The Afterlife of Oyono's Houseboy in the Swahili Schools Market: To Be or Not to Be Faithful to the Original

PMLA ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-184
Author(s):  
Ken Walibora Waliaula
Keyword(s):  
Italian Literature ◽  
African Literature ◽  
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o ◽  
Chinua Achebe ◽  
African Languages ◽  
European Languages ◽  
False Proposition ◽  
African Experience ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Asian Languages

Africa, the world's second-largest continent, speaks over two thousand languages but rarely translates itself. it is no wonder, therefore, that Ferdinand Oyono's francophone African classic Une vie de boy (1956), translated into at least twelve European and Asian languages, exists in only one African translation—that is, if we consider as non-African Oyono's original French and the English, Arabic, and Portuguese into which it was translated. Since 1963, when Obi Wali stated in his essay “The Dead End of African Literature” that African literature in English and French was “a clear contradiction, and a false proposition,” like “Italian literature in Hausa” (14), the question of the language of African literature has animated debate. Two decades later, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o restated Wali's contention, asserting that European languages led to African “spiritual subjugation” (9). Ngũgĩ argued strongly that African literature should be written in African languages. On the other hand, Chinua Achebe defended European languages, maintaining that they could “carry the weight of African experience” (62).

scholarly journals Literatura, Linguagem e Descolonização em Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (Quênia) e Chinua Achebe (Nigéria)

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Bruno Ribeiro Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
African Literature ◽  
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o ◽  
Chinua Achebe ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
African Languages ◽  
African People ◽  
History Of ◽  
African Writers ◽  
The Many

A história de literatura africana contemporânea está repleta de debates que tratam de sua utilidade frente aos povos de África e a natureza dessa literatura. Através das ideias de dois escritores africanos, Chinua Achebe e Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, este artigo revisita a história das ideias desses autores em respeito à literatura africana e sua linguagem de escrita. Tratamos de perceber como dois autores da mesma geração, porém de locais diferentes, Nigéria e Quênia, respectivamente, pensaram a produção literária e sua função em África no período pós-colonial.Palavras-chave: Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1938-), Literatura Africana, Línguas Africanas AbstractThe history of African contemporary literature is full of debates that deal with its utility to the many African people and the nature of this literature. Through the ideas of two African writers, Chinua Achebe and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, we revisit the history of the ideas of these authors in relation to African literature and the language in which this literature is written. We try to perceive how authors from the same generation, but from different locals, Nigeria and Kenya, respectively, thought their literary production and its function in Africa in the post-colonial period.Keywords: Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1938-), African Literatures, African Languages

Angela Bartens. Ideophones and sound symbolism in Atlantic creoles. (Suomalaisen Tiedekatemian Toimituksia/Annales Academiae Scientiarium Fennicae. Sarja-series Humaniora, 40.) Helsinki: Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and Finnish Society of Science and Letters, 2000. Pp. 198.

2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-137
Author(s):  
Stefan Elders
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Previous Treatment ◽  
Sound Symbolism ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
African Languages ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Relevant Category ◽  
Asian Languages ◽  
Central Claim

The central claim of Ideophones and sound symbolism in Atlantic creoles is that ideophones constitute a relevant category in Atlantic creoles, and that they show both functional and substantial correspondences with ideophones in African languages. The book consists of two main parts: a critical review of the literature on ideophones (Introduction; Chap. 1, “Previous treatment of ideophones and sound symbolism in the literature”; Chap. 2, “Characterization of ideophones: towards a cross-linguistic prototype”), and an etymological database of ideophones in the Atlantic creoles (Chap. 3, “The use of ideophone in the Atlantic creoles and their tentative etymologies”). Two appendices present data sources and the approximate number of ideophones in some languages. The study is based on the available literature, supplemented by data on Atlantic creoles, African languages, European languages, and two Asian languages that was obtained either from specialists on certain languages or from first-language speakers.

scholarly journals “Securing One’s Base in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Ongoing Literary Theory”: An Interview

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 783-785
Author(s):  
Moustapha Ndour
Keyword(s):  
Literary Theory ◽  
African Literature ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Literary Identity ◽  
African People ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Full Control ◽  
Definition Of

In this interview, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o shares his current ongoing thoughts on the definition of African literature, issue of language and positionality, and decolonization of African resources. Ngũgĩ argues that English and European languages are stealingAfrican literary identity. His personal commitment to write in Gĩkũyũ is less motivated by a wider readership than a concern to secure “his base”. He lays the blame on Africans for lacking self-esteem or self-conception. Decolonizing African resources, including reforming language policies, stands as a mental sanity challenge in a world where African people are stereotyped and ethnicized in comparison to their Western counterparts. He concludes his thought humorously by calling for a full control of African resources and spaces.

Routes: language and the identity of African literature

1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moradewun Adejunmobi
Keyword(s):  
African Literature ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Theoretical Formulation ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Actual Role ◽  
The Past ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Significant Interest ◽  
History Of ◽  
Literary Writing

The debate over the language of African literature has continued to generate significant interest ever since the emergence of African literary writing in European languages. Discussions of this debate have in the past often highlighted the inherently normative character of the idea of an African literature in African languages. By tracing the history of the debate, this paper seeks to distinguish between the actual role played by African languages in the emergence of a literature identified as African by its practitioners, and the ideological function of the debate for Africans who write in European languages. From this perspective, appeals for a literature in indigenous languages appear to serve the purpose of ethnic signification on behalf of a tradition of writing that continues to rely on European languages at the levels of both creative practice and theoretical formulation.

scholarly journals The Choice of Language for African Creative Writers

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edadi Ilem Ukam
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
African Literature ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Know How ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Creative Writers ◽  
African Writers

Language issue has been considered as a major problem to Africa. The continent has so many distinct languages as well as distinct ethnic groups. It is the introduction of the colonial languages that enable Africans to communicate with each other intelligibly: otherwise, Africa has no one central language. Among the colonial languages are English, French, Arabic and Portuguese which today serve as lingua franca in the mix of multiple African languages. Based on that, there is a serious argument among African critics about which language(s) would be authentic in writing African literature: colonial languages which serve as lingua franca, or the native indigenous languages. While some postcolonial African creative writers like Ngugi have argued for the authenticity and a return in writing in indigenous African languages, avoiding imperialism and subjugation of the colonisers, others like Achebe are in the opinion that the issue of language should not be the main reason in defining African literature: any languagecan be adopted to portray the lifestyles and peculiarities of Africans. The paper is therefore, designed to address the language debate among African creative writers. It concludes that although it is authentic to write in one’s native language so as to meet the target audience, yet many Africans receive their higher education in one of the colonial and/or European languages; and as such, majority do not know how to write in their native languages. Rather, they write in the imposed colonial languages in order tomeet a wider audience. Not until one or two major African languages are standardised, taught in schools, acquired by more than 80 per cent of Africans and used as common languages, the colonial languages would forever continue to have a greater influence in writing African literature. The paper recommendes that Africans should have one or two major African languages standardised, serving as common languages; also African literature should be written in both colonialand African languages in order to avoid the language debate by creative African writers. 

Modern Greek V V dvandva compounds: A linguistic innovation in the history of the Indo-European languages

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Ralli
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Compound Formation ◽  
Modern Greek ◽  
Late Medieval Period ◽  
European Languages ◽  
History Of ◽  
Internal Change ◽  
Contact Situation ◽  
Asian Languages

This paper deals with [V V] dvandva compounds, which are frequently used in East and Southeast Asian languages but also in Greek and its dialects: Greek is in this respect uncommon among Indo-European languages. It examines the appearance of this type of compounding in Greek by tracing its development in the late Medieval period, and detects a high rate of productivity in most Modern Greek dialects. It argues that the emergence of the [V V] dvandva pattern is not due to areal pressure or to a language-contact situation, but it is induced by a language internal change. It associates this change with the rise of productivity of compounding in general, and the expansion of verbal compounds in particular. It also suggests that the change contributes to making the compound-formation patterns of the language more uniform and systematic. Claims and proposals are illustrated with data from Standard Modern Greek and its dialects. It is shown that dialectal evidence is crucial for the study of the rise and productivity of [V V] dvandva compounds, since changes are not usually portrayed in the standard language.

scholarly journals African “ghosts” and the myth of “Italianness”: the presence of migrant writers in Italian literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-112
Author(s):  
Anita Virga
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Italian Literature ◽  
African Literature ◽  
Cultural Meaning ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
Migrant Literature ◽  
The Public ◽  
African Migrant

In this article, I analyze the cultural meaning of the emergence of an African migrant literature in Italy at the beginning of the 1990s and its presence today. I put this emergence in dialogue with the construction of Italian identity as white. Through a brief historical account of how this social construction came into being, I verify how African migrant literature contests this (de)racialized myth of “Italianness.” Using Gordon’s concept of “haunting,” I argue that African literature within Italian literature can be read as a manifestation of ghosts: the appearance of a presence that has always been there but was repressed by hegemonic discourses. African literature not only works against subalternity, but also reveals whiteness as imagined and acknowledges a colonial past that has been deleted from the public remembrance. Despite such work, African migrant authors today are still writing against the paradigm of the “arrival,” asking: who is Italian? Who can represent Italian citizens?

scholarly journals A Needs Assessment for Indigenous African Language-Based Programming Languages

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Ezekiel K. Olatunji ◽  
John B. Oladosu ◽  
Odetunji A. Odejobi ◽  
Stephen O. Olabiyisi
Keyword(s):  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Programming Languages ◽  
Programming Language ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
African Languages ◽  
European Languages ◽  
To Come ◽  
High Degree

AbstractThe development of an African native language-based programming language, using Yoruba as a case study, is envisioned. Programming languages based on the lexicons of indigenous African languages are rare to come by unlike those based on Asian and / or European languages. Availability of programming languages based on lexicons of African indigenous language would facilitate comprehension of problem-solving processes using computer by indigenous learners and teachers as confirmed by research results. In order to further assess the relevance, usefulness and needfulness of such a programming language, a preliminary needs assessment survey was carried out. The needs assessment was carried out through design of a structured questionnaire which was administered to 130 stakeholders in computer profession and computer education; including some staffers and learners of some primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions in Oyo and Osun states of Nigeria, Africa. The responses to the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The analysis of the responses to the questionnaire shows that 89% of the respondents to the questionnaire expressed excitement and willingness to program or learn programming in their mother tongue-based programming language, if such a programming language is developed. This result shows the high degree of relevance, usefulness and needfulness of a native language-based programming language as well as the worthwhileness of embarking on development of such a programming language.

What Rough Beast: Neo-African Literature and the Force of Social Change

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-59
Author(s):  
William Cook
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
William Butler Yeats ◽  
African Literature ◽  
New Age ◽  
Chinua Achebe ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Modern Poetry ◽  
The World ◽  
Things Fall Apart ◽  
Second Coming

The Second ComingTurning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere 5The ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity.Surely some revelation is at hand;Surely the Second Coming is at hand. 10The Second Comingl Hardly are those words outWhen a vast image out of Spiritus MundiTroubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desertA shape with lion body and the head of a man,A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, 15Is moving its slow thighs, while all about itReel shadows of the indignant desert birds.The darkness drops again; but I knowThat twenty centuries of stony sleepWere vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, 20And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?William Butler YeatsChinua Achebe in 1959 turned to the above poem by Yeats, with its prophecy of the approach of a new age, for the title to his first novel. Ezekiel Mphalhlele in the same year chose lines seven and eight of the same powm as the epigraph to his autobiographical Down Second Avenue. This convergence upon one of the most foreboding images in modern poetry is not an accident. Both writers saw their own experiences of loss of order and future debilitation confirmed within the lines of Yeat’s apocalyptic poem. Viewed within the context of Yeats’ theory of 2000-year gyres, this vision becomes even more ominous.

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