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Facing the language border: multi-lingualism in two novels of M. G. Vassanji review

The study focuses on the use of various languages including Swahili by the author Moyez G. Vassanji against the English background of his works, by concentrating on two of his ´African´ novels, namely The Gunny Sack and The In-Between World of Vikram Lall. In his novels, Vassanji uses multiple literary devices involving the use of different languages, such as code switching and code shifting among others. The paper analyses the use of these various ´language-mixing´ devices in his novels from a literary point of view. A set of literary instruments allow the author to attain various tasks, such as creating ´local colour´, restoring social relationships, and also expressing the characters´ search for new identity, as well as reflecting the author´s own background as a multi-cultural person and writer.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa.de:bsz:15-qucosa-162831
Date31 March 2015
CreatorsGromov, Mikhail D.
ContributorsUnited States International University,, Universität Leipzig, Institut für Afrikanistik
PublisherUniversitätsbibliothek Leipzig
Source SetsHochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typedoc-type:article
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceSwahili Forum 21 (2014), S. 60-75

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