ENGLISH IS FOR ELIZABETH
CULTURE
And
well, I’m Ene Ijato, so that’s that then.
Despite our fierce claim to our culture, English
is no stranger in our midst. We could hang our devotion to it on the British
colonization or the fleet of Americanahs trouping back home after a few decades
or less of flirting with America. Or we could also accuse our diversity and
hold claim to the fact that English serves as common tongue.
“Do
you have an English name?” I continue to suffer through this dialogue. It is
with no reservation this question gets lurched at me after introducing myself
to an acquaintance. The dramatic nerve-wrecking pulling of my hair in my mind
fights the affable smile that drags across my face as I spit back a reply.
Job
interviews for positions the likes of radio hosting suffers us through the pretence
of whose accent in more foreign and English most peppered with linguistic anecdotes
soaring in pretentious falsettos (and there I thought the radio voice was a
metaphor for artistic flair). We receive no praise on how beautifully our
mother tongue has married its inflections to our accents, English here is like
the billboard model free of imperfections.
I cringe when I hear Nigerians proudly
state that their children are only allowed to speak English. I cringe at the
ideals propagated in schools forbidding children from speaking any language
other than English within the premises. English is a tool, because of its
widespread global usage it will aid us in communication, but that is all.
English is not our identity.
Neo-colonialism, scholars have skilfully
worded this phenomenon. A flirtatious love affair that has remained savoured
with disapproval, touching with our tongues and feigning distaste. Civility is
judged by how western we present ourselves and even being African, Nigerian has
been reduced to a single story –The story of the privileged elite be it the
Afropolitan; the British Nigerian or American Nigerian. (whom are also
Nigerians and Africans, do not misinterpret me.). Or the story of poverty
scourging its way through the heart of Sub-Saharan Africa. But there’s also the
story of the girl who went to school in Nigeria, grew up in Nigeria and lives
in Nigeria but isn’t dying of starvation. There is no single story to
Africaness. We need to tell it all.
There is culture, and there is civilization.
Do these two go at heads against each other? Can you be one and still be the
other, can you be both? We ask ourselves these questions and judge ourselves on
our self-assumed opinions.
But there are truths we also subtly hide
away from ourselves like the fact that our languages hadn’t been documented
until civilization came to us. That a vast majority of our population couldn’t
communicate with the rest of the world until civilization. The internet, mass
media, electronic technology… the list goes on. Perhaps it is why the
invigorated African in her/his search for a concrete footing to their becoming
of self, have after a vivid history of how civilization came to us equated it
to Europe. But civilization isn’t a race or continent or country irrespective
of how it has been misconstrued to be Western or European. Some may have
contributed to it more than others, the majority of pre-colonial Africa least
of all but civilization has always been a universal input and a global asset.
There is a part of every continent in
another. Be it culture or technology or language or people, we have shared far more
than we care to acknowledge.
The
African fashion industry’s passionate movement, which in a bid to make a
statement for itself much distinctive from the English idealisms of fashion,
settled itself in Ankara like the robust market woman claiming her stall spot
–although the very goods in question carry strong foreign history in production,
supposedly from the Javanese, to the Dutch, it’s quite lost to me.
One would argue though, the premise to
settle from an integral explorative fashion perspective that Ankara basically
has no miscellany in texture and its vibrant patterns poses as an attention
seeker even when one chooses not to make such a statement. Hence here’s to
those who love Ankara but can’t wear it all the time.
Regarding the fashion industry, it should
be on how we are able to incorporate various fabrics both indigenous and
foreign into our creativity. On improving how fashion is perceived by Africans
and the entire world and also producing for global consumption, hence improving
our various countries both economically and culturally. So just because I wear
denim or plaid or cashmere doesn’t make me any less African it just goes to
show that I wholly indulge diversity. I mean It is as synonymous as insinuating
because I drive a car, watch T.V and eat croissants –all foreign creations, I
am any less so.
So let me define for you my Africaness. It
is in some of the things you cannot see, the things I feel, the experiences I
live through, the language I claim as my own, my roots, my love for this
continent. These aren’t wholly relative to all Africans. But what is distinctive
of us all, is our ancestral heritage and our desire to better the continent.
Therefore, English
is for Elizabeth, French is for Francesca, Italian is for Iago, Hindi is for
Hasvi, Mandarin is for Ming-Yue, Idoma is for Ijato (Yea, I did that on purpose).
But we can share cultures without losing our identities, we should. And if we
have been, we should continue to. We have wholeheartedly shared civilization so
far, so what about doing the same with culture? I mean isn’t that what cultural globalization
is all about anyway? And in my opinion, it’s a pretty damn good thing!
Cue, and I vamoose.
My heart goes
out to all the people who have been hit by the recent appalling civil unrest,
if anything Nigerians and the agitators of Biafra, this should teach us all
that peace is always the better option.
PS: in case you
guessed, I’m affirming that those are indeed pyjama trousers.
A hi nya, with
love, x E
Directing
// Ene Ijato
Photographed
by // Onyebuchi Ugwu
Editing //
Ene Ijato
Styling //
Ene Ijato
11 comments
the same applies to religion... since we've willfully thrown away ours to accept the religion of the foreigners, going around ranting and boasting shouting religions we know nothing about, killing our kind, mutilating our cultures and letting it teach us how to think. Not like I worship obatanla tho...lol
ReplyDeleteLol I understand your thoughts, our religious differences shouldn't define us or how we perceive people. Thanks for the feedback. ❤ E
DeleteI still can't wrap my head around why a parent would bar their children from speaking their mother tongue.
ReplyDeleteNice article as always.
Neocolonization, they still feel their heritage is uncivilized and inferior. Thanks for stopping by as always, I'm glad you enjoyed the read. ❤ E
Deletelove the point you have hammered here, which is the hypocrisy in Africans, going back to the example of driving a car which is foreign tech, yes people in Nigeria criticise one for putting on jeans and some T-shirts but they have phones, they go to the internet and also they drive cars, that is just hypocrisy! Transplanting cultures is a beautiful thing as you noted except when they start transplanting far left culture if you know what I mean... lol, but yes how can we resolve this and come to the fact that everyday and with persuasive factors such a the internet, the world is becoming global but yet it cannot have one history.
ReplyDeleteOne may be chocolate or white or black, have long soft hair or short thick hair, may love to put on scanty outfits or whole covering but still everyone has red blood and that is where we are similar, by being human.
Hi Inalegwu, I'm glad you enjoyed the read. Yes, although we may not have the same history, it is the beauty of diversity, we share humanity. ❤ E
DeleteThanks Goody, ❤ E
ReplyDeleteThere you go.. I like the line of thought and how the message is conveyed
ReplyDeleteCool stq
Thank you Ridhwan, I'm glad you enjoyed the read! ❤ E
DeleteWell, I wouldn't want to say you've said it all but the content of your piece is enriching. Many people keep tagging one's inability to speak English as illiteracy. They forgot that nobody is an illiterate, everyone is a "Literate" of his or her own culture. Kudos EJ, you a BOOM.
ReplyDeleteThanks Deemplez, your words are so true and so kind. I'm glad you stopped by ❤ E
DeleteEager to hear your thoughts!