{"id":56171,"date":"2024-10-23T07:03:12","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T11:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=56171"},"modified":"2024-10-23T07:03:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T11:03:34","slug":"language-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=56171","title":{"rendered":"Language matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
\nOctober 23, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>Two weeks ago, I responded to Nigel Seenathsingh\u2019s letter that appeared in the Express. I wrote: \u201cWhen I warned…about the dangers inherent in the Leader of Our Grief\u2019s statements about women, I was not trying to demonise him or Stuart Young. I was only alerting my readers to be on guard about the violence against women [I emphasised women] that exists in our society and the role that language plays in this regard.\u201d
\n
\nTwo weeks later, Minister Stuart Young spoke and washed away all doubts about the misogyny of most of our male parliamentarians. When citizens \u201cmade out Young\u201d on social media for his coarse sexual language, he tried to pass it off as \u201ccross-talk\u201d between colleagues (Express, October 17). It was more than that. It revealed the garbage in his mind that must be discarded if we are to tackle the larger question of violence against women.<\/p>\n

This is why House Speaker Bridget Annisette-George rejected his underwhelming apology: \u201cI am of the view that it [Stuart\u2019s statement] does not satisfy that which is required of him to purge himself of his despicable behaviour in this House.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rule that the Member for Port of Spain North\/St Ann\u2019s West at the appropriate time shall unreservedly withdraw the parliamentary, offensive, and insulting language which he used and apologise to this House and its members for not respecting the dignity and decorum of this House.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking from her own womanist framework (see Alice Walker\u2019s definition of the term) she declaimed:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a woman I am naturally led to condemn statements which seek to indecently portray another woman; statements which trivialise criminal activities which exploit women; or statements which impute improper conduct on behalf of other members..<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Thursday I expressed my condemnation of the use of language which was not reflective of the civility expected of this House. I once again direct members to refrain from misogynistic, homophobic and disparaging remarks in this House.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Speaker\u2019s reprimand, Young offered a more comprehensive apology for words which he said he \u201cuttered sotto voce [that is in a quiet voice], which included colloquial terms\u201d. Whether his words were uttered quietly or loudly it smelled to high heaven. He never apologised to the Leader of the Opposition, the object of his venom.<\/p>\n

Young has not grasped the offensive nature of what he said and what it says about himself and his male colleagues on both sides of the House. Language is never innocent. It reveals more than it conceals. A person is her or his language and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Jacques Lacan (1901\u20131981), one of the most influential psychoanalysts of the twentieth century, developed Sigmund Freud\u2019s theory of the unconscious. He said: \u201cThe unconscious is structured like a language,\u201d which led other psychoanalysts and psychologists to refine that concept to say \u201clanguage is a script of the unconscious\u201d. Language makes a person. Lacan notes: \u201cThe subject [or person] is constituted in language itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Young says, \u201cYeah, she going and zami,\u201d he is not using a colloquial term. He is using phrases and settings that are meant to demean one of our most honourable women: Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Words do not stand in isolation. \u201cTo read the language of the unconscious is to grasp the structure of language and speech itself.\u201d Ferdinand de Saussure, the father of modern linguistics, suggested \u201cthe word is part of a system and is coated not only with a meaning but also, and above all, with a value\u201d. (Gabriella Yanes, Psychoanalysis: The Language of the Unconscious, 2023.)<\/p>\n

With regard to Young\u2019s allusion to his colourful use of colloquial language within the intellectual and cultural tradition of Trinidad and Tobago, he may want to glance at my book, Beyond Boundaries, Chapter 5, \u201cJammettization of the Culture, 1838\u20131851\u201d. Footnote one may be especially important for him.<\/p>\n

Deputy Speaker Esmond Forde, a male member of the House, belongs to Young\u2019s party. The final decision on Young\u2019s fate fell to him. With all the majesty of his office, he ruled: \u201cThe Member has unreservedly apologised for his behaviour and withdrawn his unparliamentary comments…I rule that the matter referred to me…does not warrant any further action by this House.\u201d<\/p>\n

And just like that it done. To the Deputy Speaker, it seems to be much ado about nothing. It happens that these two young members of Parliament, without a scintilla of wisdom or the necessary intellectual capacity to understand what was at stake in this high-powered issue, pronounced that Young \u201chas shown remorse\u201d, and that is good enough.<\/p>\n

These two men really have no place in the House, nor should they hold any leadership position in our country. On this occasion we should give flowers to our lady Speaker for her eloquence and sympathetic understanding of the issue. Her perspicacity and wisdom brightened the bleakness of our day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe October 23, 2024 Two weeks ago, I responded to Nigel Seenathsingh\u2019s letter that appeared in the Express. I wrote: \u201cWhen I warned…about the dangers inherent in the Leader of Our Grief\u2019s statements about women, I was not trying to demonise him or Stuart Young. I was only alerting my readers … Continue reading Language matters<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[291,1,217,30,7],"tags":[171,1202,49],"class_list":["post-56171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gender","category-general-tt","category-parliament","category-pnm","category-politics","tag-selwyn-r-cudjoe","tag-stuart-young","tag-tt-govt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56171"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56173,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56171\/revisions\/56173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}