Themes
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Love & Relationships, topic 14.1.2
Cultural Identity in Singh Song!
One of the key aspects of Dalhit Nagra's poem Singh Song! is the forging of a new cultural identity.
Idiolect and dialect
- The poet uses idiolect (speech habits of a particular person) to give the narrator a strong personal presence in the poem.
- The use of Anglo-Indian dialect (speech particular to a culture or place) also shows how the narrator and his bride are balancing between two different cultures.
- E.g. ‘my bride / she effing at my mum / in all di colours of Punjabi’.
Culture clash
- We see the clash of Indian and British culture throughout the poem and how this affects the young couple's relationship.
- The description of the ‘tartan sari’ is a physical representation of the cultural merging we see in the language of the poem.
Repetition in Singh Song!
The narrator repeats various lines throughout the poem Singh Song! for various different effects. The repetitions help to give the poem its songlike rhythm.
'My bride'
- The poet repeats the phrase ‘my bride’ as he describes all the things that he loves about her - from her rebellion to the clash of cultures that she seems to embody.
- The repetition also indicates his pride in having secured her as his wife and his joy in the new relationship.
‘From di stool each night’
- The repetition of the phrase ‘from di stool each night’ represents their nightly ritual in the corner shop.
- These repetitive moments represent the mundane (dull) reality of their lives, but also highlights that it is these daily moments that are the most important.
Test yourself on Themes
What are the features of Singh Song! showing cultural identity?
What dialect is used in Singh Song!?
What do the repeated phrases help to create in Singh Song!?
What effects does the repetition of 'from di stool each night' have in the poem Singh Song!?