Rotten English - A Literary Anthology

Edited by Dohra Ahmad W.W. Norton: 536 pp., $15.95 paper

"Rotten English" is the first anthology to collect a large sample of international literature written in what has often been called English-in-Situation -- or variously, vernacular, slang, dialect, patois, Creole. The phrase "rotten English" was popularized by Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in his novel "Sozaboy," and it covers a lot of territory.

For instance, no one thinks of the United States as a post-colonial nation, but it is. And while no one commonly thinks of "American" -- that is, the version of English spoken here -- as vernacular or patois or even dialect, it is, also. Just ask my English mother!

In her introduction to "Rotten English," editor Dohra Ahmad, a professor at St. John's University in New York, does a good job of considering the problems and complexities surrounding the idea of "vernacular literature." Her observations about the paradox of this type of writing -- "Since its power arises in part from its oral and underground qualities, the logic goes, the act of becoming written literature will inevitably sap that power," she explains -- are sound. Heartening also is her acknowledgment of the subversive "vernacular" roots of what is now considered high classical literature, as well as the inherent capacity of language to accommodate new forms over time".

To read the full review from the LA Times click here.