LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 17:10 October 2017
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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A Study of Ethnocentric Elements in David Treuer’s
The Translation of Dr. Apelles

S. Sindhu and Dr. V. David Arputha Raj


Abstract

A society consists of a group of people who live in a territory, interact and identify themselves with one another. The people of the same society and territory share certain common aspects, such as religion, language, ethics and behaviour, etc. Culture is a defining element of society (people). The problem arises when different cultures of diverse nature live together in a society. Practicing some common aspects of one culture will inevitably offend or contradict the values of other cultures in the society. This may lead to misunderstandings, biases and judgments between different cultures in the society. The attitude of making judgments based on the criteria of one cultural group by applying those criteria in judging the behaviours and beliefs of people who may be from different cultural backgrounds is called ethnocentrism. This paper attempts to analyze in detail the ethnocentric attitudes, traits, causes and effects with reference to the Native American novel The Translation of Dr. Apelles by David Treuer, where the protagonist Dr. Apelles shows ethnocentric attitudes and suffers because of it. The paper also tries to find a solution through the character of the novel.

Key words: David Treuer, The Translation of Dr. Apelles, ethnocentrism, indigenous writing, culture, language

People perceive the world based on their cultural patterns that already exist in their minds and they tend to think and evaluate the world in the same way that they perceive. What people in one culture find to be natural and normal is found absurd by people in another culture and even disgusting. Moreover, these ideas of what is right and wrong or good and bad, change over time and over cultures. This tendency to draw on one’s own personal experiences to understand other’s motivations is known as ‘ethnocentrism’. Ethnocentrism refers to the wide-ranging belief in the cultural superiority of one’s own ethnic group or an unusually high regard for one’s own ethnic, religious, cultural group. This method of using one’s own culture superior to all other cultures is called ethnocentrism.

Ethnocentrism is of two types: Low ethnocentrism that serves as the basis for nationalistic pride and patriotism and High ethnocentrism, an abnormal feeling, where an individual or country becomes aggressive towards other cultures or countries. Though it is a common behaviour among people, it leads to some consequences.

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

S. Sindhu, M.A., M.Phil., SET
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Dr. NGP Arts and Science College
Coimbatore – 641 046
Tamil Nadu
India
sshopplers18@gmail.com

Dr. V. David Arputha Raj, M.A., M.Phil., NET, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English
Department of English and Foreign Languages
Bharathiar University
Coimbatore – 641 046
Tamil Nadu
India
dr.v.davidarputharaj@gmail.com

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