I will just like to start off by saying that poetry is very foreign to me. I have difficulty sometimes understanding it. So after Professor Benander read “Stranglehold of English Lit” and after reading it again and again I now understand the message Felix Mnthali was trying to get across. His anger through this poem shows how he feels about how the English language can’t be taught to Africans and vice versa. He feels that Africans should be taught with the African language. Felix Mnthali feels that Africans can’t relate to Jane Austen’s work. Her language doesn’t speak to them.
I have never read Jane Austen’s work and while I feel that learning different languages can be a beautiful thing. I learned in Ruth Benander class that when speaking a different language your personality changes. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing because I can’t even speak a different language, but I feel that many people including Felix Mnthali must feel that if they speak a different language it will take away who they truly are. However, if speaking a different language can bring together different cultures and countries, then I am all for it. I don’t think there is anything wrong with different countries coming together, and I also don’t think speaking a bad language is a bad thing, but if someone tries to make a mockery out of the different language they are speaking then I can understand Felix Mnthali’s anger.
In the line where Felix Mnthali mentions, “While history went on mocking the victims of branding irons and sugar plantations that made Jane Austen’s people wealthy beyond compare.” Anyone who read this poem can tell he was talking about slavery. Felix Mnthali definitely makes a good point. What happened to African Americans back then was very tragic, and if looking at it in Felix Mnthali’s point of view it’s understandable why he wouldn’t want to be taught by an English woman. Being taught by an English person takes away what Africa is all about. I will say that my views have changed on and off after reading this poem. I was taking English Comp 1 and 2. Both the Professors had Russia and Indian accents. It was making it hard for me to understand what they were saying. It makes it hard sometimes to do an assignment when the Professors are speaking with different accents, trying to teach an English class. It was just so confusing. I agree with Felix Mnthali that English people should teach English and Africans should teach the African language because it makes everything so confusing. The English language does not sound like English when a Russian person is teaching it. It sounds very foreign. Like I said before I don’t think there is anything wrong with learning different languages just as long as they are being taught by the right people. If a French person teaches French it might not be so intimidating. It makes it easier and understandable.
After reading Ngugi’s piece I learned that when reading the newspaper or watching the news different countries are learning about other countries. However, sometimes the news only shows the negative side of countries. So that’s why I feel it is good to learn about different languages and countries, but if I was going to be taught the African language or learn about Africa. I want to learn it from an African professor because only they can teach me the true identity and language of Africa. They live there and have actually witnessed it.
I did enjoy the poem very well Felix Mnthali made some good points about the African language being taught by an English Professor. It takes away from the country and their pride.
This is a very interesting reflection on language and culture. The situation where you describe how you are learning English from an Indian-American professor, and African literature from a Swedish-American professor is so very American: a country where every thing is becoming more and more mixed up. We do have a Kenyan person in the English department who teaches English. I have asked him to come and talk to our class one day. You should ask him how he feels about teaching English: it is a very interesting question. He will have some good perspective on that. From my own perspective, as a person of European heritage "teaching" a course about African literature, my feeling is that it is better to offer the exposure to the literature, and help you hear the African voices in the literature rather than just throw up my hands and say, "We can't offer any African literature because we have no African teachers who will teach it." I figure something is better than nothing.
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