allAfrica.com: South Africa: We Are Children of a Rich Heritage (Page 1 of 8)

We are about to conclude our Heritage Month. We put this Month on the national calendar as an important part of what we have to do as a people to fashion our national identity, to formulate an image of ourselves, refusing to be defined by others. We have to do this in the context of our unqualified respect for the fact of our unity in diversity, and our common resolve to achieve national reconciliation, national and social cohesion.

As an important part of this, each of our language/cultural groups should make an effort not only to understand itself, its language, culture and customs, but also the languages, cultures and customs of the other compatriot formations, so that our shared understanding of one another serves as the cement we need to bond our new nation.

Quite correctly, many in our country have expressed concern about the place of the African languages in our society. This relates to such important matters as mother-tongue instruction in our schools, the study of African languages at the school and university levels, publication of books and magazines in the African languages, the further development of these languages for use as media of instruction at higher levels of education, multi-lingualism, the use of indigenous languages in our state institutions, in the public discourse and public communication, and so on.

There is no doubt that as part of the process of our redefinition of ourselves, we must do everything possible to spread knowledge of literature and other material written or recorded in the African languages since this material began to be published in our country from the beginning of the 19th century.

Among other things, this would expose all of us to important lessons about how the traditional value system of ubuntu, and the sense of identity and self-pride among the oppressed, responded to colonial and apartheid domination through the period from at least the 18th to the present century.

It is critically important that we open our ears and our minds to what the victims of this domination, the inheritors of the value system of ubuntu, said with regard to all these matters, in their own languages.

TIYO SOGA - A PIONEER AFRICAN INTELLECTUAL

In this context, during Heritage Month I had the privilege to read two important books written by two of our leading scholars of isiXhosa. One of these books is entitled "IzwiLabantu", written by Profs Jeff Opland and P.T. Mtuze. (Oxford University Press, Cape Town: 1994). The other, written by Prof Opland, is entitled "Xhosa Poets and Poetry". (David Philip Publishers, Cape Town: 1998).

It may be that on another day we will have the opportunity to comment on "the spirit of the words" contained in the rich poetry and prose reproduced in these and other books.

I have borrowed the phrase, "the spirit of the words/umoya wamagama", from the doctoral thesis of an outstanding African from the Diaspora, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former President of Haiti, a scholar, our honoured guest.

In his University of South Africa doctoral thesis, entitled "Umoya Wamagama (the Spirit of the Words)", Dr Aristide, Doctor of Literature and Philosophy, says: "This thesis...endeavours to establish the nature of the relationship between isiZulu and Haitian KreyÃ'l. As a member of the Nguni group, isiZulu is spoken by Africans. On the other side, KreyÃ'l is spoken by African descendants of Haiti, the world's first Black independent Republic...

"Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. These words crystallise the essence of Ubuntu. Its psychological and theological study transcends the literal language. In that regard "UmoyaWamagama" refers to both literal and figurative linguistic expressions. The emphasis however is more on the words which connote additional layers of meaning rather than those which simply denote their meanings."

Fully to understand and internalise our heritage, we must, as we study our literature written in the African languages, dig deep and follow the lead given by Dr Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to appreciate the "additional layers of meaning (of words, phrases and expressions), rather than (merely) those which simply denote their meanings".

For instance, towards the end of this Letter, you will find words by S.E.K. Mqhayi, which say: "Hambani, mathol' eemaz' ezimabele made." We translated these as: "And so forward, offspring of the cow of the long udder."

In this regard, Dr Aristide challenges us to answer many questions, such as - what does the long udder signify? what does it have to do with inspiring soldiers who risk death as they go to war? what links birth to death? is it the case that mothers give birth to sons to provide the nation with armed combatants?

The meaning of the words may seem obvious. But what does the elegance of the proverb hide! What is it in the words, which evokes a sense of wonder, such that language becomes a mirror of the soul! How then do we access the additional layers of meaning in the words we speak, so that we bathe, fully, in the unlimited glory of our heritage!

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