Language, Displacement, and Cultural Negotiation in Sanaz Toossi’s English: A Study through Translingualism and Identity Theory

Abstract

In order to examine the complex interrelationship between language, displacement, and culture negotiation in Sanaz Toossi's work, English in her works will be examined via the theories of translingualism and identity theory. This study attempts to explore the complex relationships between characters' use of English as a dramaturgical device in negotiating their identities in the face of cultural dislocation and displacement. This paper investigates how characters utilize their English and Farsi in expressing their sense of belonging, aspiration, or feeling alienated from others. English emerges as ambivalent because it creates linguistic anxiety, silencing, and split identity. The classroom serves as a symbol of power and discipline. Translingual theory helps understand that multilingual experiences are not only fluid and creative, but also risky and unequal at times. Using identity theory, the paper argues that the process of self-definition within the multilingual context is interactive and performative in nature. At the same time, the notion of identity theory provides the key to comprehending why the play is considered a dramatic narrative. Unlike ethnicity or nationality, identity is not something given, static, or singular; it is constructed through social and linguistic interaction, according to Bucholtz and Hall (2005). Besides, Butler's concept of performativity states that identity needs to be repeatedly performed rather than just owned (Butler, 1988). Therefore, the people in Toossi's play assume alternative identities depending on whether they are talking English or Farsi, following rules of behavior or ignoring them, and staying in their countries or going elsewhere.