What is translated from English and into English – and in what quantities – is a question of power.
NGUGI WA THIONG'OIt was a revelation for me, in a practical sense, that you could write in an African language and still reach an audience beyond that language through the art of translation.
More Ngugi wa Thiong'o Quotes
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I’m more trying to connect; I’m more listening to people. Whatever I get is very meaningful to me.
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Christianity and Western civilization-what countless crimes have been committed in thy name!
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You get another person who operates only in an African language and there are many persons who operate only in African languages; he or she is excluded from all the goodies that come with English.
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Another phenomenon developing in Kenya is ethnic cleansing – and that’s the thing that has made me very sad. Because some people will use the cover of the problems of rigged elections to do things that are unacceptable like ethnic cleansing and displacement of people. It’s completely unacceptable.
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The Bible has affected their lives, but in translation, since they do not read the Bible in the original Greek or Hebrew.
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So we’re talking about the Bible itself being a translation of a translation of a translation. And, in reality, it has affected people’s lives in history.
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And even in terms of justice, law codes, the legal system. A person who does not know English in Africa is excluded from that system because he can only operate through acts of translation.
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Writing in African languages became a topic of discussion in conferences, in schools, in classrooms; the issue is always being raised – so it’s no longer “in the closet,” as it were. It’s part of the discussion going on about the future of African literature.
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Of course it’s very, very important for me to feel Kenya, to feel, every day, this is where images come from. So to be taken away from that by political pressure or other means – one is taken away from the area, which is the basis of inspiration – is difficult.
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A person who acquires English has access to all the things that that language makes possible.
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It was a revelation for me, in a practical sense, that you could write in an African language and still reach an audience beyond that language through the art of translation.
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Why did Africa let Europe cart away millions of Africa’s souls from the continent to the four corners of the wind?
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Life, struggle, even amidst pain and blood and poverty, seemed beautiful.
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The Bible in translation is being read to thousands and thousands in Africa. It is an integral part of their functioning and the way they look at the world.
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Any writer likes to be near the area which is the location of his work.
NGUGI WA THIONG'O