ravi wrote:
further excuse for such phrases as "the language of the colonialist".
Yikes, Ravi, you don't mean that scorn I hope. We had a visit at our centre from Ngugi wa Thiong'o at the end of last month, and a colleague did this report: The Mercury English versus indigenous languages In a recent Harold Wolpe Lecture, a renowned writer tried to tackle the challenges of reclaiming indigenous languages, writes Annsilla Nyar April 10, 2007 Edition 1 The recent visit to South Africa of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, one of Africa's most celebrated writers, brings the emotive issue of language - and its centrality to issues of power and ideology - once more back to the table. Ngugi wa Thiong'o delivered a stirring presentation at the monthly Harold Wolpe Lecture hosted by the Centre for Civil Society. Howard College, one of the University of KwaZulu-Natal's oldest and most elegant buildings, was packed to capacity with those wanting to hear the critically acclaimed Kenyan writer share his thoughts about the possibilities for regaining and reclaiming African indigenous languages. The slight and softly spoken countenance of the speaker belied the revolutionary theme of his presentation. Ngugi has written in English, producing such successful novels as Weep Not, Child, A Grain of Wheat and Petals of Blood, which depict the conflict between Christianity, colonial education and the oppression suffered by his native Kikuyu and other Africans groups under colonialism. His passionate brand of Marxist political and literary activism saw him imprisoned without trial in a maximum security prison by the Kenyan government in 1978. During his detention he produced a memoir of his prison experience entitled Detained, which was written on prison issue toilet paper. After his release from prison he went into self-imposed exile in the United States to teach literature at several universities. It was then that he renounced writing in English and turned to working exclusively in his regional native tongue of Gikuyu. Ngugi's critique centred on the deterioration of mother-tongue languages as the ideological legacy of colonialism. Colonial policy meant that the language of the colonising nation was forced on to local people, often with a systematic prohibition of indigenous languages. In colonial Kenya, English was used as the sole means of instruction in the public school system. He sketched a portrait of language as a tool of colonialism, and vividly described being humiliated and shamed for speaking his native tongue as part of his colonial schooling. Imposed concept He passionately advocated the rejuvenation and development of African mother-tongue languages. He captures the paradox of English versus indigenous languages in the world today. To some, English anywhere outside the mother tongue context is an alien imposed concept. As the linear tongue of the colonial enterprise, it has become synonymous with racial cruelties and injustice, and the denigration of local cultures. More so, as representative of something specifically Anglo-American and Western, it has become a world language to the extent that Anglo-American Western culture has become hegemonic in the world. But then to others, while English may not be their mother tongue, it is nevertheless their language and an expression of their lived identity. In this view English has become a world language to the extent that it has become divested of any association with colonialism and its adjunct, Western culture. As Chinua Achebe, another major literary figure, said: "Is it right that a man should abandon his mother tongue for someone else's? It looks like a dreadful betrayal and produces a guilty feeling. "But for me there is no other choice. I have been given the language and I intend to use it." Where do we place ourselves in this paradox? Ngugi's presentation raised the important question of what happens to other mother tongues, but then it similarly raised other questions in the contexts of our own struggles with the prevailing cultural globalism. What, then, should become of the English language in former colonies? Is English, as Salman Rushdie says, a "post-colonial anomaly, the bastard child of the (British) Empire", or has it actually evolved to fit the need of its speakers in the post-colonial world? Should it be rejected or embraced? Does writing in English suggest the betrayal of our mother tongues or does it represent the assumption of a new post-colonial identity? Not so long ago, language policy was the subject of intense and often bitter debate in South Africa. The country adopted a multilingual language policy that gives official recognition to 11 languages, including English and Afrikaans and nine indigenous languages. But the celebrated new language freedoms and opportunities have not really translated into the envisioned linguistic equality for South Africans. African languages remain on the periphery of the academy in South Africa. While the education system purports to be multilingual, most educational institutions do not use the student's mother tongue as languages of learning and teaching. Parents and students prefer to be taught in English, and most teachers are inadequately prepared. As one student pointed out to Ngugi, proficiency in English is a must for young job-seekers. The globalised world of economic possibility is symbolised by English. Barrage of questions One could almost feel the passion from youth in the room wanting to communicate this paradox to Ngugi and its centrality to their lives as young South Africans: the difference between what is practical and what is desirable. Faced with a barrage of questions regarding the technical aspects of the ideal of reclaiming mother tongue languages, Ngugi persisted to make his point in a stronger fashion: "The death of many languages should never be the condition for the life of a few . . . A language for the world? A world of languages! The two concepts are not mutually exclusive, provided there is independence, equality, democracy and peace among nations." He called for a partnership among several key stakeholders: government in creating an enabling environment for linguistic development; writers and storytellers; publishers and readers. Ngugi's Wolpe presentation was beautiful and extremely necessary. It is high time that this issue returned to the national agenda. However, disappointingly, it failed to address the huge socio-political complexities of the language issue. Nor did it acknowledge the fact that this dilemma is not simply the province of Africa and its colonial past. It is very much a global issue. Unesco estimates that half of the world's 6 000 to 7 000 mother-tongue languages are in danger of extinction. The challenges of immigration and integration in many Northern countries represent a serious threat to mother-tongue languages. Take the Republican State of California in the United States. In 1998 California imposed English as the sole medium of instruction in all its public schools, in effect alienating mostly Spanish-speaking pupils. It earned the anger of civil rights organisations in the US, a country where about four million children speak English poorly or not at all. The paradox remains, and frustratingly so. # Annsilla Nyar is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Civil Society.
