STAMMER
A Critical Appreciation of the poem Stammer
Embracing Stammer: A Poetic Celebration of Language and Perspective
‘Stammer’ is a thought provoking poem written by K. Sachidanandan, a famous poet and critic writing in Malayalam and English. He is regarded as the pioneer of Modern Malayalam Literature. The poem Stammer was originally written in Malayalam with the title ‘Vikku’, and later it was translated into English by the poet himself.
Stammer viewed in a different perspective is the theme of the poem. The poet treats stammer not as a handicap but as a mode of speech. Words and meanings are different like
word and deed. A word doesn’t have a fixed meaning. It is the speaker or the listener who makes different meanings to words. It would be difficult even for a linguist to analyse and explain the history of stammering. It would have started with the creation of man. When we stammer we give a different meaning to a listener, which is different from its literal meaning. The poet considers stammer as a sacrifice to the God of meanings.
Unknowingly we make a sacrifice to a language by giving a different utterance of it. If all people stammer, it will become an accepted practice and later could be considered as mother tongue. The poet says that God must have stammered at the time of creation. He justifies this argument saying that all words of man have different meanings. Sometimes we misinterpret the words of others. Interpretations of these words are causing a lot of problems in society. It even causes a lot of destruction to society.
Differences in perspectives also make us give different utterances of the same word in different ways. So words can be both constructive and destructive. We pray and command differently and it appears different to people like poetry. He compares stammer with poetry. Poet speaks about the nature of poetry. Some people find it easy to understand the implied meaning of the poem but for others it looks obscure and finds a different interpretation to it.
BLOGGING
Activity II : (Blogging)
Create a class blog and upload your thoughts about this poem.
Understanding Satchidanandan's Poem 'Stammer
Satchidanandan intensely and had some elaborate discussions on its theme, content and message. The poem is not easy to understand because of its highly complex imagery. But once we get to know its meaning properly, we begin to realize how profound the ideas are. Stammer, Satchidanandan asserts, is a language in itself.
The question whether stammer came before the language or after it is highly amusing. We are reminded of the joke attributed to the late EMS Namboothiripad, who used to stammer. One interviewer asked him if he always stammered. EMS Namboodiripad replied, “Not always; only when I speak.” The interviewer asked the question because there is a feeling that fear, stage fright, suppressed emotions, etc. trigger stammering.
Satchidananda does not seem to give much honour to God because he has said that perhaps He even stammered when He created man. God is reputed to be omnipotent and one can’t imagine that God can stammer. The poet thinks that man is so imperfect and full of vile may be because God stammered while creating man. We agree with the poet in his
verdict, Satchidanandan has the knack of hitting the head on the nail. He speaks great things using just a few words. An ordinary person might have taken a whole lengthy essay to say what Satchidanandan has said in a few short lines. The poet’s insight and imagination are extraordinary. The poem opens our eyes and we start seeing ‘stammer’ in a different perspective.
