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LITERARY CODE-SWITCHING the instances of Bengali have been transferred to the English script to make them more accessible for the intended English reading audience. While sari and saree refer to the same type of clothing, Paul, who resides in Austria, uses the British spelling standard, i.e. the more common variant in Mid-Europe, and A. Igbal, who lives in the U.S., uses the American standard. Ihus, the authors’ transcriptions contain valuable information on their migration journeys and language education backgrounds. While clothing and food items allude to traditions and memories of home, the semantic field of family is primarily represented by the use of proper names. In A. Iqbal’s text, the words for mother and father are given in Bengali (Amma, Abba’), as is the case in Skanda Prasad’s poem “It’s Like a Curry Sandwich,” yet in his first language Kannada (Amma, Appa“). The strong intra-sentential references to one’s parents or family members in the languages associated with these relatives evoke the idea that it was ‘natural’ to use these words in an English-speaking context: Amma never made this at home, and Grandma—bless her heart— would’ve fainted at the touch [...]. [...] Appa’s moustache always smiled before his lips did, translated child-talk to the cashier [...]* Clues for interpretation are provided by the stereotypical dichotomy of female and male: In the poem, Amma is associated with the domestic sphere, preparing something at home, while Appa is in a shop with his son, identified as a male also by his moustache. In addition, with the lyrical I’s perspective provided by clues such as “Grandma™., the relationship between Amma, Appa and the lyrical I can be inferred without an explanation or translation of the foreign language terms. This example shows how stereotypes can serve as aids for interpretation across cultures, as they seem to be universally relevant. Simultaneously, however, the use of an embedded language questions this presumed universality as it emphasizes the process of decoding: the meaning a A. Iqbal: Forget Him. #2 Skanda Prasad: It’s Like a Curry Sandwich, Tint Journal, Issue Fall ’20, 2020, https://tintjournal.com/poetry/its-like-a-curry-sandwich, accessed 17 Oct 2022. # Ibid. # Ibid. + 78 «
