war with two winners
Although these two different languages of break-dancing seems to wage war on each other throughout the entire narrative, the conflict depolarizes and mediates into a more understanding, less extreme philosophy for Oku. After the conflict, Oku reflects back into the past, attempting to understand Nemesis:
Who was on the right side? Who was really a part of the culture? . . . Nemesis probably had a very different perspective about what it means to spread “culture”. There is no right or wrong in understanding a culture until we think about the community associated with them (Oku 4).
Unlike the previous moments in which Oku and his friends neglected to understand Nemesis’ approach, Oku accepts and understand different ideologies, especially Nemesis’ language. According to Canagarajah, individuals “in global contact zones today” are “enabled by the ‘receptive multilingualism,’” or their ability to “understand more languages than [they] can speak” (Canagarajah 5). This receptive multilingualism is not merely a phenomenon; it opens the gate to learning and transforming different, perhaps discrete, languages into a translingual communication. In accepting others’ languages, Oku has opened his philosophy, possibly unknowingly, to other languages, and took his first step to translingual communication.
By absorbing fragments of Nemesis’ teaching of his style of dancing and techniques, Oku reaches his translingual potential. At Emory University, Oku has established a break-dancing club, and teaches his fellow classmates break-dancing. In teaching, one inevitably transfers his own unique style, techniques, and philosophy to his students, just like Nemesis has done to Oku and his friends. However, unlike Nemesis, who has attempted to forcefully subjugate his own techniques and style, Oku utilizes teaching as a means to invite others to have the opportunity to immerse in break-dancing. According to Canagarajah, “in the context of such language diversity, meaning doesn’t arise from a common grammatical system or norm, but through negotiation practice in local situations (Canagarajah 7). In this specific local situation, Oku makes Nemesis’s language his own—rather than trying to speak Nemesis’s language—and diversifies his formerly monolingual philosophy into translingual philosophy. He utilizes teaching as not only a means to spread the basics of break-dancing to beginners, but to pave the road for others to become innovative and freely minded about break dancing, serving the purpose of translingualism quintessentially.
Who was on the right side? Who was really a part of the culture? . . . Nemesis probably had a very different perspective about what it means to spread “culture”. There is no right or wrong in understanding a culture until we think about the community associated with them (Oku 4).
Unlike the previous moments in which Oku and his friends neglected to understand Nemesis’ approach, Oku accepts and understand different ideologies, especially Nemesis’ language. According to Canagarajah, individuals “in global contact zones today” are “enabled by the ‘receptive multilingualism,’” or their ability to “understand more languages than [they] can speak” (Canagarajah 5). This receptive multilingualism is not merely a phenomenon; it opens the gate to learning and transforming different, perhaps discrete, languages into a translingual communication. In accepting others’ languages, Oku has opened his philosophy, possibly unknowingly, to other languages, and took his first step to translingual communication.
By absorbing fragments of Nemesis’ teaching of his style of dancing and techniques, Oku reaches his translingual potential. At Emory University, Oku has established a break-dancing club, and teaches his fellow classmates break-dancing. In teaching, one inevitably transfers his own unique style, techniques, and philosophy to his students, just like Nemesis has done to Oku and his friends. However, unlike Nemesis, who has attempted to forcefully subjugate his own techniques and style, Oku utilizes teaching as a means to invite others to have the opportunity to immerse in break-dancing. According to Canagarajah, “in the context of such language diversity, meaning doesn’t arise from a common grammatical system or norm, but through negotiation practice in local situations (Canagarajah 7). In this specific local situation, Oku makes Nemesis’s language his own—rather than trying to speak Nemesis’s language—and diversifies his formerly monolingual philosophy into translingual philosophy. He utilizes teaching as not only a means to spread the basics of break-dancing to beginners, but to pave the road for others to become innovative and freely minded about break dancing, serving the purpose of translingualism quintessentially.