Great African Reads discussion

The subject area for our nonfiction read for Jan-March 2020 African language politics and practices. What book should we read as a group? Do you have any articles, syllabi, or other links to share about the subject to help us choose a group read?

Timeline:
- 3-10 Jan: Suggest books here! Please respond with a "second" for a book recommendation you like. If the list of suggested books gets over 5, I'll only add to the poll those with a second supporter.
- 10-17 Jan: Vote on a group read!
- 17 Jan - 31 Mar: Read and discuss!

I loved Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. I'd be interested in reading his Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance. I have both books as ebooks I can share. What else?

Thanks Tinea. I second Decolonising the Mind.

Decolonising the Mind is waiting on my shelves for a re-read, i.e. I second it :)

I found this interesting interview on African literature in translation, with commentary on how translations from English to French by white French translators have impacted the story that is told. Also some commentary about playing with language: African writers in English are creating or transcribing new ways of using English, but Francophone writers are more often hitting up against the Académie and restrictive publishers, limiting development of a written "African French".

https://africasacountry.com/2019/12/l...

A couple books on language are cited:
Publishing Africa in French: Literary Institutions and Decolonization 1945-1967
The Tongue-Tied Imagination: Decolonizing Literary Modernity in Senegal

I'm always happy to discuss Decolonising the Mind - what a great book! There's also a good "discussion section" of a recent issue of the Journal of African Cultural Studies (including an article by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o) which relates the book to contemporary debates https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjac2...


Thanks for sharing Tinea, I'd missed this interview for some reason. The way Frenches are being talked about (or rather not talked about - for decades it was seen as derogatory to talk about "Senegalese/Algerian/Congolese/etc. French") compared to Englishes means that a straight-up comparison is always complicated - on top of the constant confusion between f/Francophonie which makes arguments often slippery (cf. the media debate over Mabanckou's letter to Macron a couple of years ago). There's also a good introductory interview with Kaoutar Harchi on this topic on the brilliant Kiffe Ta Race podcast https://soundcloud.com/kiffe-ta-race/....

I also started The Tongue-Tied Imagination a few months but got side-tracked by too many other readings, and so it's still in my TBR pile.

If anyone is particularly interested in the topic and can get access to them, the following are more academic-y but still accessible:
English as a Local Language: Post-Colonial Identities and Multilingual Practices by Christina Higgins
Learning in Morocco: Language Politics and the Abandoned Educational Dream by Charis Boutieri
De la bouche même des indigènes — Échanges linguistiques en Afrique coloniale by Cécile Van Den Avenne

It looks like we have consensus for Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o! I'll make a thread.

Tinea wrote: "I found this interesting interview on African literature in translation, with commentary on how translations from English to French by white French translators have impacted the story that is

Thanks a lot for the link! The interview will enrich our discussion of Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature!

Cam wrote: "I'm always happy to discuss Decolonising the Mind - what a great book! There's also a good "discussion section" of a recent issue of the Journal of African Cultural Studies (including an article by..."

These are all enriching links, thank you very much, Cam!