Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s book Decolonizing the Mind takes a deep look into the postcolonial mindsets of people and nations who were once colonized by western powers. The era of colonialism is underlined in history as a period of repression, plundering and imperialism spearheaded by several European countries. During the colonial centuries, different parts of the world were occupied by the colonial forces of England, France, Spain, Portugal and Holland. South America, also known as Latin America, languished under the colonial governance of the Spaniards and the clashes between the Spanish troops and the local tribal clans have been illustrated by different authors of previous and current ages. In course of time as the South American nations became independent, they had to retain Spanish as their state language because the native South Americans did not have any common language of their own. So, Spanish language replaced the dialects of the South American communities even after the Spanish colonial authorities had to pack up and leave. However, a colonial hangover clung to the creeds and practices of the South American nations as they could not topple the supremacy of Spanish language with their own dialects. Similarly, the former British Empire had ruled North America, Asia, Africa and the Oceania for hundreds of years. With the passage of time, most of the occupied territories became independent through wars and revolutions in Africa, Asia and North America. But unfortunately a good number of African and Asian countries could not expedite their economic progress following the end of colonial period which is why they have remained dependent on the western states for financial, infrastructural and technological aid. Being a Kenyan by birth, Ngugi Wa Thiongo observes these limitations of his motherland which prevail across some other least developed countries too.
Economic emancipation is still a wild goose chase for many poverty-stricken countries. For this reason, these countries cannot win their battles on the lingual grounds either. English is the most widely used language in a great deal of countries in Asia, Africa and North America and the necessity of English language in all walks of life goes without saying in these countries.
But some native languages and dialects of these countries are being jeopardized by the extensive application of English in all outdoor and most of the indoor chores of these nations. Loss of lingual individualism may threaten the cultural selfhood of a nation, according to Ngugi Wa Thiongo. Some African dialects such as Swahili, Gikuyu and Zulu as well as the speakers of these dialects are now on the verge of losing their ethnic identity due to the onslaught of English language across different African nations. Ngugi Wa Thiongo is one of those handful of authors who can or could write in more than one language like Milan Kundera, Vladimir Nabokov and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
The foreign languages that most of the African authors write in are the languages of the imperialists -- English, French, and Portuguese – Ngugi Wa Thiongo asserts in Decolonizing the Mind. For this reason, Ngugi Wa Thiongo has been writing in a few regional dialects of Kenya for last several years in order to promote a language-oriented individualistic image of the general Kenyans so that they become inspired to perceive the idea of lingual selfhood rather than depending on borrowed languages for all purposes. It reminds us of what Nelson Mandela once said about language, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head; if you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart.”
The title Decolonizing the Mind deserves a close interpretation. People in different regions of the world have been able to liberate themselves from the colonial powers through armed combats and rebellions. But the phantom of colonial past still haunts the minds of millions of people. People of the previously colonized countries physically defeated the colonial authorities on the battlefields but they are still to secure independence from the far-reaching influence of colonialism on their psychology.
A colonial silhouette still governs our thoughts and views. We are still highly fond of referring to the former colonial states as the finest examples in terms of enlightenment and progress even though our own cultural heritage is amazingly rich and magnificent and has a long and glorious history. Ngugi Wa Thiongo urges the developing nations to rise above the virtual shadow of colonialism that has been narrowing our vision till today. To paraphrase some of his words, psychological decolonization does not exactly endorse the idea of rejecting the knowledge we gather from the western world. Rather most of our concentration should be dedicated to the task of preserving the fast evaporating heritage of our own lingual and cultural treasures as cultural dominance is another feature of the current visage of western expansionism.
Last but not least, the variety of languages people speak across the world should not be a barrier for the exchange of thoughts, ideas and views among global masses. A saying by the Persian mystic scholar Jalaluddin Rumi may be quoted in this context, “Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”
Mahfuz Ul Hasib Chowdhury
is a contributor to different
English newspapers and magazines.
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