How to drown: bilingual creative writers in a sea of meanings

Christopher B. PATTERSON*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In many Southeast Asian countries, English represents a colonial tradition, whose merits co-exist alongside other languages that are also seen as creative : Mandarin, Tagalog, Cantonese, Malay. In the everyday, the bilingualism that emerges in these spaces is playful, with languages like Chinglish and Taglish re-invigorating the old kingdoms of proper English. And yet, as English educators we often take the playfulness out of language learning: we treat English as hierarchical, class-driven, authoritative, dignified, a certificate through which students can maximize their prospects. This essay argues for a playful teaching of English writing that does not see failure in grammar mistakes, or incorrectness in accents. Taking inspiration from writers like Jhumpa Lahiri, Shirley Geok-lin Lim, as well as my own bilingual creative writing students, I explore the ways in which we can perceive of English as a creative medium to communicate self-expression and feeling. In Hong Kong where I work, the colonial routes of bilingualism have always been in the colonial power’s favor, but this has hinged on the presumption that translation was done obediently, in respect to a sacred and immovable linguistic hierarchy, a tower of babel. Teaching in English need not be an authoritative nor a colonial practice. Instead, we can offer students an aporia of meaning engaged in play, delight, and failure.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1-11
    Number of pages11
    JournalTEXT
    Volume21
    Issue numberSpecial 47
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 31 Oct 2017

    User-Defined Keywords

    • creative writing
    • Hong Kong
    • English
    • Pedagogy
    • Translation
    • Asian studies

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'How to drown: bilingual creative writers in a sea of meanings'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this