“Language in Everything to Declare” by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: Summary and Critique

1. The Significance of Language in Identity and Literature

• Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o discusses the importance of language in shaping identity, particularly for writers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, who navigate their native and European languages.
  • “A pilgrim, traversing many lands and cultures, negotiates the way through any number of languages.”

2. Language and Literary Visibility in the Global Context

• He emphasizes the growing visibility of non-Western writers in the global literary landscape, especially African writers who confidently incorporate diverse cultural perspectives.
  • “It is impossible to talk about the global literary scene without bringing those writers into the equation.”

3. Challenges of Language Among African Writers

• Ngũgĩ explores the struggles faced by African writers who often prioritize English over their native languages, feeling pressure from a globalized literary scene.
  • “The language issue remains problematic for the new generation, as it was for my generation of the 1960s.”

4. The Cultural Alienation of African Languages

• He recounts an experience with young Nigerian writers, highlighting their alienation from their own languages, as they found it easier to write in English than in their mother tongues.
  • “English had literally created a wall between them and their own languages.”

5. Linguistic Feudalism and its Global Impact

• Ngũgĩ introduces the concept of linguistic feudalism, where languages are ranked hierarchically, with European languages at the top and others regarded as inferior.
  • “Linguistic feudalism sees languages arranged in order of the nobility of being.”

6. Language as a Tool for Political and Cultural Unity

• He critiques the belief that European languages unite nations, pointing out that they often create social and cultural divisions, particularly in multilingual societies.
  • “English held Nigeria together; there was no Nigeria without English.”

7. The Power of Translation in Cultural Exchange

• Ngũgĩ argues that translation is a vital tool for bridging linguistic and cultural divides, fostering a deeper exchange of ideas between African and non-African cultures.
  • “Translation between and among languages is what makes possible the traffic of ideas.”

8. A Vision for Restoring African Languages

• He envisions a restoration of African languages through translations, not just within Africa, but also from other world literatures, creating a global dialogue.
  • “I see possible translations between African languages themselves.”

9. The Role of Language and Culture in Human Knowledge

• Finally, Ngũgĩ stresses that the survival of languages is essential for the preservation of human knowledge, arguing that the loss of a language diminishes humanity.
  • “The death of any language is the death of a piece of humanity.”

1. Postcolonial Theory – Decolonizing Language and Identity

• Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o addresses postcolonial theory by emphasizing the need to decolonize African languages and reject the dominance of European languages imposed during colonialism. He argues for the reclamation of indigenous languages as an essential part of identity and resistance to colonial power structures.
  • “English had literally created a wall between them and their own languages.”

2. Linguistic Relativity in Cultural Theory

• Ngũgĩ contributes to cultural theory by supporting the idea of linguistic relativity, which holds that language shapes thought and cultural identity. He emphasizes that losing a language means losing a unique way of understanding and interacting with the world.
  • “The death of any language is the death of a piece of humanity.”

3. Translation Studies – Translation as Equal Cultural Exchange

• Ngũgĩ critiques traditional views in translation studies, which often treat translation as a means of dominance (usually from European languages to others), and instead promotes translation as a tool for equal cultural exchange and dialogue between languages.
  • “Translation between and among languages is what makes possible the traffic of ideas through the network, within a nation, between nations, or even across the globe.”

4. Hegemony in Gramscian Theory

• Drawing on Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, Ngũgĩ critiques the dominance of European languages in global and national contexts. He sees language as a site of power struggle, where European languages are imposed as “unifying,” while African languages are marginalized as divisive.
  • “European languages were inherently unifying; African languages were inherently divisive.”

5. Linguistic Imperialism – Phillipson’s Theory

• Ngũgĩ aligns with Robert Phillipson’s theory of linguistic imperialism, criticizing the way English (and other European languages) is privileged in postcolonial societies, contributing to cultural and linguistic hierarchies.
  • “In the globe today, European languages form the linguistic aristocracy… This pattern of language relationships is reproduced also within nations.”

6. Poststructuralism – Challenging Linguistic Hierarchies

• In line with poststructuralist theory, Ngũgĩ challenges the fixed, hierarchical relationships between languages, arguing for a deconstruction of the binary opposition between dominant (European) and marginalized (African) languages. He proposes a network model where all languages contribute equally to global cultural production.
  • “We need to collapse the hierarchy and instead look at the relationship in terms of a network. In a network, there is no single centre.”

7. Multilingualism and Nation-Building in Nationalism Studies

• Ngũgĩ critiques the common nationalist notion that monolingualism promotes national unity, contributing to nationalism studies by advocating for multilingualism as a more inclusive and accurate reflection of the cultural diversity within postcolonial nations.
  • “The centripetal character of a single language and centrifugal character of the many is taken as a norm.”

8. Linguistic Human Rights Theory

• In line with linguistic human rights theory, Ngũgĩ argues for the right to linguistic diversity, asserting that people have the right to access education, literature, and media in their native languages. He views linguistic suppression as a violation of cultural and human rights.
  • “The assumed African language barriers were not okay… A linguistic class wall had been accepted as the norm.”

9. Globalization Theory – Language in a Globalized World

• Ngũgĩ’s work contributes to globalization theory, particularly its critique of cultural homogenization. He argues that European languages have been globalized at the expense of local languages, and calls for a rebalancing where African and other marginalized languages play a more prominent role in global cultural exchange.
  • “A global human culture is dependent on the richness of all languages and not on a predatory few.”

1. Overemphasis on Language as the Sole Medium of Cultural Identity

• Critics might argue that Ngũgĩ places too much importance on language as the key to cultural identity, neglecting other forms of cultural expression (e.g., music, art, customs) that are equally significant in preserving a people’s heritage.

2. Idealization of Indigenous Languages

• Ngũgĩ’s emphasis on writing in African languages may be seen as idealistic, given the practical challenges of literacy rates, publishing infrastructure, and the global market for literature, which are heavily dominated by European languages.

3. Underestimation of English’s Global Role in Communication

• Critics may contend that Ngũgĩ underestimates the unifying role that English (and other colonial languages) play as a global lingua franca, especially in multicultural nations where multiple indigenous languages coexist.

4. Lack of Focus on Bilingual or Multilingual Solutions

• The article largely advocates for prioritizing indigenous languages over colonial ones but could be criticized for not offering more nuanced solutions, such as bilingual or multilingual approaches, that could preserve both indigenous and global linguistic engagement.

5. Romanticization of Pre-Colonial Linguistic Purity

• Some may criticize Ngũgĩ for romanticizing pre-colonial linguistic situations, overlooking the fact that language evolution, borrowing, and exchange are natural processes, and even indigenous languages are influenced by other cultures and languages.

6. Oversimplification of Translation as a Solution

• While Ngũgĩ champions translation as a tool for bridging linguistic divides, critics might argue that translation alone cannot fully capture the nuances of original texts, and relying on it may not solve deeper issues of linguistic hierarchy and cultural dominance.

7. Limited Consideration of Global Literary Networks

• The focus on African languages in Ngũgĩ’s vision might be seen as too narrow in the context of global literature. Critics may argue that his framework does not fully engage with the realities of international publishing, where writers seek global readership and recognition.