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| 🇬🇧 | 🇬🇧 |
| Collection Introduction | Selling Manhattan, 1987 Duffy moved from Scotland to England at the age of six Her personal experiences, although maybe not fully autobiographical, reflect on how she writes |
| Subject | Duffy portrays the hardships of an immigrant worker in a foreign country, facing racial abuse, homesickness, difficulty in communication and uncomfortable lodgings |
| Form (3) | Four quintets Written in the imperative; 'Imagine living in a strange, dark city' Written in sentences rather than verses - prose characteristics |
| Theme (3) | Familiar vs unfamiliar; the worker had to leave behind everything familiar, everything which made up their identity, and move to a place of unfamiliarity There is the need to belong amongst a culturally different society Difficulty in assimilating to a new culture, despite being exposed to it for twenty years, including the difficulty to communicate - Multiculturalism - Living in a foreign country, otherness - Racism and cynophobia - Longing for love, belonging and acceptance - Language and linguistic relativity - Loneliness and isolation |
| Motifs (3) | "Inarticulate, because this is not home" "strange, dark city" "You think in a language of your own and talk in theirs" |
| Diction; Language Lexical fields Nouns (2) Epithets Italicisation Economy on words | Colloquial - 'fruit', 'home', 'coins'; the immigrant uses simple language due to the unfamiliarity with the language Living in a foreign country - 'hate name', 'inarticulate', 'foreign accent' Concrete - 'home', 'public transport', 'streets' Abstract - 'years', 'time', 'language', 'accent'; disconnect from the rest of the community (even after 'twenty years') Distressing - 'dismal', 'strange' 'Me not know'; draws attention to the language barrier and breakdown in communication 'the coins in your palm will not translate'; the universal experience of foreign workers who migrate with very little financial security is captured in a single phrase |
| Imagery; Visual (3) Pictorial (2) Auditory (3) Associational | "Then you are writing home"; the foreigner is homesick - their current environment is definitely not home for them, it is simply a 'strange, dark city' "You use the public transport"; highlights the economic background of the immigrant - increases the pathos "Work. Sleep"; dull existence revolving around work "coming to bits"; fragmentation in a life that is splintered and alienated from all that is familiar "why your eyes are watering and what's the word for this"; struggle in coping with the pain of being away from home and the frustration in not understanding the language "you hear your foreign accent echo down the stairs"; 'echo' implies an emptiness - no one is there to respond or comfort the immigrant "The voice in your head recites the letter in a local dialect"; there is a disconnect between the voice in their head and the voice they use in public - their environment and the place they belong are separate "the sound of your mother singing to you"; nostalgic and empathetic "A hate name. Red like blood"; aggression towards the foreigner |
| Cross References | Enoch Powell (British politician) gave a racist speech in which he warned about the dangers immigration posed to Britain, resulting in a 'River of Blood' - Duffy echoes this idea in her associational image 'A hate name. Red like blood'. |
| Rhythm (2) | Varied tempo suggests a struggle in comprehending and speaking a foreign language - Tempo slows down 'Work.Sleep' - repetitive, dull lifestyle of immigrant - Enjambment reflects the rush of emotions; 'Imagine one night/you saw a name for yourself sprayed in red/against a brick wall' |
| Rhyme (3) | Absence of regular rhyme reflects the ordinary, mundane life the immigrant endures Approximate rhyme - 'lights', 'eyes'; disjointed outlook of the persona Full rhyme - 'mean', 'dream'; when they think in their own language, their thoughts are clear, concise |
| Imagery; Visual (2) Pictorial (2) Auditory (3) Associational Synaesthetic | "Then you are writing home"; the foreigner is homesick and certainly doesn't percieve their current living situation as 'home' "You use the public transport"; highlights the economic situation of the immigrant - increases the pathos "coming to bits"; fragmentation highlights the splintered life that arises from unfamiliarity "why your eyes are watering and what's the word for this"; struggle between the pain in missing home and the frustration in not understanding the language "The sound of your foreign accent echoing down the stairs"; 'echo' implies a lack of response - no one is there to support the persona "The voice in your head recites the letter in a local dialect" "the sound of your mother singing to you" "A hate name. Red like blood"; racism that results from a difference in culture (C.R to Enoch Powell) "the coins in your palm will not translate"; refers to both the economic and linguistic struggle felt by the speaker (economy on words) |
| Tone Mood | Empathetic, compassionate Monotonous, drab (reflecting the life of the worker) |
| Conclusion | Duffy draws attention to those who feel disconnected because of their lack of skill in the English language |