De-colonizing the Mind

Ngugi wa Thiong’o is a controversial man! I read some chapters from his Decolonizing the Mind and it was deeply thought-provoking. It made me think especially about what I want to call myself. Let me explain. Most bloggers consider themselves authors, writers. I call myself a writer. (A soon to be published African writer! Am I?

I suppose the answer to that would depend on how I define an African writer. For me, anyone who writes and is African, is an African writer. We will not go into what it means to be African because that is a whole different kettle of fish. So if I am African but set my story in space with a Marsian protagonist, I am still an African writer. But if Bill Gates wrote a novel set in Accra with a spear-wielding 'native' that would not make him an African writer. I think this explanation would go down well with most. It’s simply a question of geography and/or race. Or is it? Ngugi doesn’t think so. Indeed according to him, I am not an African writer at all!

'…"the whole uncritical acceptance of English and French as the inevitable medium for educated African writing is misdirected, and has no chance of advancing African literature and culture...until African writers accepted that any true African literature must be written in African languages, they would merely be pursuing a dead end."'

This is a quote from Obi Wali who Ngugi agrees with in his book. Ngugi himself says:

'What is the difference between a politician who says Africa cannot do without imperialism and the writer who says Africa cannot do without European languages?'

So what this means for me, by Ngugi’s assesment of an African who writes in English, is that I am actually an Afro-European writer. As someone who does not identify in any way with Europe, I find this hard to swallow. The implications are a little too disturbing. The category 'African writers' is now reserved for an elite few who can write in their local languages. There is also the practical aspect to consider. How many people can read your local language? For many of us, our languages are not internationally spoken. But Ngugi has stopped writing in English, opting for his mother tongue, Gikuyu. So how does he circumvent the question of practicality? His books are translated. And that is where my problem lies.

Ngugi’s main contention is that language is a carrier of culture. It expresses and communicates ideas in a way in which a foreign language cannot. It also shapes our world view. If there is no word for 'bomb' in your language, chances are you wouldn’t think much about bombs if that was the only language you knew. So clearly the 'African-ness' of your work would be lost if you wrote in English. But think of how much can be lost in translation. Is this all just mental gymnastics then? Is Ngugi talking the talk but not walking the walk? Am I really an African writer, especially since my first language is English? And then there are those writers who would, under my criteria, fall under the category of 'African writer' but say they are not. To what extent does self-definition shape the work you produce?

* Annie Quarcoopome is from Ghana and is studying Comparative Literature in the US. She is a blogger at Blacklooks.org