On the Decolonisation of African Languages
Keywords:
rehabilitation - national languages - ex-colonized- colonial languages - language market - decolonizing the mind - african languages - mar
Abstract
The present paper argues - against all odds - that advocating the rehabilitation of national languages (NL) in ―ex- colonized countries‖, as the case may be with Ngugy's call in his now famous book Decolonising of the Mind: the Politics of Languages in African Literature (1981) is a slight of hand as it overlooks a number of factors namely the political, economic, social and ethnic hazards that could follow from such an endeavor. Several arguments are brought forth in support of the claims made by the present paper notably the shortcomings of the arguments brought by such advocates as well as examples of failures of linguistic nationalization policies in ex-colonial countries. Among the basic arguments advanced to that effect are: (i) the language market dominated by the Western languages especially English; (ii) the legacy of the past as an economic factor that should be looked at as an asset rather than a liability; (iii) the politicization of the linguistic issue considered as a stunt done more in pride than in realistic and pragmatic considerations.
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2013-09-13
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