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The Language of Languages (The Africa List) Hardcover – February 5, 2023

by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Author)
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
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With clear, conversational prose, this is the first book dedicated entirely to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s writings on translation.

Through his many critically acclaimed novels, stories, essays, plays, and memoirs, Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has been at the forefront of world literature for decades. He has also been, in his own words, “a language warrior,” fighting for indigenous African languages to find their rightful place in the literary world. Having begun his writing career in English, Ngũgĩ shifted to writing in his native language Gikũyũ in 1977, a stance both creatively and politically significant. For decades now, Ngũgĩ has been translating his Gikũyũ works into English himself, and he has used many platforms to champion the practice and cause of literary translations, which he calls “the language of languages.”
 
This volume brings together for the first time Ngũgĩ’s essays and lectures about translation, written and delivered over the past two decades. Here we find Ngũgĩ discussing translation as a conversation between cultures; proposing that dialogue among African languages is the way to unify African peoples; reflecting on the complexities of auto-translation or translating one’s own work; exploring the essential task translation performed in the history of the propagation of thought; and pleading for the hierarchy of languages to be torn down. He also shares his many experiences of writing across languages, including his story The Upright Revolution, which has been translated into more than a hundred languages around the globe and is the most widely translated text written by an African author. At a time when dialogues between cultures and peoples are more essential than ever, The Language of Languages makes an outspoken case for the value of literature without borders.
 
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  1. Part of series
    The Africa List
  2. Print length
    116 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Seagull Books
  5. Publication date
    February 5, 2023
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1803090715
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1803090719
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is a leading African writer and scholar. He is currently distinguished professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of many novels, short stories, essays, a memoir, and several plays. In 2001, he received the prestigious Nonino International Prize for Literature.
 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Seagull Books (February 5, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 116 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1803090715
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1803090719
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
4 global ratings
Just perfect
5 out of 5 stars
Just perfect
I have enjoyed each of the words of Wa Thiong’o on the problem of languages in Africa and how the empirical logic still justifies language coloniality discourses in many countries around the world. As a researcher interested in linguistically and culturally responsive approaches to teaching, this has been a great reading for my conceptual framework.
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Jean de Dieu SOME
5.0 out of 5 stars Just perfect
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2024
Verified Purchase
I have enjoyed each of the words of Wa Thiong’o on the problem of languages in Africa and how the empirical logic still justifies language coloniality discourses in many countries around the world. As a researcher interested in linguistically and culturally responsive approaches to teaching, this has been a great reading for my conceptual framework.
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Jean de Dieu SOME
5.0 out of 5 stars Just perfect
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2024
I have enjoyed each of the words of Wa Thiong’o on the problem of languages in Africa and how the empirical logic still justifies language coloniality discourses in many countries around the world. As a researcher interested in linguistically and culturally responsive approaches to teaching, this has been a great reading for my conceptual framework.
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