Moni fellow bloggers and readers! Moni is supposedly the translation for hello in Malawi (I really hope about.com is right about this one). Speaking of Malawi, it's author Felix Mnthali has taught me some other things. More important things which have been overlooked by our imperialistic society. Mnthali's poem "The Stranglehold of English Lit." nearly shouted at me from it's page. How could I have been so blind? I am ashamed that I have not realized our literature poisons the roots of Africa and is killing them at their core. Mnthali gives an outraged voice to his homeland of the oppressed in his probing poem.
Africans are multi-lingual people, for their land is comprised of many different tribes and indigenous peoples. The natives of Africa pass on strong oral traditions as opposed to written traditions. The reason for this is because most African languages cannot be written using standard alphabets. They mix sounds with letters to create their words, and I love how unique this is. I truly wish I could learn many, or even all, of these languages because they fascinate me! I also wish that I could help these people write their language! Unfortunately, imperialism has destroyed their traditions from the way it educates them. Many Africans have to learn English to even attempt to write their language. Can one imagine learning the values and traditions of a society that has oppressed oneself? It is infuriating and degrading! This is exactly what upsets Mnthali and I was glad to finally realize this.
Mnthali refers to his fellow Africans who have left to Europe for an education as the dispossessed. The word itself is haunting. What may be more haunting is the truth to his choice. I can only imagine how angry these Africans are to leave their home just to receive an education that defaces their heritage with the views of the very people who oppressed them! Oh my! Ngugi explains this as "a case of black skins in white linguistic masks." Mnthali brings up another good point in this light, when he states, "those questions/ stand/ stab/ jab/ and gore/ too close to the centre!" The questions he is referring to are those that the literature of other countries pose, which absolutely do not help the Africans. Africans do not care about the societal woes of Jane Austen or Shakespeare's "Hamlet." The problems of our imperialistic society do not matter to these souls. What matters to Africans, I'd say, is the revival and continuation of their traditions. I hope their English education does not destroy their pride, and instead, enlivens it. For once they know the alphabet, they can write their own words of wisdom to share with the world.
Nicely done. You explore the issues of Mnthali with intensity, and I like how you bring Ngugi into the conversation as well. I really liked your title, and I wish you had discussed a bit of that as well. It would be interesting to hear how this literature, which, ironically, is our colonial heritage as well, has affected you. Jane Austen has equally little to do with our lives here in 21st century America, but our appreciation may be different on what the usefulness of literature is. In the next posting, keep the analytic intensity of this and add in a little more of your own experiences as they relate to your analysis.
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