Rushdie and Ngugi discussion question
It’s better to preserve a culture’s history by encouraging writers to write in their home languages. Writers should write in a language that delivers their messages clearly and accurately. This is most definitely the language they identify with, the language that feels most natural to them. This also means that they can write in English if it feels natural to them. Rushdie expresses how the English language is flexible, allowing Indian children to use it to their advantage. He argues that “assisted by the English languages’ enormous flexibility, and size, they are carving out large territories for themselves within its frontiers.” However, writing in the English language takes away from the importance of the mother tongue; it’s why people often forget about their culture. Some may argue that it is better to write in English because more people can understand it. However, that doesn’t make sense because as writers compose a piece, they have an intended audience in mind; they want their writing to reach a target audience. So, when a writer writes in their home language, they want their audience to be people who understand the language because that’s how they’ll understand the message the author is trying to convey. Take Ngũgĩ, for example. He did everything in his power to write a novel in his home language, Gĩkũyũ. Ngũgĩ states, “I wrote it on the only paper available to me, which was toilet paper.” He’s so passionate about writing in his mother tongue that he wrote it on toilet paper because it was the only thing available to him in jail. Ngũgĩ wanted to send a clear message about injustice, and there was no way to do that if he wrote it in English because then he’d give in to the unjust system. In addition, Ngũgĩ believes that not being able to write in his home language gives one language power over the other. He explains that he composed a few pieces in English but wasn’t criticized for it but when he wrote his home language he was imprisoned. Writers should freely write in their home language to show appreciation for their culture. I only know how to write in Arabic and English, and I’m not discouraged from writing in Arabic.