A Comparative Study of Figurative Language in Patriotic Poems by Paul Celan and Usman Awang

Abstract

This study aims to compare and analyse figurative language in patriotic poems by Paul Celan and Usman Awang. The objectives of the study are to discern the different types of figurative language used in these poems and, through analysis and comparison, to examine the similarities and differences in application by the two poets. The study examines how figurative communication is employed across different linguistic and cultural media to produce meaning and evoke emotional impact. This study employs Perrine’s (1977) theory of figurative language to determine the types of figurative expressions and to compare the poets’ use of figurative language. The analysis focuses on three German poems, “Schwarze Flocken,” “Todesfuge,” and “Psalm,” and three Malay poems, “Damai,” “Tanahair,” and “Pahlawan Kemerdekaan.” The analysis shows that Paul Celan’s poems contain personification, metaphors, irony, symbols, similes, hyperbole, understatement, and synecdoche. Conversely, Usman Awang’s Malay poems employ personification, metaphors, irony, symbols, apostrophe, metonymy, hyperbole, synecdoche, and paradox. The findings indicate that Paul Celan’s patriotic poems predominantly employed metaphors and symbols to illustrate the horror of the Holocaust, whereas Usman Awang’s poems employ personification and hyperbole to portray the people’s fighting desire for independence.  

Keywords: figurative language, patriotism, comparative literary analysis, poetry, Paul Celan, Usman Awang

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