Sujata Bhatt A Different History - ANALYSIS



Sujata Bhatt A Different History - Review ANALYSIS

STANZA 1 Indian culture/religion – life in India is –or should be – free but there is constant

pressure ________________in other ways of life (example of this are __________)

Line 1-3: _______________: the ancient Greek god of nature (part man, part goat); allying Greek

culture with India’s perhaps suggesting that western society has formed more developed

religions; India = still basic ________________

Line 4-5: highlights the difference between other cultures and India; here Gods

are_______________________________, all around

Line 7-18 persuasive writing which creates Irony – Hindus made to look after books and revere them but

not for knowledge, but because they are made out of gods (trees) = satirical/mocking tone

➢ ___________:“It is a sin” = powerful connotations, a crime for offending the gods

➢ ___________: “you must”, __________: ‘without” , ___________: “Sarasvati” (= the Hindu goddess of art) ( emphasises that there are many pedantic Hindu rules that must be obeyed which are criticised by the author in a ______________tone

➢ Despite being Indian the author is being very _____________ of Indian culture/religion/belief

STANZA 2 : idea of foreign invaders, language and generation

Line 19-20: _____________ – more philosophical, makes us think about _______________in general,

different from the previous mocking tone, which language is ‘original’?

Line 21-22: rhetorical question – double meaning = English not to kill people but to _____________ India’s

culture/traditions; question tries to understand the aims of the ‘oppressor’

Line 23-27: _________________________/thread of diction/semantic field: ‘torture’, ‘soul has been

cropped’, ‘scythe swooping out’ all relate to ________________ (British culture on Indian

ground ) = developing/changing/forcing India’s culture to change or assimilate and English

language is seen as being representative of all that

( Growing imagery of violent invasion

( visualization of the language as a literal tongue but symbolising a powerful ______________

Line 28-29: Bhatt is one of these ‘unborn grandchildren”, no question mark so it is more of a

_______________ (fact or certainty)

‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

STRUCTURE

■ 2 stanzas are representative of Bhatt’s ______________________ (British and Indian)

■ She is critical of both Indian _______________________ and British ____________/colonialism

‘’’’’‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

PHILOSOPHICAL POINTS (subjects of the poem) forgetting past, human nature, generation, dual identity

- We know from her Bio that Bhatt fears that her natural identity, as manifested by her Indian tongue, may rot and die ( If she fears this why is she appearing to be critical of India?

The contradictory idea is that while Hinduism and being Indian are the ‘deepest layer’ of her identity, she is not the fnod of them. She is critical of it. She also defends colonial English invaders. Both these beliefs are counter intuitive; you would expect her to defend her ‘deepest layer of identity’ Indian, and slate English, but she does the opposite.

This makes her identity complex and this is the strength of the poem. Readers are intrigued by this unusual tactic.

( How does it happen that she has ignored her cultural roots for many of her early years?

Choose the appropriate words from the box below to fill in the gaps!

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cultivating religious ideology statement allusion (x2) dual identity books

physical manifestations assimilate to conform language Imperative

extended metaphorical language repetition(x2) religious conformity critical rhetorical question

religious conformity weapon colonialism sarcastic

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