Language and Womens Place in Duffys Poems z

In what sense are we defined by Language?

The limit of my language is the limit of my world Ludwig Wittgenstein

Language constructs and limits our world view We understand our environment along lines laid down by our native language

Innuit words for snow

Tlapa - powder snow tlacringit - snow that is crusted on the surface kayi - drifting snow tlapat - still snow klin- remembered snow

Innuit words for snow

Tlapa - powder snow tlacringit - snow that is crusted on the surface kayi - drifting snow tlapat - still snow klin- remembered snow

How does Language fix a womans position?

If language and linguistic categories have the power to limit our world view, what happens with a sexist language? What implications are there when language perpetuates the view that the world is male unless proven otherwise? Dale Spencer

Assumptions are made about the nature and role of women from the use of language
when linguistic space is monopolised by men, when terms are marked female, they are also marked negative Muriel Schulz

How are women discriminated through language?

Robin Lakoff a linguist says women are discriminated in two ways

How women are taught to use language How language is used to talk about women

How to talk like a lady

Wide range of colour terms Low on swear terms High on meaningless particulars like oh dear High on emotive words like divine, adorable High on tag questions indicating lack of assertiveness and confidence And while these are imposed, they are also ridiculed so a girl is damned if she does, damned if she doesnt.

How are women spoken of?

Use of euphemisms

what a euphemism is supposed to do is to remove from thought that part of the connotations of a word that creates discomfort eg: domestic help, restroom, homemaker
Master vs. Mistress Dog vs. Bitch Bachelor vs. Spinster Pronouns for generic he, man

Linguistic imbalance

So what seems to be the solution?

For women to become visible, it is necessary that they become linguistically visible

How does Duffy do this in her poems?

She explores the way in which womens reality and meaning are constructed through language by playing with words. Examine Valentine

investigates the way in which meaning is constructed through language, as the speaker tries to move beyond clichs and find a more authentic way of expressing feeling and experience 'Not a red rose or a satin heart. I give you an onion. It is a moon wrapped in brown paper. It promises light like the careful undressing of love. *+ I am trying to be truthful.'

Constant struggle with language

As not being sufficient to express deep emotion and aspects of womens experience Desire - Ellipsis Warming her Pearls, Uses euphemisms in certain poems to deal with that which is too frightening ( Girl Talking) She made blood, we guard our hearts But also uses it to shock in Standing Female Nude Belly Nipple Arse language used in an unfeminine way goes with the agenda of the poem which is that she cannot be represented and will not be appropriated or reduced to male gaze. In the same way her use of language will not be dictated by what is deemed ladylike So challenges language as attempting to appropraite BUT ALSO Acknowledges Language as defining Whoever She Was my maiden name sounds wrong language as having the power to change identity and the way a woman views herself

Plays with language to try to create new meaning

The Way My Mother Speaks nothing is silent, nothing is not silent and I am happy and sad, I am homesick, free, in love

Consider the simultaneous existence of seemingly contradictory emotions This seems to be the same for womens experiences of love, longing, desire and loss.

In I Remember Me wordless barefaced truths

Suggests That because language is insufficiently catered to women , it can also dilute what is the truth if we try to represent womens experiences through this limited means and yet as a poet that is her tool! Hence, A constant tension

Tension in Language

Correspondents

We have the language of stuffed birds, teacups, we dont have the language of bodies the lack of words or physical language as limiting or crippling. But I read your dark words and do to myself things you can only imagine I have called your name over and over in my head at the point your fiction brings me to - that language/fiction in the sense of the letter/fantasy/words have power to release desire as well.

Reflective of the tension of patriarchy, not just on women but individuals

Language and experience

In River, she questions how who we are is defined by language but also how language is dependent on who we are. It is defining because she feels she is somewhere else because of words But also if if you were really there, what would you write. How would you represent it through language? Language as unable to capture experience entirely because what would you write on a postcard, or on the sand,(washed away) near where the river runs into the sea it will again change. But also nature remains what it is, it is only how we perceive it that changes when language changes. While language can define/limit usit can also give us a sense of place and identity. While it cannot express everything, it is also our only tool with which to translate experience

In conclusion

Duffy sees language as both inadequate in encapsulating womens experience but also as necessary As defining and therefore limiting but also as empowering because it gives a sense of place and belonging Her poems are constantly exploring these tensions