''I have taken ownership of English''- Chimamanda Adichie & Ngugi Wa Thiong'o says:''English is not an African language''.

Ngugi

Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thiong’o discusses the problematic elements of colonial languages and the hierarchical tendencies, and power dynamics, they encourage in countries that, through colonization, have adopted them as their lingua franca.

Wa Thiong’o firmly states that, “English is not an African language, period", and that in using English as a default tongue, we are simply contributing to the expansion of this dangerous form of cultural suppression, still submitting to the hierarchy of colonial languages.

HARDTAlk host Gavin Esler notes that his form of decolonizing African minds and tongues is in stark contrast to writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who says that, “English is mine, I have taken ownership of English".

Wa Thiong’o then goes on to say that claims made in the same vein of Adichie are related to the ‘metaphysical empire’, a sort of abstract reclaiming of ones own identity in relation to history and the power dynamics of language in the world, as opposed to penetrating the systematic structures of language as a tool of oppression.He tells Gavin Esler that language plays an important role in hierarchies and systems of oppression.

He says that African authors should be clear about the fact that when they write in English they are contributing to the expansion of, and dependence on, the English language. He argues that translation plays an important role in allowing cultures to communicate but thinks it is "crazy" that a prize for African literature only considers books written in English.

Do you think Ngugi is right in his conclusions?