English: Well beyond the inner circle dominance

Abstract

What makes a language global goes far beyond its linguistic features. Although status of globalization may be largely determined by political tradition, economic strength, militaristic might and respect for human rights, one significant requirement does seem to escape fair assessment of a ‘globalized language’. Here is where English finds itself: the flow of an ever increasing number of lexical items to and from the language, and similarly, an ever expanding cultural heritage due to amalgamation with outer cultural and societal characteristics. In this study, we will look into to what extent cultural elements of the outer circle were carried over into the language by authors producing literary works in an inner-circle language environment. Plots, settings, and characters in these works were analysed and thematised to illustrate the striking phenomenon of how now English has ceased to be the so-called ‘property’ of the inner circle only. For this, textual analysis principles were utilized in this study.