The Anglophone Literary-Linguistic Continuum

Michael Andindilile

Description

Michael Andindilile in The Anglophone Literary–Linguistic Continuum: English and Indigenous Languages in African Literary Discourse interrogates Obi Wali’s (1963) prophecy that continued use of former colonial languages in the production of African literature could only lead to ‘sterility’, as African literatures can only be written in indigenous African languages. In doing so, Andindilile critically examines selected of novels of Achebe of Nigeria, Ngũgĩ of Kenya, Gordimer of South Africa and Farah of Somalia and shows that, when we pay close attention to what these authors represent about their African societies, and the way they integrate African languages, values, beliefs and cultures, we can discover what constitutes the Anglophone African literary–linguistic continuum. This continuum can be defined as variations in the literary usage of English in African literary discourse, with the language serving as the base to which writers add variations inspired by indigenous languages, beliefs, cultures and, sometimes, nation-specific experiences.

Chapter 1     The case for an Anglophone African literary–linguistic continuum Chapter 2     Achebe and Anglophone African literary discourse Chapter 3     Ngũgĩ, nativism, English and translingualism Chapter 4     Gordimer, English, race and cross-cultural translation Chapter 5     Farah, English and cosmopolitanism Chapter 6     Anglophonism, the novel and the African literary–linguistic continuum

Sujets

• Littérature Africaine
• Littérature Africaine
• Social sciences
• Literary criticism
• Languages of Africa
• List of African writers by country
• African literature
• African people
• African
• Ethnic Studies
• African Studies
• African Languages

Informations

• Publié par: NISC (Pty) Ltd
• Date de parution: 05 novembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781920033255
• Langue: English

Extrait

Dedication
For my beloved parents: Mzee Andindilile Silisyene Mwalonde and Bibi Maria Nyala Jengela And my beloved family: My wife, Frida Mwakyambiki, daughters, Nelusigwe and Maria, and son, Bryan Andindilile
About the Series
The African Humanities Series is a partnership between the African Humanities Program (AHP) of the American Council of Learned Societies and academic publishers NISC (Pty) Ltd. The Series covers topics in African histories, languages, literatures, philosophies, politics and cultures. Submissions are solicited from Fellows of the AHP, which is administered by the American Council of Learned Societies and financially supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The purpose of the AHP is to encourage and enable the production of new knowledge by Africans in the five countries designated by the Carnegie Corporation: Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. AHP fellowships support one year’s work free from teaching and other responsibilities to allow the Fellow to complete the project proposed. Eligibility for the fellowship in the five countries is by domicile, not nationality.
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The African Humanities Series aims to publish works of the highest quality that will foreground the best research being done by emerging scholars in the five Carnegie designated countries. The rigorous selection process before the fellowship award, as well as AHP editorial vetting of manuscripts, assures attention to quality. Books in the series are intended to speak to scholars in Africa as well as in other areas of the world.
The AHP is also committed to providing a copy of each publication in the series to university libraries in Africa.
AHP Editorial Board Members as at July 2017
AHP Series Editors:
Professor Adigun Agbaje, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Professor Emeritus Fred Hendricks, Rhodes University, South Africa
Consultant:
Professor Emeritus Sandra Barnes, University of Pennsylvania, USA (Anthropology)



Board Members:
1 Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Institute of African Studies, Ghana (Gender Studies & Advocacy) (Vice President, African Studies Association of Africa)
2 Professor Kofi Anyidoho, University of Ghana, Ghana (African Studies & Literature) (Director, Codesria African Humanities Institute Program)
3 Professor Ibrahim Bello-Kano, Bayero University, Nigeria (Dept of English and French Studies)
4 Professor Sati Fwatshak, University of Jos, Nigeria (Dept of History & International Studies)
5 Professor Patricia Hayes, University of the Western Cape, South Africa (African History, Gender Studies and Visuality) (SARChI Chair in Visual History and Theory)
6 Associate Professor Wilfred Lajul, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda (Dept of Philosophy)
7 Professor Yusufu Lawi, University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (Dept of History)
8 Professor Bertram Mapunda, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Dept of Archaeology & Heritage Studies)
9 Professor Innocent Pikirayi, University of Pretoria, South Africa (Chair & Head, Dept of Anthropology & Archaeology)
10 Professor Josephat Rugemalira, University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (Dept of Foreign Languages & Linguistics)
11 Professor Idayat Bola Udegbe, University of Ibadan, Nigeria (Dept of Psychology)
Published in this series
Dominica Dipio, Gender terrains in African cinema , 2014
Ayo Adeduntan, What the forest told me: Yoruba hunter, culture and narrative performance, 2014
Sule E. Egya, Nation, power and dissidence in third-generation Nigerian poetry in English , 2014
Irikidzayi Manase, White narratives: The depiction of post-2000 land invasions in Zimbabwe , 2016
Sylvia Bruinders, Parading Respectability: The Cultural and Moral Aesthetics of the Christmas Bands Movement in the Western Cape, South Africa , 2017
THE ANGLOPHONE LITERARY-LINGUISTIC CONTINUUM:
English and Indigenous Languages in African Literary Discourse
MICHAEL ANDINDILILE
Published in South Africa on behalf of the African Humanities Program by NISC (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 377, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa www.nisc.co.za
First edition, first impression 2018
Publication © African Humanities Program 2018 Text © Michael Andindilile 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-920033-23-1 (print) ISBN: 978-1-920033-24-8 (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-920033-25-5 (ePub)
Manuscript mentor: Leonie Viljoen Project manager: Peter Lague Cover design: Advanced Design Group Cover photographs: Chinua Achebe (top left) ©ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo; Nadine Gordimer (top right) ©Motlhalefi Mahlabe / South Photographs / Africa Media Online; Nuruddin Farah (bottom left) © dpa picture alliance archive / Alamy Stock Photo; Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (bottom right) ©Agence Opale / Alamy Stock Photo
Printed in South Africa by Digital Action

The author and the publisher have made every effort to obtain permission for and acknowledge the use of copyright material. Should an inadvertent infringement of copyright have occurred, please contact the publisher and we will rectify omissions or errors in any subsequent reprint or edition.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
C HAPTER 1 The case for an Anglophone African literary-linguistic continuum
Introduction
Historical roots of the African novel in Anglophone Africa
The Tower of Babel and the intricate African linguistic landscape
Africa and the compound, complex literary-linguistic situation
English as a vehicular language
Plurality in modern African literatures
Conclusion
C HAPTER 2 Achebe and Anglophone African literary discourse
Introduction
Traditional literary elements and Achebe’s aesthetics
Duality of purpose in Achebe’s literary-linguistic project
Beyond stereotyping: The implication of Achebe’s aesthetics
Conclusion
Notes
C HAPTER 3 Ngũgĩ, nativism, English and translingualism
Introduction
The original Anglophone project
Novels in transition: On the threshold to nativism
The Gikuyu project and translation
Conclusion
Note
C HAPTER 4 Gordimer, English, race and cross-cultural translation
Introduction
They ‘Spoke and Shouted in a Language [She] Didn’t Understand’
‘In the Safety of Their Own Language’
‘Speaking an African Language was Simply a Qualification’
Conclusion
Note
C HAPTER 5 Farah, English and cosmopolitanism
Introduction
Farah’s literary-linguistic project
Intricacies of re-imagining the nation in a former colonial language
Cultural identification beyond linguistic expression
National mosaic
Language of violence and nationalistic discourse
Conclusion
Note
C HAPTER 6 Anglophonism, the novel and the African literary-linguistic continuum
Introduction
The African novel and the English ‘home’ in Africa
Bickerton’s theory and the African literary-linguistic continuum
Literary-linguistic continuum as a trajectory in modern African literatures
Conclusion
B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
Acknowledgements
The manuscript for this publication was prepared with the support of the African Humanities Fellowship Program established by the American Council of Learned Societies with a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
This work is a culmination of the many efforts and contributions of numerous people and institutions.
As an African Humanities Program (AHP) postdoctoral fellow, I took up residence at the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Makerere University, Uganda, which enabled me to carry out additional research to update my readings for my monograph project that prepared ground for the development of this book. In this regard, I thank MISR for accommodating me at the Institute under the leadership of Mahmood Mamdani, its Executive Director. While there, I had access to resources and a stimulating intellectual environment that enriched my study. Furthermore, I am forever thankful to Leonie Viljoen, my manuscript mentor, who worked tirelessly with me to bring various strands of materials into a coherent book. She ensured that I remained on track whenever I was side-tracked. I also sincerely thank the AHP publication team for their invaluable support in the manuscript development process.
However, although developed with the support of the African Humanities Fellowship Program, this book is a spin-off of my dissertation entitled ‘Reimagining African Communities: Achebe, Ngũgĩ, Gordimer, Farah and the Anglophone African Novel’ and has a history that obliges me to mention and thank the people who contributed in one way or another from genesis to its final realisation. I thank Christopher GoGwilt, my supervisor at Fordham University, who alerted me to the idea of a continuum that became the fulcrum of further inquir