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THINKING ALOUD - Problem of the African Reader!
Saturday 23 June 2012
THINKING ALOUD!
When I read Huchu’s input I instinctively hit my table twice, and asked a number of questions. Lilian has just articulated some. How do we really measure success? A more personal question which still chokes me is: Who is Huchu trying to impress?
Huchu makes, inter alia, two statements which I consider too sweeping and gratuitous. First, he states that "African literature simply has not achieved a level of output and influence within Africa for its writers to be recognised as anything..." I hope that my quote is not a vicious abstract! But what parameters has Huchu used? His native homeland? What does he consider as African Literature? Must it be what the West wants or can this literature also speak for itself without a mediator? We may be using European languages to express ourselves, but that is another profound issue for polemics.
Huchu also writes: "The truth is that western readers are crucial for any African writer who is looking for success today, and it is inevitable that the west will continue to determine the value and worth of literature from the African continent." What is Huchu’s concept of "truth"? Are western readers crucial only because he sold more books in Germany, perhaps during the Frankfurter Buchmesse - the Frankfurt Book fair? Then without any publicity one is coming up from 10-14 October 2012 !!! How many of "western readers" who are used to evaluate our literature even understand the context? (No racist feelings intended).
I strongly recommend to Huchu and others, a re-read of, and a reflection on: Towards the decolonialization of African literature, by Chinweizu Ihechukwu, (Howard, 1983). As a template and a backup, perhaps it may also be rewarding to read Chiek Anta Diop’s The African origin of civilization. Myth or reality (Lawrence Hill Books, 1975). No emotions on this!
Regards
Tatah Mbuy
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