International Mother Language Day
The Language of Violence
South African poet Qhali’s Crying in My Mother’s Tongue: Ukulila, is a searing meditation on language and identity, intergenerational trauma, sexual violence, healing, and the intimate ties of motherhood and family. Read More...
Language Is the First Casualty of Exile
In the autumn of 2019, while Professor Femi Oyebode and I walked along Prescott Street, he told me that language is the first casualty of exile. I have watched my use of the English language lose its colonial stance for a more limber approach that is quick-witted and light-hearted. Read More...
The Exclusion of the North African Novel in English from African Literature
The North African novel in English has garnered international accolades and scored representation in the global literary canon, but not yet in the African canon. Why is this still the case? Read More...
The Reinvention of Nsibidi
Nsibidi, Nigeria’s historical writing script, offers a glimpse into the complexities and intricacies of African cultures. Today, a universe of creators, researchers and enthusiasts is on a quest to promote its resurgence in our contemporary world. Read More...
Resisting Linguistic Genocide How Colonization Shaped Language in Guinea-Bissau
Colonization was an enterprise that not only administratively dominated the colonized territories by having exploited its resources illegitimately and illegally. In Guinea-Bissau as in other formerly colonized regions, colonization was, above all, also an act of cultural alienation of the natives, who saw their traditions belittled and ridiculed, their history suspended, and their languages the preserve of the most uneducated. Read More...
