Oldal 29 [29]
THE POLITICS AND POETICS OF LANGUAGE USE
By means of conclusion, Hammad continuously incorporates code-switches
to French and (mostly Palestinian) Arabic into the main English text, as well
as relexifications. The code-switches to Arabic and French are sometimes, but
not always, marked by italics, but the relexifications are never. The code¬
switches are not limited to culture-specific elements (realia, toponyms, per¬
sonal names, addressing titles, etc.), but also include discourse markers, con¬
nectors and fillers, as well as phrases, sentences and longer stretches of discourse.
These elements are often related to the setting and the speakers involved, but
not exclusively. As we will see below, some of the ways in which the code¬
switches are incorporated into the text clearly indicate that they are not
merely mimetic, but function in a much deeper way than just representing
“how people speak” or providing “couleur locale.” In combination with the
relexified items and (implicit) linguistic metacomments, the languages are
blended in such a way that they can be said to interanimate each other and
form one creative literary language, to reiterate Hartman’s words." This liter¬
ary language is in some ways reminiscent of the linguistic repertoire of mul¬
tilingual speakers, without suggesting an exclusively mimetic function though.
In the remainder of this paper, I will demonstrate how Hammad deploys these
techniques in “The Parisian or Al-Barisi”, by highlighting a selection of strik¬
ing examples. But before doing so, I would like to dwell a little longer on the
insider and outsider readers and the insider—outsider position of the author
herself.
INSIDER AND OUTSIDER PERSPECTIVES
IN A GLOBAL LITERATURE MARKET
Asa British author with a Palestinian background writing in English, London¬
born Hammad cannot be anything but conscious of the fact that she ad¬
dresses multiple audiences. Given the fact that her novel is published by large
publishing houses" and is globally distributed, a considerable part of her
reading audience consists of readers who are interested in, but not necessar¬
ily acquainted with Arab culture, history and societies and the Arabic language.
On the other hand, she also addresses readers of English who are familiar with
these elements. The diverse readership further enhances the obvious given that
the novel can, and will, be read and interpreted in multiple ways and that this
begs for multilayeredness. This also means that the author can take up an
insider—outsider position, an issue that is also discussed by Hartman. It can
be presumed that the author taps into the fact that some readers will not
1° Ibid., 4-7.
u The novel was first published in Britain by Jonathan Cape in 2019 and reprinted by Vintage,
which belongs to the Penguin Group, in 2020 and by Grove Press in the US.
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