brainstorming

[howsmyenglish]

Dear people, I need some thinking help please.

I wrote at some point that I'm working on a PhD, and I even said something about wanting to write about my progress from time to time. Well, that time has come. I need to interpret something and I do feel that I've been thinking about it for too long, so I'd really appreciate it, if you would read the following and tell me what you thought.

So, we're talking about an author (an autobiographer), who comes from a subaltern community (underprivileged is waaaay better that what he experienced) and whenever he speaks about his village, the place he comes from, "his community", he mentions a lot of death... I mean, there is a logical explanation for this: his family lived next to a cremation ground and this is where he spent a big part of his childhood, but still... I do think the death symbolism is totally important. But what interests me now is that when he doesn't mention "his community", his language usually is pretty factual and dry, but when it's "his community"+death his language becomes very poetic and metaphoric.

Here's a very short example (it's a description of a village (where people of "his community" lived) that had burned recently; the translation is mine, it's very rough):

As soon as my glance fell on the place, it seemed as if a volcano has just erupted or as if all the cremation grounds in the world had taken revenge on this place. The whole place looked like it had been put on a single cremation pyre. Buildings and trees seemed to have committed suicide. One tree was partly burned and partly green, it was evident that its suicide hadn't been completely successful. etc., etc. he goes on to mention collapsed walls, burnt and broken clay utensils, a "barking half-burnt dog", a dirty child, an old man sitting on a half-burnt bench and staring at him...


And here's the question: What would you say does he achieve through this metaphoric (or poetic? or both?) language?

(I've no idea how understandable is what I've written, the thing is that I have the feeling I've been thinking about this for half of my life and... well, part of what I want to say may exist only inside my head... anyhow... I'd be happy to talk about this.)

Comments

[divinemusings]

By using that kind of language it creates a more intimate visualization of his life. I'd say it also adds an emotional connection to the story rather than just reciting the facts of what happened. He's trying to get the reader to empathize with what he's gone through.

Or, that's how I'd interpret it. :)

[eller]

That, or he's emphasizing his point by contrasting it with the flowery language usually reserved for beautiful things. Or both.

[howsmyenglish]

Oooh, I like this... so, you do find beauty in the description?

(I sometimes fear that my mind might be too fond of the grotesque and macabre to be able to tell)

[eller]

Yes I do! I'm however not a literature expert, so... ^^°

[howsmyenglish]

It's not about being an expert :)

Thank you!

[howsmyenglish]

Thank you! It really helps!

[corvidology]

Sometimes it's easier to distance yourself from actual lived experiences with more elaborate language... and subconsciously at the same time demonstrate how far you've come from it if it were rough enough and you were one of the few to make it out.

[howsmyenglish]

Yes. I've been thinking this as well. Especially, considering that he comes from a largely uneducated community.
Thank you!

[jamethiel]

I mean, all text (and especially all text from good writers) serves more than one purpose. In this, you've not only got the description of the village, but you've got the explicit implication that the village is death/dying/dead: you've got echoes of Pompeii. I'd need to see more of the text but you've also potentially got references to Dante's inferno, etc.

Possibly a reflection of the author's feelings, possibly a way of foreshadowing of future events (he had to get out! He was dying there!)

[howsmyenglish]

I didn't think about Pompeii. Thank you! I doubt he refers to it, because his cultural background is completely different, but it's still very interesting. No, I mean... he might be referring to it subconsciously... (because if he did it consciously, he would have explained it, he does this throughout the book)
Thank you in any case! I'll think about this.

[hamletta]

Do you mean he only uses that kind of poetic/visual language when talking about death AND his community? Or only about death? Are there any other "topics" where his language is similar?

I'd say language like this can be distancing (as in, making the event poetic makes it less real) but at the same time it can also call attention to the facts it describes. It allows you to spend more time describing the even or the experience in minute detail -- not just that everything was scorched but that "the trees committed suicide." It forces the reader to pay attention while allowing the writer to pretend they're not affected.

[howsmyenglish]

Do you mean he only uses that kind of poetic/visual language when talking about death AND his community?
Mostly, yes. Death is connected to his community, almost all death references (and there are plenty) have to do with his community and almost all of them are very poetic and full of rich imagery.

Are there any other "topics" where his language is similar?
Thank you for asking this! I hadn't completely realized it, but no, after some checking I can say that there are no other topics that provoke this kind of poetic and metaphoric language. Which is saying a lot.

I think you are right about the distancing (all that is related to his community and especially family is traumatic for him) and the calling attention of the reader... of course... Thank you, this is great!

[kat_lair]

I would look at this through the author's culture. Does death/the dead have particular resonance to his culture/faith? Perhaps the language is about reverence, or echoes some kind of ritualistic language one might associate with death?

[howsmyenglish]

hm! I didn't look at it from this angle. Thanks!