Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-fv566 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T10:59:54.231Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On the Interface of Philosophy and Language in Africa: Some Practical and Theoretical Considerations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Bongasu Tanla Kishani
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The relation between philosophy and language in Africa seems to favor the languages of written expression to the detriment of the languages of “oraural” expression. Concretely, this has meant not only the exclusive use of Arabic and European languages in the philosophies in Africa, but also the assumption that philosophy is only possible in, with, and through written languages. This article argues that change is long overdue, and that African languages should play significant roles in both the exploration of the past and in contemporary and future philosophical inquiries in Africa. In other words, the real problem is not so much to determine how far philosophy is compatible or incompatible with specific languages and with language as a whole, or vice versa, as to discern what role African languages should play within the framework of the past, contemporary, and future philosophies in Africa. For if colonial experiences obliged Africans to confront this predicament without success, the contention here is that Africans cannot continue to philosophize sine die in European languages and according to European models of philosophy as if African languages cannot provide and play the same roles. Today more than before, both the lettered and “oraural” traditions of Africa invite Africans to practice self-reliance in such matters.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , December 2001 , pp. 27 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achebe, Chinua. 1988. Anthills of the Savannah. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Allan, George. 1996. “Playing with Worlds: John Dewey, the Habit of Experiment and the Goods of Democracy.” Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal 79 (3–4): 447–78.Google Scholar
Augustine, St.. [413–26] 1986. Civitas Dei. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Bjornson, Richard. 1991. The African Quest for Freedom and Identity: Cameroonian Writing and the National Experience. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Calvet, Louis-Jean. 1987. La Guerre des Langues el Les Politiques Linguistiques. Paris: Payot.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1976. Reflections on Language. London: Fontana Books.Google Scholar
Crystal, David. 1995. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Descartes, René. [1637] 1968. Discourse on the Method of Properly Conducting One's Reasoning and Seeking the Truth in the Sciences. Translated by Sutcliffe, F. E.. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Fonlon, Bernard Nso'kika. 1982. “Education Through Literature.” Ngam: A Publication of the Department of the Negro–African Literature.Google Scholar
Fonlon, Bernard Nso'kika. 1982. “Idea of Literature.” ABBIA: Cameroon Cultural Review 38–40: 175–212.Google Scholar
Hountondji, Paulin J. 1984. “Aspects and Problems of Philosophy in Africa.” In Teaching and Research in Philosophy: Africa, 11–29. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Hountondji, Paulin J.. 1984. “Philosophy Teaching and Research in French-Speaking Africa (Survey Report).” In Teaching and Research in Philosophy: Africa, 185–212Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Humbert, Colette. 1976. Conscientisation. Paris: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Irwin, Terence. 1989. A History of Western Philosophy. Vol. 1, Classical Thought. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kane, Cheikh Hamidou. 1963. Ambiguous Adventure. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Kishani, Bongasu Tanla. 1989. “The Role of Language in African Perceptions of the Past: An Appraisal of African Language Policies and Practices.” In Conflict in the Archaeology of Living Traditions, ed. Layton, Robert, 97–115. London: Unwin and Hyman.Google Scholar
Kishani, Bongasu Tanla. 1994. “Language Problems in Anglophone Cameroon: Present Writers and Future Readers.” Quest Philosophical Discussions: An International African Journal of Philosophy 8 (2): 100–129.Google Scholar
Kishani, Bongasu Tanla. 1998. “Philosophical Trends As Cultural Wealth Among The Nso' of Cameroon.” Syllabus (1998): 135–61.Google Scholar
Machiavelli, Niccolo. 1975 [1505]. The Prince. Translated by Bull, George. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Mazrui, Ali A., and Mazrui, Alamin M. 1998. The Power of Babel: Language and Governance in African Experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Mbangwana, P. 1991. “Invigorative and Hermetic Innovation in English in Yaounde.” World Englishes 10: 53–63.Google Scholar
Thiong'o, Ngũgĩ wa. 1986. Decolonising the Mind:The Politics of Language in African Literature. London: James Currey.Google Scholar
Plato, . 1973. Phaedrus and Letters VII and VIII. Translated by Hamilton, Walter. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Sacksteder, William. 1981. “Some Ways of Doing Language Philosophy: Nominalism, Hobbes, and the Linguistic Turn.” Review of Metaphysics 35: 452–85.Google Scholar
Sanneh, Lamin. 1998. The African Transformation of Christianity: Comparative Reflections on Ethnicity and Religious Mobilization in Africa. Nineteenth Annual University Lecture in Religion, Arizona State University.Google Scholar
Smet, A.J. 1984. “The Teaching of Philosophy in Africa: The Colonial Heritage.” In Teaching and Research in Philosophy: Africa, 81–88. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Tangwa, Godfrey B. “African Philosophy: Appraisal of a Recurrent Problematic.” Part 2: “What Is African Philosophy and Who Is an African Philosopher?” Cogito 6 (3).Google Scholar
Westerman, Diedrich. 1925. “The Place and Function of the Vernacular in African Education.” The International Review of Missions 14.Google Scholar
Westerman, Diedrich. 1949. The African Today and Tomorrow. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wiredu, Kwasi. 1984. “Philosophy Teaching and Research in English-Speaking Africa” (Survey Report). In Teaching and Research in Philosophy: Africa, 212–44. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar