环球英语 1454 Ngugi wa Thiong’o: Writing in His Own Language
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.
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And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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In Kenya, a young man sits in his high school classroom. He is learning in English. His classes are in English. His books are in English. His teachers speak English and he must ask questions in English. Everything is in English.
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But when he steps out of the school, everything is different. Outside of the school, the boy does not speak in English. He speaks his native language – Gikuyu. Every day, it is like he is living in two different countries. For Ngugi wa Thiogn’o, this was his life. This experience changed how he understood language and art. Today’s Spotlight is on Ngugi wa Thiogn’o, the Kenyan writer.
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Ngugi was born in a small village in Kenya. It was 1938. At the time, Great Britain ruled Kenya. They built English schools for the Kenyan people. Ngugi attended Alliance High School. At school, he learned history and stories from a British perspective. They told Britain’s version of the story, not the African version. He learned about British writers like Shakespeare. He also had a British name. During this time, it was common for Kenyans to take British names. Ngugi was called “James Ngugi.”
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During his time at school, Kenya was at war. The Kenyan people wanted independence from British rule. They wanted to govern themselves. This war made things very difficult for Ngugi at school. He told the news organization, NPR:
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“Inside my school, I would feel wonderful - I was learning Shakespeare! But the second I stepped out of the gates of the high school, something difficult would happen. It made me remember that war was happening. People were dying, people were being arrested, people were living in fear.”
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The war affected Ngugi’s whole life. His older brothers fought in the war. They would be gone for long periods of time. Ngugi worried about them. The war also affected his village and his home. One year, he went on a holiday trip with his school. When he returned home, his village had been completely destroyed. The British army had attacked and destroyed it. The memory of this experience is still very hard for Ngugi. He told NPR:
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“That memory, even today, is a little difficult. To go home, expecting to meet my mother. I expected to have a big welcome, as a high school student returning home in glory. Only, I found that my home did not exist. I did not know where my mother was, or my brother. It was not only my own house, but my whole village. My village, that I had come to know and love my whole life, had been burned to the ground.”
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This event changed Ngugi’s life. After his village was destroyed, he began to study harder. He earned degrees from schools in Uganda and in England. He became very good at speaking and writing in English. His first book was published in 1964. It was called “Weep Not, Child.” It was the first book in English by an East African writer. People all over the world read his work.
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After he finished school, he moved home to Kenya and continued writing. He wrote many books and plays in English. But he worried about writing in English. The people who taught him English were the same people who destroyed his village. He began to write more about the government.
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It was not long before Ngugi was in trouble. In 1977, he wrote a play about the government. It encouraged the people watching to join in the play. It encouraged people to use language to fight. The play was very popular, but some government officials did not like what it said. The government forced the play to close. Ngugi was arrested and put in prison.
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Prison was a difficult time for Ngugi. During that time, he decided that it was important for him to speak and write in his own language - his native language, Gikuyu. He believed that people should read books that are about their own cultures. So while in prison, he started writing in Gikuyu. He wrote the first Gikuyu-language book. He also changed his name back to Ngugi wa Thiogn’o. He was no longer James Ngugi.
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Ngugi left prison after one year. But Ngugi and his family could not stay in Kenya. It was no longer safe. So they moved to the United States. It was twenty years before they could return to Kenya. Ngugi became a university teacher. He continues to write books in both Gikuyu and English. He has been considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature. And he has continued to write about the importance of native languages in art and culture. Ngugi believes that language, art, and freedom are closely connected. He talked with the magazine Left Curve about this idea. He said,
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“The second you open a democratic or free space, it is important for art. You also open the space for creativity. In history, there have been times of great change. In these times, you can see art and the government looking forward to and almost working together on a new world. Art looks forward to a new world. Revolutionary forces in society are always looking forward to a new world.”
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For Ngugi, speaking native languages is important for saving traditions and culture. And traditional cultures must exist to create good art. Ngugi believes that writing in his native language respects his home. His life taught him that art can be used to create social change, and to change governments. He wants to remember the time of war in Kenya. He does this by creating art in his first language.
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Ngugi also believes that learning from the past can lead to a better future. He thinks language and art will help create a better future by teaching about the past. In 2012, he gave a speech about the importance of art and culture. In it, he said:
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“Art and the freedom to express it are important to culture. Culture is not the same thing as one tradition. Culture is a community in motion. Culture is to a community what a flower is to a plant. A flower is very beautiful to see. But it is the result of the roots, the stem, the branches and the leaves. But the flower is special because it contains the seeds. These seeds are the future. It is the product of the past, and is ready for tomorrow.”
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The writer and producer of this program was Dianna Anderson. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again and read it, on the internet at https://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called “Ngugi wa Thiong’o: Writing in His Own Language.”
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!
- See more at: https://spotlightenglish.com/listen/ngugi-wa-thiongo-writing-in-his-own-language#sthash.tiOQaf9p.dpuf
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