Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the celebrated Kenyan writer, is a firm believer in African languages. He says language is at the heart of a people’s identity and advocates for the use of native languages in schools. Prof Ngugi has written many of his books in mother tongue – Kikuyu – and arrived in Kenya on Monday June 1, for the 50th anniversary of his book ‘Weep Not Child’.
Tuko.co.ke caught up with Prof Ngugi at Panafric Hotel in Nairobi for an interview and had this to say:
Why is the question of using native African languages so important to you? I cannot overemphasise the importance of African languages. Whenever a people have conquered others, they always impose their language on the subjects. If one knows the language of others but does not understand his own language, that is slavery of the mind. Understanding and appreciating my own is empowerment.
In the age of the internet and globalisation, how true is this belief? The internet is only a technology like any other and does not belong to the West. I don’t see a reason why we cannot utilise that technology to make it work for Africans. The continued use of European languages is enslavement. We need to start rewarding our local language writers by establishing rewards for them.
Do you think that the government is doing enough to promote local languages? We need progressive government policies that enable people to be proud of their mother tongues. Education minister must make it illegal for any child to punished because of speaking their mother tongue in schools. When a child is punished because of using the language that is natural to them, it creates negativity in the way the language is viewed.
Should the government implement plans to have Chinese lesson in schools in 2017? There is nothing wrong with children learning Chinese, or French or Spanish. They are languages of power, after all. It is, however, not right for children to learn these languages at the expense of their own. Other countries are proud of having children learn in their mother tongues, why is it so difficult for Africans?
Do you believe its possible to have modern-day writers using mother tongue? The fact that I advocate using mother tongue in schools and writing does not mean it minimises the burden that lies ahead when a writer pursues that course. I have written more than ten manuscripts that are yet to be accepted by publishers. This only shows the challenge that lies there. But we must all struggle to rise from the shadow of other languages and make our own visible. All languages are created equal.
(TUKO.CO.KE)
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