30 December 2010
Back when the TV series Deadwood was on the air, there was much talk in linguistic circles about the accuracy of the nineteenth-century frontier dialect portrayed in the show. We may be seeing the same discussion over the remake of True Grit, which is currently in theaters. Over at Language Log, Mark Liberman discusses whether or not the frequency of contractions in the story (he works mainly from the novel) is an accurate representation of the use of contractions in 1878 speech.
Of particular note is this:
Or was [author] Portis using an exaggerated (if variable) lack of contraction as a way to project the personality of Mattie Ross, an elderly woman whose strong notions of right and wrong may have included some prescriptive feelings about contractions?
I think this observation is especially important—grad school in literature rather than linguistics does indeed give you a different perspective. When examining literature, you can’t ignore choices on the part of the author that impact the creation of character. The choices may not be linguistically true, but they may very well be true to the character speaking the lines.
By the way, I’ve seen the Coen brothers’ True Grit remake and heartily recommend it. Hailee Steinfield, who plays the character of young Mattie Ross, is the true star of the film and delivers a superb performance throughout. In the Coen brothers’ version she is the one who displays “true grit.” Some have criticized the film for deviating from the original’s pacing (i.e., in the remake, the famous scene where Rooster Cogburn, played by Jeff Bridges in another excellent performance, takes his horse’s reins in his teeth and rides down the bad guys with guns blazing in both hands is downplayed and almost incidental, instead of being the climactic moment as it was in the 1969 John Wayne version). I too was initially discomfited by the different pacing of the remake, but as I reflect on it I believe it to be a strength. By not following the conventional Hollywood heroic formula, the Coen brothers give a different perspective on what it means to display courage and grit.
