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By Tanishka D
By Tanishka D
The odyssey is all the rage right now. I wish I could go see it in one of the advertised premium formats but theaters near me do not show it. In the meantime, the best I can do is revisit one of the Coen brother's finest films which happens to be a modern adaptation of the odyssey. I am of course, talking about the film "O brother, where art thou".
When I first watched the movie, There were many subtleties about the way language was used that caught my eye. ( it would be more appropriate to say ear here) One feature which stood out to me was how the characters would change the way they speak depending on who they are speaking. This is a bit like code switching which I wrote about in my post about spike lee's "BlacKkKlansman". Today's article is about how prestige affects the way characters interact with each other in the american south as well as how the french language was percived in the 1930s.
Covert and Overt prestige in linguistics
Covert and Overt prestige in linguistics
Covert and Overt prestige are sociolinguistic concepts that signify the regard associated woith a variety or dialect of a language. Both concepts were devised by linguist William Labov. Here is a bit of information about the two before we dive into the analysis:
Covert prestige: Covert prestige is the prestige associated with the usage of non standard dialects to communicate with people in the same language in group like a friend circle or a village. This type of prestige associated with traits such as honesty, community and togetherness which is why it is mostly used in informal settings.
Overt prestige: Overt prestige is the prestige and social status that is associated with using standard varieties of the language. This type of prestige is often noticeable in formal types of speech such as the type taught in schools or used in workplaces and is an indicator of higher social standing.
As seen on the screen
As seen on the screen
An instance in the film where covert prestige is seen is in the speech of the 3 main characters who call themselves the soggy bottom boys. One line that stood out to me while watching was when the character of Delmar O'Donnell ( played by Tim Blake Nelson) tells Pete (played by John Turturro) that he thought pete got turned into a toad. To be more precise, he says, "we thought you was a toad"
Notice the usage of the word "was" instead of "were". This is quite a common practice in the southern states of America where the film takes place. This is called was- levelling in which a single verb tense is used evenly for all subjects in the past tense.
I find this an excellent example of covert prestige given the context of the scene when this line of dialogue is said. In the scene, Ulysses ( played by george clooney) is in a theatre with Delmar when prisoners in a chain gang are brought to the same place to enjoy a motion picture. They spot their buddy Pete, who has been recaptured by the warden and reinstated to be part of the chain gang the trio escaped together. This is because pete got lured by beautiful simging women (sirens) who were informants in disguise. using the covert prestige variety of speech signified to pete that his homies were ready to hear him out and were people he could trust in a place where he is surrounded by people who could easily rat him out.
check the scene out yourself:
On the other hand, Overt prestige is utilized by the character of Pappy'o Daniel (played by Charles Durning). In the Film he is the governor of Mississippi. He speaks in a polished accent to appeal to wide range of voters. His use of standard varieties of english coupled with his accent frame him as a cunning person in contrast to the main trio.
Français en les etats unis
Français en les etats unis
There are quite a few french words used in the film. This is because a dialect of french called Missouri french was spoken in the are However, by the time period of the film, the usage of this french dialect was mostly obsolete as more people were speaking english. People in the time period aspired to speak french becaue it was a remenat of a rich past and high status, something most people aspired for. There is a scene in the film where the character of George Nelson ( played by Michael Badalucco) says the words "or-voir" instead of the french goodbye "au revoir". This usage of language in the scene can convey to the audience that Nelson is aspirimg to appear as an individual of higher social standing despite being a bank robber.
Well, that is all I had to say about the film, at least for now. The rich dialoge and the wonderful acting make it so that if we were to pick apart the linguistic concepts present in the film, we would be here all year. I find it very interesting how the coen brothers were able to make a really accurate adaptation of the odyssey despite never having read the Homeric epic.
if you found this post about epics epic, do suggest a piece of media i can rewiew for a future article in the suggestion box. Farewell :).
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