‘Broken Images’ takes up a debate that has grown steadily since 1947—the politics of language in Indian literary culture, specifically in relation to modern Indian languages and English. Discuss.
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Answer. With the separation of Britishers and India in 1947, Indians generally believed that the importance of English as a language would diminish. On the contrary, the importance of the English language has increased, and it has almost become the “universal language” of ordinary citizens. Dr Girish Karnad’s “Broken Picture” sparked another storm of discussions on “Language Politics in Indian Literature and Culture”. Through the protagonist Manjula, Karnad came to portray the reality of the Indian mentality. According to the playwright’s observation, it is believed that the British in India had the freedom to climb to the highest class of society. English is setting off a revolution in society. English is such a language that it is so strong and aggressive that it can even penetrate Indian family life and arouse sisters’ jealousy, almost like those who are different from those who create a class struggle. He played the role of the patriarch of all literary languages in India. Girish Karnad’s “Broken Images” vividly brings common ideas about English and other Indian languages into the realm of Indian literature and culture.
2. The play deals with a Kannada woman writer who unexpectedly produces an international bestseller in English.
(i) Can a writer be a truly bilingual practitioner?
(ii) Does writing in an ‘other tongue’ amount to betrayal of the mother tongue?
Answer. (i) Writing no longer depends upon the language but is shaped by the creator’s feelings. Karnad made this clear in the celebrity monologue at the beginning of the play. “I wrote this novel in English because it caused a sensation in English,” Manjula said. Karnad expresses his criticism of Indian bilingual writers through the protagonist, and language is only a means to express the writer’s emotions. Therefore, the writer can, of course, be a bilingual practitioner.
(ii) Writing in “another language” is not a betrayal of the mother tongue. Karnad made this clear in the opening monologue of the play. Writers can pay equal attention to writing in both languages. It relies upon his audience’s goal. Thus, it isn’t a criminal offence to be a bilingual practitioner.