Translated into isiXhosa by Thembile Ndabeni.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has attained a level of reverence within the literary world that approaches mythic proportions, primarily for his refusal of the terms in which the 20th century writing project is languaged. The dominant part of the Kenyan author’s career in letters has been taken up with enacting a mode of art-making – fictionalizing, satirizing, essaying, translating, staging – that is constitutively outside. As a towering figure in the worldly story of black thought, Ngũgĩ is a living archive of the difficult work of being-in-common, and a through-line to an age of writing that has receded with the ever-increasing atomization of the world. Ngũgĩ is one of the few remaining emissaries of that mid-century militant homesickness that gave such vitality to Nkosi, Achebe, Busby, Nwapa and others who searched restlessly for new centres. To read wa Thiong’o’s work is to encounter a writer who has spent his life-giving clarity to the complexity of life lived in the flinging whirl of the postcolony.
UNgũgĩ Wa Thiong’o ufumene isithsaba kwezokubhala kwicandelo lezobuntsomirha, ngenxa yokungavumelani ngendlela ekusetyenziswa ngayo ulwimi kweli khulu leminyaka lidulileyo. Okongamele kwisibabalo salombhali waseKenya kukhutshulwa, kukudlalwa okanye ukuphehlelelwa ngokwezobugcisa zale mihla yanamhla – ukuntsomizisa, ukudlala ngokwenza intlekisa, ngokubhala, utoliko, ukudlala eqongeni – konke oko kwakhelwe ngokubonakalayo. Njengosaziwayo kwihlabathi liphela ekubhaleni ngembali yabaNtsundu, ngokwengcingane, UNgũgĩ nguvimba ophilayo womsebenzi onzima, wendibanisela, nomgca-wokudlula kwilixa lokubhala elicudiswe kukucudiswa kwehlabathi. UNgũgĩ ngomnye kwabambalwa abaseleyo abanyuliweyo wela xesha lesiphakathi sekhulu leminyaka, amatsha-ntliziyo okwathi ukukhumbula kwawo kwanika amandla kuNkosi, Achebe, Busby, Nwapa nabanye abaphande ngokuzinikeleyo bekhangela izakhiwo ezitsha zokwenzela umsebenzi okumila kunje. Ukufunda umsebenzi wakhe kukudibana nombhali owanikela ixesha enika ingcaciso ngokuphangalala kobomi obuphiliweyo kwelo lizwe lali sisithanga.
Now that Ngũgĩ has entered that summative phase common to great writers in their older years, a publication like The Language of Languages is a timeous way to grasp what Ngugi has been insisting into existence over his long career. A slim volume collecting together 9 speeches, lectures and other public enunciations of craft from the first two decades of this century, it’s an excellent primer for those looking to get a foothold on his critical preoccupations: language, translation, and the vexing problem of
how to bring about the conditions that would make it possible to reclaim the territory of the mind from the corrosive incursion of the colonizer’s language.
Njengoko ngoku umbhali engene kwisigaba sokushwankathelwa esilandelweyo nangababhali abadumileyo ebudaleni babo, isipapasho esifana noThe Language of Languages (Ulwimi lweelwimi) sesona sifike ngendlela nexesha elifanelekileyo ekuqondeni kakuhle kanye-kanye lento uNgũgĩ ebeyimele ixesha elide kwesi sibhalo sakhe sokuqala. Lithamsanqa umthanyana oqokelela iintetho zakhe ezisithoba, izifundo nezinye izipapasho azenze esidlangalaleni zomsebenzi wobuchwepheshe wokubhala wamashumi amabini kwelikhulu leminyaka sikulo kwabo basafufusayo ekwazini ngomsebenzi obalulukileyo kaNgũgĩ:
ulwimi, inguqulelo, nokuveza iindela ezizakubangela kukwazeke ukubuyiseka komthamo wengqondo obuhlaselwe, wathyefwa watshatyalaliswa ngesaquphe lulwimi lobukoloniyali.
Reading the various lectures that make up the collection transmits a ready sense of the fluidly apothegmatic style of Ngũgĩ’s work. The voice, tone, substance and rhythm of the storyteller permeates these performances of public wisdom, playful and yet engaged and serious by turn.
Xa ufunda izifundo ezenza ingqokelela kuphuma ingqokelela engumongo owenza indlela entsokothileyo abhala ngayo uNgũgĩ. Ulwimi, inkupho, undoqo nokubetha kolwimi komchazi-bali kuthyuthya kwilungu ngalinye kulonto iyiyo, kwimidlalo yokufundisa esidlangalaleni, nangona iyimidlalo yokufundisa kodwa kuyafuthelwana, kuxoxwe, kutsho kuphume into ephucukileyo.
To some extent, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is a prisoner of the political disruption he fomented. The irony washes when one considers that his decision to reject the idea of African languages as stunted, frozen and inelastically lifeless was futurist in its espousal of a decolonial lifeworld. When he speaks of African unity in the 2000 keynote Finding Our Way, the sentiment can sound platitudinous to modern ears:
In each of our countries, it was the unity of the various nationalities which made possible the achievement of independence. The spirit of unity guided us and we talked of pan-African unity. It was Europe which used to laugh at our dreams of the unity of African peoples. But look at our situation today. When European countries are uniting to the extent of even having a common parliament, a common currency and a common passport, we in Africa are doing the exact opposite: erecting as many barriers as possible to the movement of people and goods across our national frontiers, and at times retreating into ethnic enclaves and even splitting along clan lines.
Ngendlela ethile, UNgũgĩ lixhoba lezopolitiko eziphazanyisiweyo phofu lukwaphenjelelwe kwanguye. Umnqa uthanda ukuphanza xa ubani ethathela ingqalelo into yokuba isigqibo awasithabathayo sokukhaba uluvo lokuba iilwimi zase-Afrika ziyadodobalisa, zingumkhenkce, azikwazi kushukuma zibonisa ukungabinabomi, sibonisa ukuba wayejonge phambili ngendlela ulwimi eluphinyiselwa luthyile ubomi emva kwedyokhwe yobukoloniyali. Kwintetho yakhe ephambili ngonyaka we-2000 xa ethetha ngemanyano ye-Afrika phantsi kwesihloko esithi “Finding Our Way” (“Ukubona Indlela Yethu”), indlela avakalelwa ngayo ingavakala njengengqiqo engekho kumgangatho ophezulu kwiindlebe zalemihla sikuyo:
Kwilizwe ngalinye kumazwe ethu, lumanyano lwezizwana ezahlukeneyo olwenza ukuba kufumaneke umaziphathe. Umoya wobunye wasikhokhela satsho sathetha ngobunye be-Afrika. Yi-Yoruphu eyayidla ngokuhlekisa ngamaphupha ethu wokumanyana kwabantu base-Afrika. Kodwa bonani imeko yethu ngoku. Xa amazwe ase-Yurophu emanyana kangangokuba ade abenendlu-wisomthetho enye, mali-enye, ncwadi-yondwendwelo-enye, thina e-Afrika senza ncakasana okuchasene noko: sakha izithintelo kangangoko sinako ekuthinteleni intshukumo yabantu nezinto zorhwebo ngaphaya kwemida yelizwe ngalinye, kangangokuba maxa wambi side siphindele ekucalu-calucalulaneni sodwa side sibeziintsali ngobuni bethu.
Notwithstanding Europe’s more recent retreat into right-wing factionalism, many of these pieces provoke a sense that Ngugi’s Africa-first advocacy has to be read in distinct context of the unfinished work of decolonialism which his work is constantly gesturing to. Of course, the matter of context is a common problem with site-specific performances of knowledge, which, cut loose from their own time in a collection like this might lead one to say, “Well, yes. And?”
Phantsi kwemeko yokuphindela kwe-Yurophu kumaqumrhu-obunxaxha-qhwayel’mva-basekunene, uninzi lweziziqwentshana luvuselela uluvo luka-Ngũgĩ loku khokhelisa i-Afrika phambili kuqala, lumele ukufundwa ngendlela eqondileyo ncakasana nokuqhubekeka nomsebenzi ongekagqibeki wokuthula emagxeni ityathanga lobukoloniyali, msebenzi wakhe lowo soloko ukugxeleshile oko. Ewe, indlela ayivelela ngayo yingxaki kawonke-wonke, nolwazi ngokusetyenziswa kwalo ngokwendawo oluthi maxa wambi luzikhwebule ngexesha lalo kwindibanisela ekumila kunje, nto leyo engakhokhelela ukuba ubani athi, “Hayi ke, ewe, Ngoku?”
There is a sense that, having placed himself as a leading voice in the immense work of decolonial being-for-ourselves, the Ngũgĩ presented to us in this assembly of speeches is perhaps not the strongest medium for accessing his work. There’s a metronomic steadiness to these speeches which suggests curatorial passivity. While individually, they spark and crackle like a well-tended fire, placed alongside each other the speeches and lectures and keynotes all take on an unfortunate sameness, lacking the polemical vigour for which wa Thiong’o is justly feted.
Kukho into ethi, njengoko ezibeke phambili kulo msebenzi wobukoloniyali omelene nathi, lo Ngũgĩ umiswe phambi kwethu kolu ludwe lwentetho mhlawumbi akangomlinganiselo weneleyo wokufikelela kumsebenzi wakhe. Kukho ukuma nxgi kwezintetho nto leyo ebonisa ukusilela ekulungiseleleni. Nangona zivutha bhe xa uzithatha nganye-nganye, kodwa xa zibekwe enye ecaleni kwenye iintetho nezifundo eziphambili ngelishwa zonke zenza ukufana okungahli kamnandi, zisilela amandla okuhlasela, nto leyo uNgũgĩ bekumele ubonakele nje kakuhle kuyo.
Naturally, there’s a degree of thematic enjambment with a collection like this: the longer one writes on a topic, the more difficult it becomes not to slip into the self-referential. In one sense, his fondness for the illustrative parable brings with it an ontological fuzziness that resembles a campfire conversation. That being said, there is much to find sharply readable here. Ngũgĩ on the question of language is almost peerlessly fluent:
In reality, there is no language, despite the number of its speakers, which is inherently more of a language than other languages. Every language is equally a memory bank of knowledge, information and experiences of the community that created it; and every language has the best and most detailed knowledge of the ecology of the area that produced it. Every language is equally capable of expansion to embrace new experiences, information and knowledge, even if they have to adopt words from other languages. Languages as mediums of information and knowledge can easily make new words or borrow from one another.
Phofu ke, kukho umlinganiso woqhakamshelwano ololu hlobo: maxana umntu ebhala ngesihloko, kungona kubanzima ukuba angatyibiliki kumsebenzi wakhe, abhekise kuwo. Ukuthanda kukaNgũgĩ ukwenza imizekelo ecacileyo ngemifanekiso kuze nobumfiliba kubunzulu-lwazi ngobukho nangobunto bezinto, nto leyo efana nencoko yasemlilweni wekampu. Nangona kunjalo, kuninzi onokufumana kufundeka ngokucacileyo. Kumba wolwimi, uNgũgĩ uphantse watyibilika ngokugqibeleleyo:
Enyanisweni, akukho lwimi nokuba bangakanani abantu abaluthethayo ngokwemvelo olumiselwe ukuba lulwimi ukogqitha ezinye iilwimi. Lwimi ngalunye nguvimba wolwazi, isiqulatho-lwazi, namava okuhlala okulakhileyo, kwaye ke lwimi ngalunye linefuthe lomgangatho ophezulu nolwazi olunkcukachiweyo ngemfundo ngezinto eziphilileyo malunga nendawo eziphila kuyo eziluzeleyo. Lwimi ngalunye lungakwazi ukukhula lwamkele amava amatsha, isiqulatho-lwazi nolwazi, nokuba kungafuneka lamkele amagama asuka kwezinye iilwimi. Iilwimi njengomhlanganisi wesiqulatho-lwazi, nolwazi ziyakwazi ngokulula ukwenza amagama amatsha okanye olunye kolunye.
Elsewhere, he writes of discovering that a childhood story he has long cherished – you’re no doubt familiar with the one about the father, the son and the donkey which is basically about how you can’t please everybody – blooms magically when he discovers that it has its origins in medieval Spain. Translation – or more specifically, the rich creative potential thereof – is of course one of Ngũgĩ’s preoccupations, and his thinking here is generative for how we understand the work of literature in the world.
Kwenye indawo ubhala ngokubhaqa ibali labantwana ekudala elilangazelela- ngokuqinisekileyo uyalazi elingotata, unyana nondlebe-nde elisekelwe ekuboniseni ukuba awunakukwazi ukwanelisa wonke umntu- likhula ngokumangalisayo xa efumana ukuba instukaphi yalo sisiSpeyini samandulo. Inguqulelo – igqale ekutyebeni kwesakhono esiphuhlileyo – nakanjani zezona zinto bezisoloko zisengqondweni kaNgũgĩ, kwaye indlela acinga ngayo apha yakheke ngendlela esiqonda ngayo umsebenzi wokubhala ehlabathini.
To read wa Thiong’o’s theoretics of language is to find oneself in an echoing chamber of mirrors. His speeches bind to a number of core concepts, circling back over the ground covered in his mid-period work. A reader familiar with Ngũgĩ’s work will of course know that Decolonising the Mind, that oft-cited four-essay collection from the 80s, is a creative retooling of ideas invoked in earlier work.
Xa ufunda umsebenzi kaNgũgĩ wobuciko bolwimi uzifumana uzibona ngapha-nangapha kuthotho lwezipili. Iintetho zakhe zirhintyela iziqulatho-magama ezininzi ezingundoqo, zibuye ziqamangele umgama esele ewugangathile kwesi siphakathi somthamo womsebenzi wakhe. Nakanjani umfundi oqheleneyo nomsebenzi kaNgũgĩ uyakwazi ukuba uDecolonizing the Mind (ukukhululwa kwengqondo kwityathanga lobukoloniyali), ingqokelela yeziqwentshana ezine esukela pha kwiminyaka yo-1980 yingqiqo yomsebenzi-zimvo ezacelelwa amandla angapha kokuqonda kumsebenzi wakhe wangaphambili.
But this very constitutive reploughing indicates his investment in staying with the problem of speaking from one’s mother tongue. The will to return to a concept as knotted as how we language the world, to redescribe it and to attempt to transport others with its possibilities and potentialities, is laudable.
Kodwa kukwaphinde kutyalwe njengenxalenye, kuvezwa ubulumko ekuhlaleni nengxaki yokuthetha ngolwimi lwakho. Umnqweno wokubuyela kwisiqulatho-ntetho njengesibophelelo ngendlela iilwimi ezithethwa ngayo ehlabathini, ukuphinda uwucacise ngokubonisa kwakhona nokuzama ukuhambisa nezinye iilwimi, namathuba neempawu, uyancomeka.
The emphasis on Ngũgĩ’s decolonial theorizing has perhaps been to the detriment of the thing he has claimed to hold most dear, his fiction. Finding copies of the older fiction in circulation is a rare joy, and though there is still the seasonal clamour from his adherents whenever the Nobels roll around, the voices have grown more subdued. You wouldn’t bet on him, would you?
Ugxininiso kumsebenzi kaNguni wengqiqo ngokuthulwa idyokhwe yobukoloniyali mhlawumbi ibiphazamisa le nto kanye ibesemxhelweni wakhe, umsebenzi obunstomirha. Ukufumana iikopi ezindala zomsebenzi wakhe obuntsomirha zihanjiswa luncuthu olunqabileyo, nangona maxa wambi kubakho isinyanzeliso esimandla kubantu abazinikeleyo kumsebenzi wakhe rhoqo xa kuvakala amarhe ewonga lweNobheli, ifuthe litsho likhule ngamandla kakhulu. Awunakufuna ukufunga, ubeke imali phezu kwegama lakhe, ungayenza lo nto?
While there are occasional reappraisals of his early work, most of what is written about his novels focuses on the mid-period nowadays tends to be in warm, amiable tones. When you outlive most of your contemporaries, it seems churlish to point out that not every sentence written by the venerated author is electric. In his later fiction, Ngũgĩ is occasionally boring: Wizard of the Crow had a few too many bum sentences padding out its generous length, and while The Perfect Nine was a stronger work than its relatively muted critical reception suggested, it also had its lukewarm moments. In his later (an elastic term given the longevity of wa Thiong’o’s career) work the sparkling sagacity that makes his writing so trenchant is always present. But there is also the flotsam: wrongheadedly criticizing Achebe’s rebuttal of Joseph Conrad, say, or the occasionally pedestrian short stories that stand out because so much of his short fiction is so good.
Nangona kumana kuvela ithuba lokuvavanya ixabiso lomsebenzi wakhe, uninzi lokubhaliweyo ngeenoveli zakhe lugxininisa kwizigaba ezisesiphakathini kula maxesha sikuwo kwaye luthanda ukwenzeka ngomoya omhle woxolo. Xa uthe kratya kwabo nenza into enye, ibingathi yinkohlakalo ukucacisa ukuba hayi sonke isivakalisi esibhalwe ngumbhali ohlonitshwe kakhulu siyatshisa. Kumsebenzi wakhe obuntsomirha oselekudala ukho, ngamaxesha athile uNgũgĩ uyadina: Wizard of the Crow (Qgwirha likaNomyayi) unezivakalisi ezimbalwa ezibhampulayo ziphambuka kubunewu-newu obungaka, ngeli xesha uThe Perfect Nine (isithoba esigqibeleleyo) yayingowona msebenzi unamandla kunale meko ivezwa kukuhlatywa amadlala, naye ubenawo amaxesha okuba diki-diki. Kumsebenzi wakhe olandelayo, (uye wanikwa igama lokunwebeka ngenxa yokutsala kwawo umsebenzi kaNguni) ukuhlwahlwaza neenkwenkwezi zengqiqo yakhe zenza ukubhala kwakhe kusekelwe ekucaceni, efutheni, amandla nokuya nqo kule ndawo ifele ithole soloko zibonakala. Kodwa nangona kunjalo ukungazinzi kukwakho: kwisihloko esiqulunqwe ngendlela engeyiyo esigxeka indlela u-Achebe aphikisana ngayo noJoseph Conrad, masithi, okanye amabalana amafutshane amana evela kuba umsebenzi wakhe obuntsomirha mhle.
Any collected work would have to be truly Brobdingnagian to properly capture the rich and multiple textures of Ngũgĩ’s writing practice. What The Language of Languages does well is to place in close proximity different instances of wa Thiong’o’s disposition towards what are some inevitably big questions. It may, in the end, be more for the completist than anyone else, but as a sampler of his work, it’s worth the read.
Nawuphi umsebenzi oyindibanisela kunganyanzeleka ukuba ubenguma ngangendlovu ukuba ufuna ukufikelela kwizinga lokwenza komsebenzi kaNgũgĩ. Eyona nto yenziwa kakuhle nguThe Language of Languages (ulwimi lweelwimi)kukusondeza kufutshane amathuba ahlukeneyo ekuhambiseni umsebenzi kaNgũgĩ kwezinye iimeko apho kukho imibuzo emikhulu engaphephekiyo. Mhlawumbi ekugqibeleni ingancedisana neenjongo zokugqibelela ukogqitha nabani, kodwa njengomboniso womsebenzi kaNgũgĩ nakanjani ufanele ukufundwa.
