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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Problems in African literature
Author:Kunene, Mazisi
Year:1992
Periodical:Research in African Literatures
Volume:23
Issue:1
Pages:27-44
Language:English
Geographic term:Africa
Subjects:philosophy
ethnic literature
literature
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819947
Abstract:The author discusses the dilemma facing African writers of whether to write in their mother tongue or in a foreign language. To discuss this question of the proper language to use in the creation of African literature, one must understand the fundamental realities of African philosophies. An in-depth examination must first be made of African thought systems before one can decide the question of language. The author believes that a writer's choice of language presupposes a full or partial adoption of the cultural tradition that obtains in his or her society. Writers who write in a foreign language are already part of foreign institutions. Radical differences between the cosmology of former European colonial powers and that of African societies constitute a crucial factor in the choice of an appropriate language for literary expression. These differences are a reflection of the profound differences in the scale and structure of the physical environment. The differences between the African and European thought systems involve the idea of humanity, the concept of life after death, and the use of metaphors, personification, and repetition.
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