Poets of Bifurcated Tongues, or on the Plurilingualism of Canadian-Hungarian Poets

The author undertakes an analysis of the plurilingualism of four poets of Hungarian origin, living in Canada: Torontonian Robert Zend (1929-1985), and Montrealers George Vitéz , László Kemenes Géfin (1937-2002), and Endre Farkas (b. 1948). Before examining the poems themselves, the author reviews the various concepts of plurilingualism and the aspects of grouping these poems, including the code-switching strategies used in them. She discussed the base language and the nature of code-switching with a special emphasis on the relationship of grammatical units, intra- and extrasentential switches within contexts where plurilingualism occurs. The author points out that the first three poets became bilinguals as adults: they form part of Hungarian literature as well as of Canadian writing. The last one, (Endre Farkas) has a childhood bilingualism and is considered an English Canadian Poet. Since they have a twofold minority status (Hungarian origins, plus writing in English in Montreal), the author notes that analysis of these poets requires a special approach. Her main hypothesis is that, when using more than one language within the same work, the poet is able to reach special effects which would be otherwise impossible. The author concludes that these poems, plurilingual in nature, also show that, for these poets, language is of multiple use: not only is language a tool of communication, but also the theme of some of their poems: they are often self-reflexive, making formal and semantic experimentation possible.

TTR: traduction, terminologie, rédaction

Vol 6

no. 2

103-130

2e semestre 1993

en