INTRODUCTION
& BACKGROUND OF THE POEM
The decades-old debate about national language, its status, and official recognition of the Creole language in the Caribbean is still pervasive and alive. It is a never-ending debate between two sets of people having divergent opinions. The academics and linguists want to spread awareness about Creole and influence officials into recognizing it as an official language. On the other hand, the skeptics dismiss it as a distorted version of Standard British English. The debate has morphed into a battle between the supporters of the Creole and its opponents fought in the press and other public forums. As far as literature is concerned, the Creole language has made great strides into different genres such as Drama, Poetry, and Fiction.
Louise Bennett, a Jamaican poet, social activist, and staunch advocate of the Jamaican language, has been at the front-line of the entire struggle and has given various poetic creations intending to teach the importance of the Creole Language. Her works strive not just to entertain the masses but also to reveal important facts, events, and the true nature of the native Creole language.
Language is a cultural marker of any society that
gives it a unique identity and shapes its culture. As the proverb goes, every
two miles the water changes, every four miles the speech, each of us is a
dialectical speaker. Each language evolves and changes due to interaction with
other languages and, even the English language is not immune from this
influence. “Bans a Killin’” is a satirical poem written in Jamaican dialect
called ‘patois’ in 1944, during the decolonization of Jamaica as a response to
the disparaging and scathing attacks from the critics of the Creole represented
by the fictional Mr. Charlie to make the masses understand the importance of
the Jamaican language.
BACKGROUND OF ‘PATOIS’
During the colonization of the Caribbean, people
from various backgrounds from across the globe arrived.
These include slaves from Africa, bonded hands
from India and other colonies, European and American planters, merchants, and
political dissidents. By the late 18th century, the Caribbean had become a
conglomeration of different people having different cultures and languages. The
mixture of various disparate cultures resulted in the rich traditions and way
of life in Jamaica. The interaction of Anglophones with the colonized having
different languages resulted in the appearance of various local dialects. These
dialects were called pidgin or Creole. Consequently, ‘patois’ appeared as the
Creole language in Jamaica.
During decolonization in the early 1960s, the
island of Jamaica reached a critical juncture in terms of identity and
language. The masses in the island spoke patois while the western-styled
educated ruling minority spoke fluent standard British English. They criticized
the Creole, and their criticism often bordered on hatred. Against this backdrop
of cultural imperialism, Louise Bennett became the flag barrier of the struggle
for defending the local dialect and an enduring symbol of Jamaican values.
SUMMARY OF THE POEM
Responding to the ruling elite inflexible views
about the unchanging nature of language, Bennett wrote the poem. The poem
starts by asking Mr. Charlie who, despises the local dialect and wants to kill
it, if he will exterminate all dialects that sprang up from the interaction of
different languages with English or have made Jamaican Creole his sole
target. The speaker asks Mr. Charlie whether he has examined English,
which he respects so much because it has also sprung up from various dialects
over an extended period. If he feels inferior while singing a local Jamaican
song, he would be wise enough to avoid singing in Standard English as it is a
dialect. The speaker further suggests that the language that Mr. Charlie views
as a language of power, officialdom, and influence is built on the foundation
of a variety of dialects such as Cockney and Lancashire. Before killing the
Jamaican Creole, Mr. Charlie would be wise to kill all the Creoles that emerged
from the mixture of English with other languages such as the broad scotch and
Irish brogue. The poem points out that the English Chaucer or Shakespeare used
to write their famous works was not yet standardized as it was in a dialectical
form.
ANALYSIS OF THE POEM
Bans a killin’ is considered to be the most
rebellious and political work of Louise Bennett because it was an attempt by
the writer to free her nation from the mental and intellectual slavery imposed
by the West after decolonization. The poem sought not only to entertain the
people or respond to the critics of the patois, but also to spread awareness in
people about embracing Jamaican culture, language, and its rich traditions as
they have become a part of the social and moral fabric of the Jamaican society.
Written in Jamaican Creole, the poem seeks to carve out a national identity for
the Jamaican people that they can relish, celebrate and feel proud of it.
Language is the cornerstone of national identity
for any country. There are no superior or inferior languages as Homi K. Bhabha
points out through his concept of hybridity. When two or more languages come in
close contact, it is natural that they exchange elements and sometimes give
birth to a new language. The poem seeks to explore this angle of the language
interaction by pointing out that Jamaican dialect like many other dialects
spoken around and in the United Kingdom itself, has been born out of this
natural process. Therefore, it reminds the ruling elite of the island that
patois is not just a corrupted form of the Standard British English but a
creation of immense vitality.
Bennett has used various symbols in the poem
including the fictional character Mr. Charlie and the speaker of the poem. Mr.
Charlie represents the western-educated rulers of the island who are
unapologetic in their hatred for the native Jamaican culture and dialect. They
want to erase the dialect from Jamaican society and strive for imposing the
British language and culture. They represent the legacy of colonialism. They
are the mimicry men, a class of persons, Jamaican in blood and color, but
English in taste, morals, and intellect. The speaker of the poem represents the
masses on the island that take great pride in the native culture, traditions,
customs, and ways of life and who are willing to counter any threat to the
culture both from inside and outside.
The poem takes a critical view of self-contempt
and seeks to defend Jamaican culture from the legacy of colonialism. It
highlights the fact that getting formal independence is far easier than taking
off the yokes of cultural imperialism.
Through the poem, Bennett has tried to help
Jamaica establish a national identity. Since the first tragedy of colonialism
is the loss of national identity for the natives, the poem was written at a
time when it was hard to come up with a precise definition of what it meant to
be a Jamaican. Therefore, being one of the most prolific writers of her time,
she thought it to be her moral and national duty to help in shaping Jamaican
national identity. Her attempts in this regard gave a political touch to her
literary creations.
The
poem is analyzed by Asif Abbas, one of the team members at the School
of Literature.
