The Relationship of Language and Literature

Language is dynamic – it is not only a field of expression and a means of communication for humans, it is also used to portray identity. Through language, humans are able to understand and create meanings out of words and even make sense of the significance of actions (such as sign language). Although a person’s use of language (choice of words) depicts their personality, it also reflects culture, heritage, and history.

Oral lore is the tradition where knowledge, culture, art, literature, and beliefs are passed down from generation to generation through the means of communication within a specific group of people. This tradition is what keeps literary forms such as poetry, epics, and plays existent as it is learned, remembered, and expressed through the use of language.

We learn to talk before we learn to read and write, thus, the very act of writing is a secondary notion used to amplify, express, and interpret feelings and ideas through words. Words alone are meaningless if there is no significance and purpose behind their usage – similar to language, may it be reasons driven by emotions such as happiness, curiosity, or anger or reasons based on opinions. In order for words to be comprehensible and coherent, language must be used properly. Each word must support the previous and following words within a sentence or phrase.

Literature is a medium or instrument used to express a version of reality, imagination, emotions, and history through the use of language. Language and literature broadened my understanding of individuality and history in relation to creating and finding meaning in literature. It is our historical background and experiences that allow us to understand a literary piece, specifically in the case of Noli Me Tangere which, although fictional, is based on the reality of the oppression and injustices brought by the Spanish colonization period, therefore reminding readers especially young Filipinos of the Philippine history. The period is understood clearly due to Dr. Jose Rizal’s experiences and understanding.

The distinction of communication and expression created a clear boundary of where language lies between the two. In communication, people convey with the use of language and in expression, people shape language towards their perceptive reality, therefore indicating that we humans translate, convey, and articulate the wonders of reality and of imagination through language, and language is then understood and expressed in amplifiers such as art, play, and literature.

Through reading, we learn to interpret and appreciate a literary text. When we read literary pieces, we are not only studying the language, we are also making sense of the literary text as a whole, therefore, the very notion of reading is not the consumption of words; it is the production of meaning. We do not only understand letters and words for what they represent, we also gather information through the process of using and understanding language and connecting words to other sets of words, this is therefore an experience that connects thinking and feeling.

The discussion, therefore, made me learn more depth of what surrounds literature and how language is connected to it. It also helped me broaden my understanding of the purpose of communication may it be according to form (expression: oral or written), its relevance to humans, and its relationship with language. Language can survive without literature but literature cannot survive without language – either way, we use both to express.

Here, we have two poems. The language used in the literary text expresses the thoughts and emotions of the author, including the purpose behind the literary text. Here are two literary criticisms that study the themes and messages of the poems.

“Bonsai”

All that I love
I fold over once
And once again
And keep in a box
Or a slit in a hollow post
Or in my shoe.

All that I love?
Why, yes, but for the moment-
And for all time, both.
Something that folds and keeps easy,
Son’s note or Dad’s one gaudy tie,
A roto picture of a queen,
A blue Indian shawl, even
A money bill.

It’s utter sublimation,
A feat, this heart’s control
Moment to moment
To scale all love down
To a cupped hand’s size

Till seashells are broken pieces
From God’s own bright teeth,
And life and love are real
Things you can run and
Breathless hand over
To the merest child.

The poem “Bonsai” was written by Edith Tiempo. It is evident that the theme is about love; even the word ‘love’ has been mentioned quite a handful of times throughout the text, however, the mention of the word alone is nothing if the meaning of the entire poem is overshadowed by focusing on the theme without the acknowledgment of its message.

Figurative language is present throughout the poem and perceptively, the symbols used represent the complexity and simplicity of being in love. Its message lies on what it is and what it feels to be in love – the poem tells us that a person in love is more grateful and appreciative of the most mundane and of the simplicities of life, and even the smallest things. Even things that can only be held within a palm are held deep inside the heart.

Its title relates or represents a small size (since Bonsais are small trees), thus, the poem tells us that every moment, thing, or motive no matter how big or small, is turned into a particle that can only be hidden inside the heart and as a treasured memory.

The poem also hints at a form of secrecy – as if the person in the poem is hiding the reality of love and savoring every moment of it.  The first stanza clearly states hiding feelings of love while the last stanza refers to finally showing love and sharing it.

The second stanza refers to the person having second thoughts about being in love with the person or being in love with the moment, and representing the easy part of love which is the appreciation of the exterior (a person’s clothing, appearance, and finances) while the third stanza represents coming into terms with the reality of being in love – that moments no matter how grand or small, become more warm and meaningful when feelings are acknowledged and finally accepted (may it be the person reciprocating another person’s feelings or the person coming into terms with their own personal feelings).

Stanzas 1 to 4 represent growth, therefore, the poem ‘Bonsai’ not only focuses on the theme of love, but its message also represents the growth, reality, and feeling of being in love.

“Lament for the Littlest Fellow”

The littlest fellow was a marmoset.

He held the bars and blinked his old man’s eyes.

You said he knew us, and took my arms and set

My fingers around the bars, with coaxing mimicries

Of squeak and twitter. “Now he thinks you are

Another marmoset in a cage.” A proud denial

Set you to laughing, shutting back a question far

Into my mind, something enormous and final.

The question was unasked but there is an answer.

Sometimes in your sleeping face upon the pillow,

I would catch our own little truant unaware;

He had fled from our pain and the dark room of our

rage,

But I would snatch him back from yesterday and

tomorrow.

You wake, and I bruise my hands on the living cage.

This poem was also written by Edith Tiempo. The theme indicates a gloominess and sadness expressed throughout the entire text. Perceptively, the poem tells a story about a couple and their pet marmoset (a small monkey-like creature), however, the message focuses on a one-sided feeling of being small similar to that of the marmoset (looked down upon) and feeling trapped (as expressed with the use of the word ‘cage’).

The poem makes the reader feel the sorrow of the lover’s feeling of being caged and being helpless. It also creates an image of the lover and the marmoset as similar creatures – small, frail, trapped, and robbed out of freedom. The title alone indicates a sorrowful introduction to the poem. The first stanza represents the lover’s frightening realization of the toxicity of the relationship – indicating the partner’s manipulative behavior (such as being controlling) expressed by the lover’s partner.

The second stanza indicates the reality of the pain brought by love and the toxicity of the relationship – that no matter how much the lover wants to run away, there seems to be no path of escape. It also hints that the lover sees the marmoset as a symbol of hope, courage, and despair – for where the marmoset feels distraught by being trapped, the lover feels the same, and for where the marmoset bruises its hands trying to break free from the cage, the lover also feels the same.