African languages and culture are constantly under duress, competing with other internationally recognized and accepted cultures, experiencing cultural convergence, hybridization and differentialism that result in assimilation, change, or even being threatened by extinction.
While it is common to blame external factors for the challenges of language and cultural promotion and preservation in Africa, it is important to note the generational gap that does not use the same lenses in viewing African cultures and languages. The task therefore is how to keep this generational gap in constant connection and understanding with their language and cultures in a globalized world that continues to evolve.
According to Anita Kelles-Viitanen, in a study titled ‘Custodians of Culture and Biodiversity’, when a culture dies, much more of its valuable knowledge is lost forever and this loss is for the whole world. This study was reviewing 1095 proposals for solutions to rural poverty, proposed by indigenous people and their organizations. Through this study the importance of preservation and promotion of cultures and languages is emphasized, encouraging cultural diversities as the basis for future innovations where indigenous knowledge based on cultural preservations is seen as important.
Thus, points on preservation and promotion of African languages would continuously engage relevant custodians, as shared by Sylvain Agbolo, an African language activist, linguist and translator in Accra, Ghana, recently hosted by Nat King Taylor on Africa’s LSP Podcast, by Bolingo Consult which you can listen to here. This article discusses the role of custodians in preserving and promoting African languages and cultures.
Understanding Custodians of African languages
In the previous article in this series, with reference to the preservation and promotion of African languages, stakeholders were generally anyone with interest in ensuring the continued existence, functioning, and relevance of culture and languages, while custodians denote more specifically people who are not only stakeholders but also carry the additional culturally and socially mandated responsibility to protect African languages and culture in general.
The role of custodians within the context of African languages preservation cannot be undermined, even in the wake of globalization, because they are socially and culturally tasked with the mandate to act as gatekeepers of the right use of language, customs, traditions and mores of the societies. In effect, custodians ensure the safeguarding of languages and cultures from appropriation and decimation.
Examples of these custodians include traditional leaders like the chiefs, kings, earth priests, traditional healers, family heads, among others, who occupy a culturally and socially central place in society with the knowledge of its culture and language. They are supported by linguists, messengers, traditional performers like drummers, dancers, playwrights who are repositories of these cultural traditions, practices and the indigenous languages.
According to the African Union, the Cultural and Creative Industries(CCIs) play a key role in contributing to societal prosperity. Thus, beyond the traditional sphere, other custodians involved in the preservation and promotion of African cultures, traditions and languages include the government, policy makers, the national library, the media and the departments of creative and performing arts.
As discussed in the article on stakeholders, it is important that all these units work hand in hand to provide a unified information that not only encourages but also guides the use of indigenous languages. Aspiration 5 of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 envisions ‘An Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics’.
Cultural custodians are therefore charged with mobilizing communities for an African cultural renaissance that taps into its rich heritage and values for sustainable growth and transformation, restoring and preserving Africa’s cultural heritage, including its languages even amidst intensified globalization. How then can the custodians carry out this assignment?
Custodians of African Languages: Chiefs, Kings, Earth Priests, Traditional Healers, and Family Heads
A study by Govender et al, titled ‘Indigenous knowledge of custodians of zulu culture – Implications for multilogical dialogue in the academy’, discusses the role of traditional headmen (izinduna), traditional chiefs (amakhosi) and medicinal healers (izangoma and izinyanga) in the social, economic and political development of communities and the environments and how they are recognized for their sociocultural wealth in society.
From this paper, South African academic institutions and the government have recognized the importance of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the development of the country. This is perhaps useful grounds to engage with the role of these custodians in preserving and promoting African languages and by extension, cultures.
It is important to note that parallel institutions characterize most African countries representing the formal laws of the state and traditional institutions which are common in the rural areas. This is expounded in Kidane Mengisteab’s article titled ‘Traditional Institutions of Governance in Africa’, where he explains three layers of representation of traditional leadership institutions namely; formal institutions(laws) of the state – that execute state laws within society, societal norms and customs that differ across cultures – the mandate to preserve and promote African languages and cultures and “traditional” institutions – the leadership hierarchy within the traditional leadership institution.
The context of this article is interested in the part of traditional leadership institutions responsible for safeguarding the societal norms, customs and languages while preserving and promoting them. Not all African countries with these traditional institutions are designated to safeguard the cultures and languages of the society. Countries like Ghana, Uganda, the Kingdom of Eswatini have clearly defined structures for traditional institutions organized on promoting and preserving societal norms, customs and indigenous languages.
Many other African countries have traditional institutions that are quite not fully developed culturally and traditionally, and non-centralized, and whose focus is more towards maintaining formal law and order within society. Most of the non-centralized traditional institutions are a product of colonial states.
An old African adage, in paraphrase, states that when an elderly person dies a library dies with them. That is because elderly people are recognised as holding a wealth of information and experiences on the cultures, traditions as well as the rules that encompass language usage in that society. In this context, chiefs, kings, earth priests, traditional healers, and family heads are cultural libraries of their societies.
They hold culturally and socially sanctioned responsibility for the proper usage of language that maintains its values and structure, and utilization of oral stories, proverbs, and adages that are constantly useful for directing behavior in a particular society.Just like Chinua Achebe posits, “English alone cannot carry the weight of African experiences.”
There is a tendency for certain artifacts, historical paintings and sculptures to be used internationally to represent African cultures. African phrases are equally used in films without proper research of the meaning and usage. These constitute unlawful cultural appropriation, and thus makes it imperative for traditional leaders in African societies to be encouraged to protect cultures.
Moreover, it behooves on everyone of us Africans to improve our education in, use of, African languages. Such important commemorations as the International Mother Tongue Day can be used as platforms by traditional leaders to encourage the continued use of indigenous languages within homes to ensure its preservation and promotion so that its continuity is appreciated from generation to generation.
Linguists, Messengers, Traditional performers (drummers, dancers, storytellers)
While the traditional leaders as discussed above are the cornerstones of the preservation and promotion of African cultures and by extension, African languages, they are often assisted by everyone of us in any way possible. Yet, the focus in this article is on linguists, messengers, traditional performers as key actors to support traditional custodians.
These key actors are repositories of these cultural traditions and African languages. The traditional leaders in as much as they interact on a daily basis with the community, the repositories of the culture and language of the people take up the duties to constantly act as vital gatekeepers in support of custodians.
The generational gap that constantly undermines African language and culture has rendered the traditional repositories of culture as though irrelevant. This is unfortunate and can be reversed. Sadly, contemporary global values accord a higher status to international languages over local languages. Yet there is consolation around us.
Renowned literary scholar Ngugi wa Thiong’o constantly reminds us that knowing all the languages of the world and not your mother tongue or the language of your culture is enslavement. He further encourages us that if we want to be empowered then we must first learn our mother tongues. It is only then, after identifying deeply and unapologetically with one’s mother language, should one then add the languages of the world. Linguists and other repositories are therefore important actors in traditional institutions to ensure indigenous languages and cultures are not tampered with in any way.
In a discussion on languages and cultural identities in Africa, Tchindjang et al allude that indigenous languages of Africa are what makes African cultures recognisable through orality. Despite centuries of being threatened with domination, African languages, through oral literature, have remained resilient and tirelessly served the African people towards confronting and destroying neo-colonization.
Such repositories of African cultures like storytellers, drummers, dancers, together with traditional leaders as custodians of African traditions, cultures and mores, have continued to use indigenous languages in everyday life to ensure there is no retreating of African languages, cultures and values from the global arena.
The Government, Policy makers, the National library, the Media and the Departments of Creative and Performing Arts
While the government institutions, policy makers, national library, media as well as the creative industry can be classified as stakeholders, their role in the preservation and promotion of African cultures and languages leans more towards being custodians. Governments, working through policy makers, have the mandate to protect the misuse of culture and language by supporting the arts and crafts industry, continuously protecting and maintaining heritage, preserving and protecting local history and folk-lore as well as encouraging the celebration of cultures and languages in various sociocultural events.
Countries like Rwanda have taken a more serious approach towards preservation of African languages through concerted government policy that encourages the use of Kinyarwanda, the local language, in schools and formal settings. Moreover, foreign investors are highly encouraged to use the local language to not only reach out to local people in their transactions. In this way, Rwanda rightfully hopes to preserve the language and cultures of the Rwandan people.
Most African countries have language policies that stipulate the use of mother languages in the early years of a child’s education before the introduction of other languages. This is a great step towards ensuring there is no generational gap in the preservation and promotion of African cultures and languages. In the African Languages Week 2023 conference in Accra in February 2023, organized by Bolingo Consult and partners, (The Lingua-Cultura Experience and Masterword), panelists discussed how African indigenous languages can be better used to enable self-owned development in Africa.You are invited to read some of the insights shared at this conference, in the Bolingo Consult Localization Africa platform.
National libraries within African countries, the media, and national ministries and agencies dedicated to culture and the creative industry play a vital role as creative industry custodians of African cultures and languages. To this end, the media should be actively involved in providing programs that encourage the use of African languages alongside showcasing African cultures.
The creative and performing arts through music, films and theater would enhance their role by showcasing the rich cultures of Africa through development and use of innovative commutative tools and programmes in African languages. Most artistes from West Africa and South Africa have put African nations on the international front because of the use of African languages in their music. The likes of Angelique Kidjo, Bunner Boy, Hugh Masekela, Oliver Mtukudzi, Sussana Owiyo, Wiyaala Dimba, King Ayizoba, Diamond Platnumz, Kofi Olomide, Awilo Longomba and a host of others are African musicians who have continued to use their indigenous languages yet have acquired renowned international recognition.
Conclusion
The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage and Aspiration 5 of African Union’s Agenda 2063 are amongst internationally recognized bodies that have put cultural preservation and promotion at the forefront of development.
In an article by Jyoti Hosagrahar, safeguarding and promoting culture, and within the context of this article – indigenous languages, is fulfilling on its own and yet still plays a pivotal role in the realization of the sustainable development goals. The use of indigenous African languages to connect with local people to enable them to understand development within the context of their cultural norms and values results in culturally-informed and effective implementation of development goals while ensuring the resilience of people’s sociocultural identities and ways of life.
This means that there is already an international platform that encourages the preservation and promotion of indigenous cultures and recognizes the contribution of these cultures to development. Culture does not exist in a vacuum as it comprises the people’s way of life and the languages that they use.. Thus, to continue to assert themselves as Africans, the ball is in the courts of African societies and governments to create solid agendas for l, not only preservation and promotion of African languages and cultures, but ensuring they form bases of African development.
