Shane Moran - Alternation Journal

I Ize lire of I/evnaczllar Lclngzrcrges 2 ~ the 2 Malawlarz Literary Incl~~str~~
Igbo is tlie right one to speak and write. Dialects and orthographies vary
foni district to district and clan to clan
There is usgent need to develop standard orthographies and graininass of other major
languages of Malawi. This will alleviate writers' problems when using these languages.
It IS pleasing to note that in April 1996 the University of Malawi established a Centre for
Language Studies (replacing the Chichewa Board) whose inandate is to develop and
promote Malawian languages. Among the initial projects of the new Centre is the
review of the existing orthographies foi* Chiyao and Chitumbuka.
prestige and economic considerations
There are some writers who feel that it is prestigious to write in an international
language such as English. Writing in an iiitemational language affords thein the
opportunity to be known across their country's borders. While this is true, we should
bear in mind that it is the quality of the literary work that makes a writer popular or
unknown beyond hisker homeland. NjabuloNdebele has argued that
Tolstoy did not write in English. Nor did Ibsen. nor Thomas Mofolo. Yet
their works are known theworld over (inLindfors 1989:50).
It is ofteii argued that it is econoiliically more rewarding to write in an international
language than in an indigenous language because an international language guarantees
a wider readership, and hence more to be pocketed from royalties. What is needed in
Malawi is that writers should lobby for reasonable royalties froin publishers. The
current rates of royalties are just too low to motivate the writer's interest. Special
incentives should be set aside by governmellt and publishers for writers who opt for
indigenous languages. One way of boosting creative writing in these neglected
languages is to organize writing competitions which cassy with them reasoilable and
attractive prizes On arecent trip to South Africa, the author of this article came across a
call for entries in the 1 996/97 KagisoIFirst National BankNovella writing competition.
Top winners were assured of having their works published. In Malawi, unfortunately,
writing competitions do not offer much in terms of money. What the author found
particularly striking about the KagisoIFirst National Bank competition was that the
competition was open to all the eleven official languages of South Africa. The case in
Malawi is that often writing competitions are restricted to English and Chichewa.
Organisei-s of writing competitions in Malawi sh~uld open up to the following
seiniofficial languages: Chitumbuka, Chiyao, Chilo~nwe and Chisena.
publisher's lack of interest in indigenous languages
Chichewa is the only indigenous language that has been of tnterest to publishers and
sponsors of writing competitions For example, both Popular Publications and Dzuka
Publishing have a Chichewa series. The Malawi Broadcasting Co~poration (MBC)
Radio One has some progratnlnes devoted to literary items eg 'Writers' Corner' is a
Gregory FI Kcrnzwenclo
in which literary works in English are critiqued; 'Nzeru Nkupangwa', a
e on Malawian culture airs some poetry and short stories in Chichewa;
' is a programme on MBC devoted to Chichewa poetry. 'Theatre of the air'
draina in English. There is need to have similar radio programmes
tive writing in the other major languages of Malawi.
Some interest in publishing both literary and nonliterary works in indigenous
started to be noticed. On the nonliterary scene, Manchichi Publishing
ba launched aBasic Chiyao Reader, written in simple grammar and with
ple structures, progressing from one syllable words to sentences of several phrases.
he same publishing company has started translating already published literary works:
In the absence of' any original creative writing in Chiyao so far we have
started with translations fro111 publislled sources. These translations are of
two kinds: original writing froni Chichewa or English and written
t'olkstories in either of tlie two languages (Manchichi Publislling
Company Catalogue 1996:s).
egative attitudes towards indigenous languages
learly, negative attitudes towards indigenous languages are detrimental to the growth
iterature in such languages. It is unfortunate that thirty years of independence have
freed some Malawians from linguistic iinperialism or linguistic chauvinism. There
tendency to degrade local languages, and go for foreign languages (especially the
guage ofthe fonner colonizers). Often we
hear people brag that they only read the English articles In the bilingual
newspapers, finding the vernacular portions rather unpalatable
(Mwiyeriwa 1978b:xxiv).
hen an indigenous language is on the verge of 'death', vely few people express
concern. However, when the position of English is about to be threatened, loud cries are
heard. Recently, the Ministry of Education directed that as from tlie 1997 acade~nic
year, vernacular languages will be used as media of instruction in the early phases ofthe
primary school (grades 1-4). You just have to read the papers and listen to the radio to
have a feel of people's concerns that the policy will lead to a lowering of standards in
English. Whether this is a geiiuiiie fear or not is not the crucial inatter here, but what is
important to note is that those who express such fears seein not to care about indigenous
In conclusion I would like to join with those warning that national languages
should not be developed 'at the dire expense of regional languages' (Ngugi 1986:72t).
When will African languages be elevated? Why do Afi-icans question efforts aimed at
elevating the status oftheir indigenous languages?
Centre for. Langu'ige 9tud1rs
IJn~vet srty of Maia~v~