Afrowrite’s Weblog

By Muli wa Kyendo

It is interesting to see that in these days of internet, Africa’s literary giants, Chinua Achebe of Nigeria and Ngugi wa Thiong’o of Kenya, are still asking the old question: Should African writers write in English? Chinua Achebe thinks we should – and goes ahead to write his novels in English, believing as he has often stated, that, if his books are useful, they will be translated into whichever languages become important in future.

Ngugi on the other hand believes that it is important to write in ones mother tongue because of one Tanzanian writer long wrote, “Whoever abandons his culture is a slave.” And Ngugi, like Chinua has proceeded to write in Kikuyu, his mother tongue, in which I understand, he lectures with the help of a translator, in an American University.

Language is important for us, journalists, writers, poets and even musicians who must use language to earn their living. And that’s why this debate is of interest us.

Why Writers Write

The underlying question of the debate is: Why do writers write? Naturally they writes because they have ideas or information they want to communicate. If follows then that the wider the relevant audience they can communicate with, the better. The key word here is the “relevant audience.” If what you want to communicate is of relevance only to Kikuyus, then obviously you should follow the Ngugi way and write in Kikuyu. If however, you want to reach a wider East African audience, then you must become fluent in Kiswahili and write in it.

Again, it follows that if your audience is even wider than that, you must write in English.

You Are Not Slave

It doesn’t mean you are a slave. You will in fact, be doing what has been done the world over throughout the ages. And what it means is that the language you are using has achieved ascendancy over the others that you could use at this point in time. At another point in time, another language will achieve the high point and all books and important thoughts of earlier periods will be translated into that language as Chinua Achebe says.

When Greek was the language of the day, all important thoughts were expressed in the Greek. And so it was when Latin was the language. And I assume it was the same when Egyptian language was on the top.

Why Language Become Important

Languages do not become important because of colonization as Ngugi seems to assume. Germany had colonies and German language didn’t become international. The Dutch, the French, the Spaniard, the Portuguese and many more, all had colonies, and their languages have not become more significant than our Kiswahili.

Languages become important because of the economic power of its speakers. Unlike what Ngugi thinks, it is the US which is now the reason for the increased use of English. Its economic, cultural, technological and military might ensures the dominance of English as many people look forward to doing business with them or to gaining some experience from them. That is why both Ngugi and Chinua Achebe are lecturing in US universities, earning a decent, comfortable living. Without writing in English, they wouldn’t be literature professors in the US.

Africa’s Desperate Need

Africa is in desperate need to explain its position to the world. To explain to the world the beauty of its cultures, the abundance of its wealth, the intellectual prowess of its people and the role its people have played to advance world cultures and history.

And we, who are writing from the continent, are excited that at last, the internet is giving us an opportunity to explain Africa to world. Our expectation is that with increased knowledge of the continent, its intellectual and natural resources, its role in world cultures and history, the continent will take its place as an equal partner in world development. In deed that it will take the lead, as it should, in world leadership

And when that happens, Kiswahili will take the position of English. Then all great ideas and thoughts will be expressed in Kiswahili. And the rest of the world, including the English, will be the ones complaining and finding importance in the statement, “Those who abandon their cultures are slaves.”