Student Question
How does Jean Rhys portray polyglossia and orality in Wide Sargasso Sea?
Quick answer:
Jean Rhys portrays polyglossia in Wide Sargasso Sea by illustrating the coexistence of multiple languages, such as English and Creole, reflecting the racial and social tensions of post-colonial Jamaica. This is evident when Jamaican characters use Creole to express judgments, highlighting class and racial divides. Rhys also captures orality by depicting how stories and knowledge are shared orally, as seen in Antoinette's dialogues with Rochester and the rumors about her family's past, showcasing Jamaica's oral-literate cultural blend.
The word polyglossia is a Greek word referring to the use and understanding of many languages. The Greek prefix poly- means "many," while the root word glossa means "tongue"; therefore, the literal translation is many tongues. However, in social linguistics it has come to refer to cultures in which more than two language codes are used for different reasons ("Polyglossia"). Such a cultural attribute can especially be seen in areas that had been colonized by outsiders. Those who did the colonizing, like the English or the French, would speak one language, while the tribes of people they had colonized would continue to have their own languages, and while all groups might be able to understand each other, all groups might refuse to speak in a language other than their own for social reasons, especially reasons pertaining to class. We can see polyglossia in action all throughout Jean Rhys
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Jean Rhys's Wide
Sargasso Sea, a novel that specifically refers to the English
colonization of Jamiaca and starts just five years after slavery had
officially been ended. The English of course enslaved the Jamaicans, so the
English had one language, while the enslaved, though newly
freed, Jamaicans had their own, as well as a
combination of their own language and English, which we call
Creole. We can see Rhys's language capturing
polyglossia even in the very first chapter when the
Jamaican ladies are described as using Creole to explain why
they judge Antoinette's mother harshly, which is "because she pretty like
pretty self," meaning "because she is as pretty as prettiness itself" (Wide
Sargassa Sea, Trans. de Elizabeth Power). In other words, they judge her
mother harshly and keep their distance because her mother is beautiful. Rhys's
realistic use of polyglossia underscores the theme of racial tension
and prejudice that's seen throughout the book.
When we speak of orality, we are referring to the ways in
which ideas and knowledge are passed down through oral
communication in oral cultures as opposed to through
literature ("Orality").
Jamaica certainly has been and is both a very oral and
literate culture. Rhys captures the orality of the culture
through many stories told through dialogue. For example,
during their honeymoon, Antoinette becomes extremely open with Rochester, even
telling him in Part 2, Section 4, all about the
history of Granbois, the manor house they stay in on one of the
Windward Islands, and exactly why she sees Granbois as a friend. In the next
chapter, Rochester reads a letter from an illegitimate son of Antoinette's
father detailing all of the orally communicated rumors about
Antoinette's family's tendency towards madness. Both are strong examples of how
ideas and knowledge can be passed down orally in an oral culture, while the
second example is a clear example of Jamiaca's dichotomous oral and
literate culture. The use of stories to portray the orality of the
culture helps show the culture, both how it is naturally and how it is due the
influence of colonialism.
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