Language and Identity in John Millington Synge’s Riders to the Sea (1904) and Zora Neale Hurston’s John Redding Goes to Sea (1921)

Abstract

Our present research paper proposes a comparative study between John Millington Synge’s play Riders to the Sea (1904) and Zora Neale Hurston’s short story John Redding Goes to Sea (1921) in order to show how both writers used their native language in their literary works as a means to resist their oppressors and to impose their identity. Our paper explores the theme of language and identity in the two works. To treat this issue, we have relied on Ashcroft’sGriffith’s and Tiffin’s concepts of Abrogation, Subversion and Appropriation that are developed in their book The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literature (2002). Our discussion is divided into three chapters; the first one provides a historical context of both works in order to understand the affinities between the two works. In the second chapter, we have tried to study Abrogation and Subversion in both works to detect the way Synge and Hurston celebrate and defend their language and identity. Finally, the third chapter deals with the Strategies of Appropriation in the two works. After having examined the two literary works in the light of Ashcroft’s concepts, we have concluded that Synge and Hurston used their native language to dismantle and subvert the culture of their oppressors.