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Periodical article | Leiden University 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. |