The Danger of a Single Story and Speaking In Tongues: A Discussion on Dominant Culture and Language

This article discusses the themes of dominant culture and language in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's The Danger of a Single Story and Zadie Smith's Speaking In Tongues. It explores how language and voice affect identity and social status, and the power of narrative and language.

Running Head: ENGLISH 1
Final Exam Talking Points
Author's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction

EDUCATION 2
The Danger of a Single Story” By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie“and “Speaking In Tongues” by
Zadie Smith
Dominant Culture/Dominant Discourse
Both authors address the subjects of dominant culture and discourse in their articles. Adichie
mentions how surprised her American roommate was on her good grasp over English language,
even if she was from Nigeria. Her roommate had a singular view of the African countries and
carried a default view on Africans (Adichie, 2009). As for Zadie Smith, she writes as to how the
way you speak or the way your speaking changes is read a sign of your identity or where you
came from. How she changed her voice from ‘working class Willesden‘to‘ high-class Cambridge
‘shows racism within the dominant culture (Smith, 2009).
Status Quo
The concept of Status Quo is useful in understanding the texts as English is a universal
language that is popularly spoken and understood all across the world. It is not just your
command over the language but also how you speak the language decides your social status and
position. Changing your language and voice can be seen as a mean of climbing the social ladder.
dentity
Adichie and Smith touch upon the ideas of identity in their articles several times. For
example, Adichie gets conscious about where she comes from when she moves from Nigeria to
the U.S. She is made more acute about her African identity and the African authenticity in her
writing (Adichie, 2009). For Smith, her identity relies on the language she speaks. The way you

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speak and how your way of speaking changes can be seen as a betrayal to your original identity.
Stories and narrative
Both authors use stories and narratives play in their discussions to put across their
viewpoints. Smith narrates her own experience and transitions as well as mentions Bernard
Shaw’s Pygmalion as well as Obama’s candidacy in her essay (Smith, 2009). Adichie uses her
personal experiences as a Nigerian in America and different smaller stories to convey the core
message itself. The multiple stories and narratives fit together beautifully to make a compelling
message.
Language
Both Adichie and Smith assert the significance of language and the power it has over
others. Adichie mentions the official status of the English language in her own country, and this
is what makes her so fluent in the language (Adichie, 2009). Smith asserts how one forgets his
own language if brought to a foreign country, especially at a younger age. He picks up the new
language of the adopted country and forgets his own. Thus, the status of one language, the
variations within a language leave a powerful impact on one; social status and identity.
Voice
The authors employ the idea of “voice” in meaningful ways in their essays. Smith
motions how her voice has taken on a double identity as she has her old voice and a new voice.
She regrets the change in her voice and the need of the white sounding voice that sounded more
intellectual than her old voice. She fears to lose her original identity she changes her voice as
using different voices at different occasions sounds fake to her. Adichi mentions how those

EDUCATION 4
single stories about African written from the Western perspective have created a stereotype
(Adichie, 2009). She longs for a voice to express the complete story about Africa and Africans
and it is only with a heterogeneous compilation of voices that a story becomes complete.
Self-representation
According to Adichie and Smith, we are measured in the society from where we come,
what language we speak and how we speak. If we have to present ourselves to the world in a
positive manner, we need to follow the universal perspectives or be strong enough to tide over
those stereotypes and misunderstandings.
Accent v. Dialect
Accent is how a person speaks and pronounces words while dialect combines both the
grammatical features and accent of his language. Even if the grammatical features are same, the
accent can vary. Smith mentions how one can lose his accent or use different accents for the
same language. One could develop an accent that is neither country nor posh or neither American
nor English.
Simple v. Complex
Simplicity and complexity can be seen in the articles by Adichie and Smith. Smith shows
how easy and simple it is to lose your original language or accent as one moves from one place
to another. The complexity develops when you change your way of speaking, and thus you
betray your true identity. For Adichie, complexity develops when she finds herself surrounded
by a feeling of pity and all because of the simple fact that she is from Africa.
Power of narrative and language.

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Adichie and Smith stress upon the power of language over how one perceives and
interacts. Adichie is troubled by the single story of Africa that is being told and retold in the
West and has only created a stereotypical image. Smith uses the voice in her narrative and
language as a cultural metaphor.
References
Smith. (2009). Speaking in Tongues, nybooks Retrieved from
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2009/02/26/speaking-in-tongues-2/
Adichie, C.N. (20098). The Danger of a Single Story, ted.com Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story