|
Oh! My Englishness! By Suleiman Zailani
My fascination with English language never fails to amaze me. Such attraction does not apparently stop at the dexterity with which writers and poets in the English language articulate their thoughts and experience but go further to probe the basis upon which they develop their philosophies and outlook. As a Muslim and as one endowed with the gift of representing my profoundest vision of life through the medium of English language, I sometimes feel the intense need to re-direct and confirm my focus of values,beliefs,tradition and culture in the light of the multifaceted influences (both negative and positive) English language has on me.
To say the least, from my child hood, I am supposed to have grown up in a tripartite linguistic environment comprising my native Hausa, Arabic on account of my Islamic faith and English; an upshot of my nation’s colonial History. The effect of colonialism had however propelled English language to the forefront as the medium of communication as it was adopted as the nation’s official language. It became the medium of interaction and learning in our schools, hospitals and in our domestic and international engagements.Presently, the archetypal urban Hausa youth and many young Muslim in the country for that matter, usually the university student, a fresh graduate or a product of our contemporary educational system had already acquainted himself with the language early from primary school to the present day.
Such a young person finds that he invariably loses grips with the purity of his native tongue and often resorts to the use of English to make him understood. He also prides himself on the clarity with which he articulates in a foreign language. To be honest, I found myself in similar trap because not infrequently, I make use of English to conceal my diffidence whenever I find myself in a dicey situation that requires fast reflexes and equanimity.Thus,the interesting feature of the language here in such uncertain context is that it affords one the leeway to equivocate. Hence, I can, instead of calling a lie, a lie I can refer to it as a “terminological inexactitude”. Or in a lighter mood, a girl may seek to know the sincerity of your feelings and without the luxury of “magu magu”in Hausa (where love is always “so” without any different shades of grey), one can readily respond (if he is not sincere) “you know I am fond of you …Lets give a little time to sort ourselves out blah blah blah.
Apart from attempt at clarity and equivocation, the typical “English conscious” youth seems to have developed an affinity or habit for the unconscious use of an amalgam of Hausa and English in his socialization activities. One usually observes during causeries between friends, relatives, colleagues and even his own mother (mostly not westerly or englishly educated), words of English often creep in to his utterances so much so that it is now an accepted norm in our tradition that this habit has gained an appellate of Ingausa (meaning an admixture of English; Ing,and Hausa; ausa,in our expressions).
“Although English is not our language, we intend to do unheard of things with this language”, so implied Chinua Achebe.In the realm of poetry and literary endeavors in English, one of the glowing examples of the advancement of African experience,traditions,values,visions and struggles can be gleaned from the works of Chinua Achebe and his ilk. These “creations” represent the quintessential effort at promoting the African vision to the world. Yet to what extent are these “unheard of things” sufficiently advanced using the language of our colonial masters? Since for every word used or mentioned, its idea,meaning,concept and semantic dynamics are directly derived from “western English”thoughts,philosophies,values and traditions, do these factors then not limit our abilities to transcend these subtle influences and advance our thoughts and visions devoid of borrowed images and concepts ingrained in their words?. I do not wish to delve in to the polemics of Negritude and universalism but sincerely aim at drawing our minds to the necessity of preserving our positive cultural heritage.
This reminds me of the monthly presentations of the creative writers’ forum organized by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Kano State chapter and sponsored by the British council. In one of the sessions, I was startled by the ardour, enthusiasm and the animated parley intensified by the creative juices obviously flowing through the participants in the course of the session. I was seized by a pang of apprehension that in our innocent quest and desire for literature and literary expression, we may end up becoming Englishmen, not in words but in deeds as well. I also wondered on the extent our thoughts are shaped not by our ideas, but the garment we use to clothe it with and the limitation such garment impose on us. Would Faruk Sarkinfada’s poetic expository on his philosophy of the duality of nature be better or more lucidly depicted were he to write in his native tongue or not. Are the themes reflected, written and versified upon indicate our surrender to the westernizing influence of the medium (English) we avail ourselves of to express our thought or not. Does it really matter...?
To say that English culture has an effect on our lives is to be stating the obvious. However; the social impact is so endemic especially in our urban centers that it calls for a solemn and sober reflection on negative consequences. Again the archetype of this socio-cultural impact is the university student. Usually in the salad days of his life, free from parental care and tutelage, and taught also in English amidst students of different cultural backgrounds who are either susceptible or already inured to westernizing Englishness. He becomes the perfect “sitting duck” for the invasion English thoughts and values. And soon the assimilation begins: from Ingausa to night parties, from altered values to abused freedom, from immoral indulgences, to the denigration of our traditional and religious values as rigid, archaic and conservative. Closer home, in our domestic enclosures, this infiltration with its attendant values through the medium of cable satellite and TV; with its programs ,films, soap operas and other forms of entertainment meets little or no resistance. Here most values imbibed by the youth stems from the moral slush emanating from the products of tinsel town where we are increasingly taught that there are no values and that values are relative. As if that is not enough, even the usually chided “MATA YAN TALLA” have caught on and I was shocked to hear one “yar talla’’’s feeble attempt at Ingausa as she elatedly narrated an escapade with her boyfriend as if the concept of suitor is not characteristic of our tradition.
Before, it was not out of place to hear a lover whispering “yake mamallakin zuciyata”.Now it appears that our language is on the decline where a young man can at best only Ingausa his way in to a girl’s heart or at worst “yarn” her in English or win her affection through greeting cards or foreign gift items. As a matter of fact, the most English of these youth is usually the apple of the most of our equally deluded young university girls’ eyes. The most curious phenomenon in this regard is that while the boys seem to be getting away with it for now, the girls who fell into the trap of western allurement tend to be losers who end up with the men scared of taking them as wives. Anyway, I would not like to digress to something that seem to be a subject for another discussion but the point is that taking English to the extremes of Englishness usually means an unwitting compromise of our religious and traditional norms and values.
It would be a futile exercise of self-delusion to advocate the complete eradication of the use of English as a medium for our economic, social, cultural and literary endeavors. Our social reality evolved from historical antecedents and colonialism is one fact of our chequered history as a people of this nation. Therefore, English tends to be a permanent feature in our lives and perhaps Ingausa is also here to stay.Nonetheless, we must make do with the dictates of reality. My major concern has always been the tendency with which we let ourselves to be vulnerable to too much “turanchi” in our daily affairs. This must be brought to its proper perspective. I am not asserting that every thing English is western and therefore bad but most Englishness in terms of ideas and values that accompany it are western and bad for the healthy development of our socio-cultural and religious tradition.
While we must continue to do the “unheard of things” for the development of arts, literature and humanities, we should also develop our literature in our native tongue. At the risk of incurring the wrath of the proponents of Kano market literature and Hausa film industry with their copious outflow of usually mushy stories and scripts devoid of serious exertions at literary creativity (perhaps with some rare exceptions) ,I venture to suggest that Hausa literary creativity be encouraged through grants and competitions organized by individuals, social and educational institutions so that writers reminiscent of Abubakar Imam,Sa’adu Zungur ,Nuhu Bamalli etc may emerge.
Finally a poser: would you consider this voyage of self examination a wake up call against the debilitating influence of English on our social, religious and cultural reality? Or merely a reflection of ultimately its unmitigated triumph, which supercede our native tongue long after the colonial era. A Condition foisted upon us through the on going conquest of our thoughts, ideas and values through the medium of English. You tell me.
|