Tamil Words in
English Poems by Malaysian Indian Writers: Malachi Edwin Vethamani’s Complicated Lives
Malaysian Indian writers are actively involved in producing
creative writings – poem, short story and novel – in Bahasa Malaysia (Malay),
Tamil and English. Despite the language differences and the general rules
pertaining the languages, many Indian writers seem to maintain Indian culture
in their writings. One unique example would be the use of Tamil words and
phrases verbatim in Bahasa Malaysia and English writings. This paper explores
the use of Tamil words and phrases in Malachi Edwin Vethamani’s debut
collection of poems, Complicated Lives
(2016). This lecturer of Modern English Literature at the School of English,
University of Nottingham (Malaysia Campus) consciously uses Tamil words and
phrases, even though an English word or phrase would have conveyed the same
meaning. This paper aims to demonstrate the fact that Malaysian Indian poets
who have mastered English (or Bahasa Malaysia) would still prefer to use
certain Tamil words and phrases which carry some form of emotional and cultural
value.
© Uthaya Sankar SB 2017. This is the abstract of a paper presented
at the International Conference on
Language, Linguistics & Social Sciences in Universiti Pendidikan Sultan
Idris (UPSI), Tanjung Malam, Perak on 14 May 2017. Malachi Edwin Vethamani’s
latest publications include In-Sights:
Malaysian Poems (2003), Complicated
Lives (2016), A Bibliography of
Malaysian Literature in English (2016), Malchin
Testament: Malaysian Poems (2017) and Life
Happens (2017). More articles in English – CLICK HERE.