LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 24:6 June 2024
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Integrating the Local and the Global:
Exploring the Operational Planes of Dialectal Variants in Malayalam Cinema

Ashams Joe S S., PhD Scholar

1. Introduction

Cinema has transcended from being merely fixed in the realm of entertainment to a much more far rooted significance in a Malayali’s routine lifestyle. Other than an increased importance attached to the responsibility that cinema bears in manifesting physical realities into onscreen representations, its presence in domains like classrooms in the form of a pedagogical aid, thus explains how cinema has been elemental in moulding the social consciousness. According to the idea of visual literacy postulated by Martin Scorsese, the visual language allows the recording of ideas, and this is often the same reason why foreign language films through their visual language are able to communicate to its viewers the crux of the same even in the absence of subtitles. What language in turn does is pave the way for a deeper layer of intended understanding to be etched in the minds of the viewers. Any cinematic representation becomes complete with the collaboration of the visual and the verbal language as it is more often than not complementing each other in a way that where one fails the other operates.

Language plays a key role in those times when there is a need for a medium in establishing several unavoidable aspects in a movie; ‘setting’ for instance, even within a scenario which depicts a neutral frame, the language spoken by the characters in the same can often place the entire portrayed scene within a confined or specific pre decided geographic boundary. Other than placing the frames in geographic specificity, development of characters is also made at ease through language by explicating the interplay of nuanced social constructs like caste, creed, class or gender and how the characters operate or function in and around these determiners. More often than not the language spoken by a character makes it easy for the viewer to equate the fictional portrayal to the real-world manifestation, with ease.

The concept of language attitudes, encompassing the beliefs, emotions, and judgments individuals hold towards specific languages, dialects, or registers, plays a crucial role in film studies. Audiences don't passively consume films; they actively interpret and respond to aspects like language choices made by filmmakers. By analysing how films portray language use, we gain insights into the power dynamics within a society, the construction of social identities, and the emotional connections audiences form with characters and narratives. Malayalam cinema, with its rich collection of dialects and registers, offers a fertile ground for exploring the interplay between language attitudes and film reception.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Ashams Joe S S., PhD Scholar
English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Telangana 500007
ashamsjoe007@gmail.com
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