We need literature for liberation
By Victor Angula /
Most people will likely agree that so much of the liberal education Africans have been getting during these years of post-colonialism has not translated into social liberation, let alone economic liberation for the people of Africa.
While there are many factors and various explanations for this, I will just for now proffer only one factor contributing to the poor outcome of our education.
African education, or education given to Africans, has failed to produce results because it’s a foreign education. It’s a foreign education in the sense that even the literature used in the education system is foreign literature.
There is no African literature in our schools.
Reading literature is important to the student, for literature has the capacity to acquaint the student with his cultural heritage, to orientate the student in the quickly changing social environment, to enlarge the possibilities of the student’s individual growth, and not least, to give enjoyment.
This is the importance of literature. But, now the African student should not be subjected to reading any literature except African literature.
A high school student who reads literature only acquaints himself with the western cultural heritage. Currently the African student is expected to learn the quotations of famous men and women of the western civilizations, with such intensity as to get the sound and feeling of this foreign civilization; the students have to listen to the rhythms, tempos, and patterns of the poems, dramas, songs, and the stories they read.
The student looks upon these literary works not as merely printed words on pages, but as artistic wholes expressed through many factors to convey important messages, usually immortal messages.
But in reality there is no relationship between the student and the subject. The student is African while the subject is European.
People delight in reading Shakespeare’s plays, and meaningfully quote parts from them. They, by so doing, learn valuable information and values of life. No doubt these are great treasures of British dramatic literature.
And people are doing the right thing by consciously studying the literary arts which are the foundation, and fountain, for generations of today and those to come.
But Africans should also do the same with their cultural treasures. There ought to be concerted effort by government and academia to put up new educational structures that would make the arts, the natural talent of Africa, to be fully tapped and harnessed in an effective, collective, organized way.
This will result in an education that gives pride, inspiration and zeal to the young African scholars. This will be the beginning of a liberating education and not just a liberal education.
African media, if they are indeed African, must not quote Shakespeare. They must use quotes of Africans.
If nothing is done Africans will continue wandering in the wilderness with their educational qualifications which contribute hardly anything to the social and economic trajectory of the continent.
– Victor Angula is the editor of Omutumwa News Online.
