5 - Reassessing the Impact of Colonial Languages on the African Identity for African Development
Corresponding Author(s) : M. S. C. Okolo
Africa Media Review,
Vol. 13 No. 2 (2005): Africa Media Review, Volume 13, n° 2, 2005
Abstract
The question of African development is examined as a close nexus between development and language. Language alone affects, structures, defines, and interprets all other aspects of human life. On the other hand, when we think of development, we think of human resources, about people who are the active agents in bringing about accomplishments in any field of endeavour. We cannot have a critical mass of human capital if the constituents are people who are
defined by others through pejorative words and have, unreflectively, accepted these words as an indicator of their true identity. My focus is on the English language, which embodies attitudes, referential meanings and perceptions that have greatly helped to distort the identity of the Africans. Given that words act as guides to the interpretation of social reality, Africa, caught on the wrong side of the colonial language, cannot make meaningful progress in her spiritual and
material civilisation. This paper concludes that until linguistic imbalances that demean the African are reviewed and righted, Africa’s strivings towards sustained development will continue to be severely checked.
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- Adeniran, A., 1994, ‘Aspects of the Sociology of Language in Africa’, in Samuel O. Asein and Festus A. Adesanoye, eds., Language and Polity: Essays on Language and Society in Africa, Ibadan: Sam Bookman Educational.
- Altick, R. D., 1976, ‘Connotation’, in Caroline D. Eckhardt, ed., The Wiley Reader, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
- Bosmajian, H. A., 1990, ‘Language’, in Janet Madden-Simpson and Sara M. Blake, eds., Emerging Voices: A Cross-Cultural Reader, Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
- Conrad, J., 1950, Heart of Darkness, [1899], in Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer, New York: Penguin Publishers.
- Davis, O., 1976, ‘The English Language is my Enemy’, in Caroline D. Eckhardt, ed., The Wiley Reader, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
- Ford, J., 1996, ‘20/20 Hindsight’, in Sheena Gillespie and Robert Singleton, eds., Across Cultures, Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
- Hegel, G. W. F., 1991, The Philosophy of History, Translated by J. Sibree,Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books.
- Hume, D., 1964, ‘Of National Character’, in Thomas Hill Green and Thomas H. Grose, eds., The Philosophical Works, Darmstadt 3, no 1.
- Isaiah, 1996, Chapter 62, verse 4, Classics Devotional Bible, New International version,Grand Rapids, USA: Zondervan Publishing House.
- Ka t, I., 1960, Observations on the Feelings of the Beautiful and Sublime, Translated by J. I. Goldthwait, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
- Kwofie, E. N., 1972, ‘The Language Question and Language Consciousness in West Africa’, African Studies Association of the West Indies, Bulletin no. 5, December.
- Lugard, F. D., 1922, The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa,Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons.
- Lugard, F. D., 1968, The Rise of our East African Empire, vol. 1,London: Frank Cass. Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 1972, Homecoming: Essays on African and Caribbean Lit- erature, Culture and Politics, London: Heinemann.
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 1986, Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature, London: James Currey; Nairobi: Heinemann Kenya; Port- smouth N.H: Heinemann.
- Soyinka, W., 1976, ‘Telephone Conversation’, in K. E Senanu and T. Vincent, eds., A Selection of African Poetry, London: Longman.
- The Chambers Dictionary, New Edition, 1998, Great Britain: Chambers Harrap Publishers.
- The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1989, Vol.11, ‘B.B.C.— Chalypsography’, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Abridged Edition, 1996, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.
References
Adeniran, A., 1994, ‘Aspects of the Sociology of Language in Africa’, in Samuel O. Asein and Festus A. Adesanoye, eds., Language and Polity: Essays on Language and Society in Africa, Ibadan: Sam Bookman Educational.
Altick, R. D., 1976, ‘Connotation’, in Caroline D. Eckhardt, ed., The Wiley Reader, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Bosmajian, H. A., 1990, ‘Language’, in Janet Madden-Simpson and Sara M. Blake, eds., Emerging Voices: A Cross-Cultural Reader, Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Conrad, J., 1950, Heart of Darkness, [1899], in Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer, New York: Penguin Publishers.
Davis, O., 1976, ‘The English Language is my Enemy’, in Caroline D. Eckhardt, ed., The Wiley Reader, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Ford, J., 1996, ‘20/20 Hindsight’, in Sheena Gillespie and Robert Singleton, eds., Across Cultures, Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Hegel, G. W. F., 1991, The Philosophy of History, Translated by J. Sibree,Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books.
Hume, D., 1964, ‘Of National Character’, in Thomas Hill Green and Thomas H. Grose, eds., The Philosophical Works, Darmstadt 3, no 1.
Isaiah, 1996, Chapter 62, verse 4, Classics Devotional Bible, New International version,Grand Rapids, USA: Zondervan Publishing House.
Ka t, I., 1960, Observations on the Feelings of the Beautiful and Sublime, Translated by J. I. Goldthwait, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Kwofie, E. N., 1972, ‘The Language Question and Language Consciousness in West Africa’, African Studies Association of the West Indies, Bulletin no. 5, December.
Lugard, F. D., 1922, The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa,Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons.
Lugard, F. D., 1968, The Rise of our East African Empire, vol. 1,London: Frank Cass. Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 1972, Homecoming: Essays on African and Caribbean Lit- erature, Culture and Politics, London: Heinemann.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 1986, Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature, London: James Currey; Nairobi: Heinemann Kenya; Port- smouth N.H: Heinemann.
Soyinka, W., 1976, ‘Telephone Conversation’, in K. E Senanu and T. Vincent, eds., A Selection of African Poetry, London: Longman.
The Chambers Dictionary, New Edition, 1998, Great Britain: Chambers Harrap Publishers.
The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1989, Vol.11, ‘B.B.C.— Chalypsography’, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Abridged Edition, 1996, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.