Language, Identity, and Social Construction in African Literatures

Cultural identity and language are inseparable and so African writers should use their mother-tongues instead of European languages. Arguments that the colonizers' language can be used to gain advantage over the West do not account for the fact that using a foreign language makes the local cult...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Research in African literatures Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 83 - 94
Main Author:	Owomoyela, Oyekan
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Austin, Tex., etc Indiana University Press 22-03-1992 African and Afro-American Studies and Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, etc
Subjects:	African culture African languages African literature Analysis Countries Criticism and interpretation Cultural identity Culture Ethnic identity Group identity Language Languages Mithuns Nonnative languages Social aspects Social construction Social identity Social life & customs Western civilization Writers Africa
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Cultural identity and language are inseparable and so African writers should use their mother-tongues instead of European languages. Arguments that the colonizers' language can be used to gain advantage over the West do not account for the fact that using a foreign language makes the local culture vulnerable. Africans should seek to keep their cultural identity even while interacting with the West and language will serve as an ethnic marker. The Japanese have proven that it is possible to interact well with the West without giving up their culture.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0034-5210 1527-2044