The Role of Dialect Representation in Speaking from the Margins the Lesson of Toni Cade Bambara
The role of dialect representation in speaking from the margins: "The Lesson" of Toni Cade Bambara by Katy M. Wright
"What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain't in on it? Where we are is who we are, Miss Moore always pointin out. But it don't necessarily have to be that way, she always adds then waits for somebody to say that poor people have to wake up and demand their share of the pie and don't none of us know what kind of pie she talking about in the first damn place."
--Toni Cade Bambara, "The Lesson"
African American philosopher George Yancy, exuberantly sensitive to the power of language in texts, asserts that in representing "the complexity of Black experiences," not just "any form of discursivity will do": the narrative content cannot be divorced from the narrative form; the narrative voice must speak in harmony with the reality it describes (275). "What other linguistic medium," asks Yancy, "could I use to articulate the rhythm, the fluidity, the angst.... and the beauty involved in traversing" the "ghetto streets" of youth than the dialect of African American English (273)? Within literature, African American authors confront this reality continually, weighing the value of speaking in the so-called "Standard" American English dialect against speaking in the languages of what Yancy calls their "nurture," those languages "which helped to capture the mood and texture of what it was like for [each] to live" (Yancy 273). Toni Cade Bambara, a Harlem-born author of the mid-twentieth century, chose to embrace the language of her culture and community, and in her hands that language became a powerful tool for describing a complex and distinct reality. An exploration of her use of dialect representation in the short story "The Lesson" enables a focused analysis of the usage of alternative dialects in art, for through dialect, Bambara discloses and explores empowerment, disapproval, and celebration, and successfully challenges how those
"What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain't in on it? Where we are is who we are, Miss Moore always pointin out. But it don't necessarily have to be that way, she always adds then waits for somebody to say that poor people have to wake up and demand their share of the pie and don't none of us know what kind of pie she talking about in the first damn place."
--Toni Cade Bambara, "The Lesson"
African American philosopher George Yancy, exuberantly sensitive to the power of language in texts, asserts that in representing "the complexity of Black experiences," not just "any form of discursivity will do": the narrative content cannot be divorced from the narrative form; the narrative voice must speak in harmony with the reality it describes (275). "What other linguistic medium," asks Yancy, "could I use to articulate the rhythm, the fluidity, the angst.... and the beauty involved in traversing" the "ghetto streets" of youth than the dialect of African American English (273)? Within literature, African American authors confront this reality continually, weighing the value of speaking in the so-called "Standard" American English dialect against speaking in the languages of what Yancy calls their "nurture," those languages "which helped to capture the mood and texture of what it was like for [each] to live" (Yancy 273). Toni Cade Bambara, a Harlem-born author of the mid-twentieth century, chose to embrace the language of her culture and community, and in her hands that language became a powerful tool for describing a complex and distinct reality. An exploration of her use of dialect representation in the short story "The Lesson" enables a focused analysis of the usage of alternative dialects in art, for through dialect, Bambara discloses and explores empowerment, disapproval, and celebration, and successfully challenges how those