(s) of colonizers and colonized have been
influencing each other, however it is two way process. As the result of languages
contact such as British English and rest of the varieties particularly Urdu a new
variety-Pinglish emerged. And Pakistani post-colonial literature in English is one of
its strongest manifestations. Purposive samples consist of short stories and one novel
was chosen from a population of Pakistani post-colonial literature in English. Factors
such as translation, code mixing, borrowing and lexical divergences were considered
for the analysis of above mentioned corpora. The analysis shows that these factors
are unique to Pakistani English literature which distinguish English spoken and
written in Pakistan from rest of the world. For example; Ahmad Ali in his novel
Twilight in Delhi quoted idiom which instantiated translation such as: “When
husband and wife are willing, what can the Qazi do?” (pp.95). It appears to be the
obvious Urdu expression which is ‘jab mian bivi raazi tuo kia keray ga qazi’. In
Talat Abbasi’s short story ‘Simple Question’; ‘but its like weights are placed on my
eyes’ which sounds like in Urdu as: ‘lakin aisey jese meri ankhoun pe wazan rakha
hua hai’. This variety is so widespread in literature and has such a long standing that
it can be thought stable and adequate enough to be regarded as variety of English in
its own right rather than stages on the way to more native-like English.
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Keywords
British English, Post Colonial Literature