Abrogation and Appropriation in Nissim Ezekiel’s ‘The Patriot’

Rangan Zaman, 1st Sem

Before we get started on pointing out the instances of abrogation and appropriation in
Nissim Ezekiel's ‘The Patriot', let us have a discussion on what abrogation and appropriation are,
how and most importantly why they emerged.

Abrogation and appropriation both are Postcolonial literary phenomena. In general terms
‘abrogation’ means ‘the repeal or abolition of a law, right, or agreement’. But in the light of
Postcolonial literature, ‘abrogation’ means the colonised rejecting the coloniser's language as the
medium of writing, especially literature. It emerged from the sense of identity and self and was a
form of protest by the colonised against the coloniser. The writers from the colonised countries
wanted to expand their literature and culture in their own language. For instance, many writers
from Africa and Indian subcontinent switched to their own regional languages leaving English,
which was the language of their British colonisers. A sign of Ngugi's abrogation of European
expectations and traditions was his refusal in 1977 to write in English, using instead Gikuyu, his
own Kenyan language. This was a conscious rejection of the language of the coloniser and a
decision to write in the language of ordinary Kenyans, rather than the British-educated elite. But
soon enough they realised, abrogation was more like an emotional impulse than a practical
thoughtful step. The immediate impact of abrogation was cutting down their reach to audience.
But they were to tell of the coloniser's torture, hypocrisy, insults, plunders, exploitation to the
rest of the world. They needed a language as medium which could reach as many people as
possible, and a language like English had its own advantage for this purpose. Yet, they did not
want their own taste and culture to be lost. Hence, emerged appropriation: the coloniser's
language merged with the colonised people's content. Simply put, ‘appropriation’ is transfering
the spirit of the colonised people's language to that of the coloniser's and making the coloniser's
language communicate the spirit of the colonised people.

There has been argument regarding appropriation since it's inception. One may consider
it as a token of open-mindedness as it shows a greater ability to adapt to changing times and
conditions. But individual opinions vary. It is perhaps Okonkwo's inability to appropriate and
adapt with the arrival of the whiteman that leads to his downfall in Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
On the other hand, Karanja, who appropriates so much of the English view of Kenya that he
becomes a homeguard serving the British administration in Ngugi's A Grain of Wheat, is clearly
portrayed as a traitor.

Writers like Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and Chinua Achebe are the early exponents to
introduce appropriation in their writings. Raja Rao in his ‘Foreword’ to Kanthapura says:

One has to convey in a language that is not one’s own the spirit that is one’s own… We
cannot write like the English. We should not. We cannot write only as Indians. We have
grown to look at the larger world as part of us.

Now we shall analyse of the poem based on its use of abrogation and appropriation.
Abrogation in Nissim Ezekiel's ‘The Patriot’ is suggested through Ezekiel's deliberate deviation
from the norms of standard English. And as it is evident, the poem is replete with several
instances of appropriation, which are enlisted below:

1) The poet abundantly uses progressive tense in cases where we do not generally find it
in standard English. For instance, The poem displays the use of ‘present progressive tense’ in
place of present indefinite tense. For examples, ‘thinking’, ‘making’, ‘believing’, ‘enjoying’,
‘behaving’, ‘harassing’, ‘following’ should be used in present indefinite tense in place of present
progressive tense. This is a common feature of most Indian languages like Hindi, Urdu, Bangla
et cetera. In Standard English verbs like ‘see’ and ‘hear’ do not appear in progressive tense. But
this restriction does not apply to Indian languages like Hindi-Urdu.

2) In the structure of progressives, auxiliary verbs have been used but sometimes they
are omitted too from sentences like ‘Really, most harassing me’, ‘Pakistan behaving like this’,
‘China behaving like that’.

3) Inappropriate uses of articles can be found in places where they are generally not used.
These can be noted in sentences like ‘Lend me the ears’, ‘Not that I am ever tasting the wine’,
‘I am the total teetotaller, completely total’, ‘Wine is for the drunkards only’.

4) An instance of reduplication can be found in ‘Why world is fighting fighting’

(‘fighting fighting’) which the poet uses to emphasize the continuity and persistence of the action.
It's standard English form should have been ‘keep fighting’. Again reduplication is very common
in languages like Hindi and Bangla to create this kind of effect.

5) The use of colloquial expressions like ‘Ram Rajya’, ‘Hindiwallahs’, and ‘Indirabehn’
are to be noted. These are particular of Indian context.

6) The poet deliberately uses phrases like ‘100% correct’, ‘200% correct’, ‘completely
total’, which are considered incorrect in standard British English, yet are very much common in
use among Indians, to create a sense of Indianness.

7) Ezekiel deviates from standard English when it comes to forming tag-question too.
The pattern is different. Here, the word ‘no’ functions as a tag question, for example ‘All
men are brothers, no?’

All these features of the poem mentioned above make ‘The Patriot’ a fine example of
appropriation. But there are certain practical problems while it comes to using appropriation. A
reader, who does not belong from the same culture that of the author, may struggle to understand
the meaning of words and context while reading the text without proper footnotes offering
explanation and glossary. And in a diverse country like India which has no uniform language and
culture, owing to being home to multiple cultures and languages, this problem becomes quite
unavoidable. For instance, when a North Indian reader having no knowledge of Tamil Dalit
Christian community, reads Oxford edition of Bama's Karukku in translation he may fail several
times to understand the meanings without having a look at the glossary. It keeps the reader from
having a smooth and comfortable experience of reading.