Free English Language Dissertations - In Particular, The Poet Applies To Turbulent And Abusive Language To Reveal
In particular, the poet applies to turbulent and abusive language to reveal his concern of social inequality: This graveyard stands above a worked-out pit. / Subsidence makes the obelisks all list. / One leaving left’s marked FUCK, one right’s marked SHIT / sprayed by some peeverd supporter who was pissed (Harrison, 1991 29-32). In this regard, Harrison’s utilisation of slang expressions shows the poet’s directness and his attempts to intensify his ideas. Thus, the language of the poem V serves as a powerful tool that uncovers social hostility and dramatic reality. Harrison utilises the expressions from a different culture, the expletive words from his youth, like shit, and fuck, to contrast them with the language used in his own family, revealing the limitations of his intellect because of poor language of his social background and simultaneously demonstrating his withdrawal from society as a result of his education (Eagleton, 1996, pp.20-21). The vulgar indistinct language of skinheads in the poem provides Tony Harrison with an opportunity to uncover his own vision on various political events; this method of expression alienates the poet from some groups of society, but he seems to get his own way. The producers of the film V found it really difficult to adjust this slang and dialect language to the overall plot, but it was this particular language that conveyed the poet’s feelings, thoughts and emotions, thus it was necessary to preserve it without changes. According to Melvyn Bragg (1997), The problem was the language. PISS, CUNT, SHIT and FUCK featured heavily, and the case had to be made (p.49).
Overall, Harrison’s films V and Prometheus (1998) reflect a masterful combination of different language patterns and methods, including vulgar idioms, expletives, colloquial speech and reiterations that allow Harrison to move away from a limited written form. In this regard, the films’ language refers to emotions and keeps aloof from specific social events. Although Tony Harrison describes the working-class in both the poem and the film V, he nevertheless alienates from it, as he starts to speak a different language. Through this language Harrison implicitly criticises the passivity of the working-class that adheres to its ideals and fails to oppose the existing social system. V reflects the ‘high culture’ as an educational ideal into a confrontation with the ‘way of life’ culture of those whom it seems to exclude (Butler, 1997, p.93). The poem demonstrates that the conflict between two cultures results in tensions and the destruction of identity. But despite the fact that his language reveals much pessimism, it depicts private celebration inside public hell (Thompson, 1997, p.115).
