Critical Essay on "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?" and "The World Weavers/The World Makers"

Introduction

The two books, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?" by James Baldwin and "The World Weavers/The World Makers" by Neil Postman explore the concept of language in society. Baldwin defines language as a primarily political act through which a distinct group of people show identity. Postman explored the nature of language stating that contemporary education teaches definitions and regards them as true without questions of where the definitions came from or who invented the definitions. The two books show similarities and differences in their address of the subject of human language leading to the development of critical insights on human knowledge.

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According to Baldwin, Language allows a distinct group of people to define and express their identity from their point of view. Language thus protects a group of people from being misrepresented by another that does not share in their language (Baldwin 5). Therefore, language allows one to control his or her circumstances and articulate all reality that unfolds in life. For example, people living in Paris, Senegal and Marseilles all speak the French language. However, the French spoken is different in the three regions since each has different circumstances to control. The differences in the base language are due to the distinct realities of life that each has to articulate. Furthermore, language is dictated by the beliefs and customs of a region. For instance, Baldwin explains that the south of France speaks a musically intoned form of French that cannot be adequately defined as a dialect. However, the musical style of French affects the choice of words and associated accent and is passed on as a form of identity from one generation to another.

Postman explained that the use of language is based on the use of metaphorical words introduced to people from a young age while they start to learn verbal communication. People are taught to accept metaphors and other word forms as correct without questioning their origin (Postman 19). For example, it is normal in contemporary society to say "have illness" and "do criminality". Criminality is thus perceived as an action that one can rationally choose to be involved in or avoid. Illness is perceived as a disorder that is not inherent in people but rather can be contracted and cured in stages of life. Postman further juxtaposed the choice of words in contemporary society by referring to the book of Erewhon. In the book, society considers "have criminality" and "do illness" as the correct forms of words. The juxtapose reinstates the concept of language as a means of identity that only a specific group understands without question.

Baldwin defines language as a source of power. He states that language is an instrument of politics and gives private identities that separate a group of people from the broader public (Baldwin 6). Some regions of the modern world have experienced violence based on language and in some extreme cases, speaking a specific language could be the difference between life and death. Language thus has the potential to be abused for political power and segregation of the public on ethnic lines. During the slavery era in the United States, slaves were collected from different African countries each with a distinct language. The slaves would not communicate with one another and show unity in appraising, and thus the slavery institution lasted longer than it would have if the slaves had a common language. Furthermore, the slaves later united and commenced to form Black English. Black English was not a foreign tongue but rather alchemy which changed elements of different African languages into an all-new language.

Postman and Baldwin agree on the use of language and the factors that fuel development or advancements of concepts in a language. Postman suggests a new approach to the theory of knowledge that seeks to question the origin of theories and the integrity of the methods used to proof them. His argument is based on the concept that questions come before answers, and thus the form and words chosen in the questions dictate the words that will be used in the answers. Furthermore, Postman argued that a joke is considered a joke when a majority of people can understand and relate to it or when the institutions of authority such as the judiciary consider it legal (Postman 39). Baldwin hails the excellence of Black English as an indicator of the power of the United Black Americans. He stated that the whites would not teach the Blacks their White English since they would understand their worldview and oppose their antics to control them (Baldwin 6). Black English is thus a form of revolt that provides all people of African origin a dialect and source of power to protect their identity.

Conclusion

The two books prove that language is indeed a core aspect of human life. Language is inherently adopted by a person through interactions in the society where they are raised. Postman argued that learners should be skeptic on the origin of questions since it guides the answers to a significant degree. Baldwin claimed that language is born out of necessity to communicate and achieve a sense of belonging. The two are exciting reads that invoke their readers to think about language and appreciate its role in everyday life.

Works Cited

Baldwin, James. "If Black English isn't a language, then tell me, what is?" The Black Scholar 27.1 (1997): 5-6.

Postman, Neil. "The Word Weavers/The World Makers." Roberts, WH & G. Turgeon. About Language: A Reader for Writers. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press 154 (2000).