Good Example Of Essay On Decolonizing The Mind

Both Salman Rushdie and Ngugi wa Thiong’o are prominent and well-known writers. Their works are highly praised by the society. The writers received the Nobel Prize for Literature as a reward for their creativity and unique style. In their books and articles, they paid a careful attention to the issue of language. The language you speak and write is very important. It is a part of person’s individual culture; it helps to form a world view. This issue is even more crucial in ex-colonial countries like India and Kenya, where writers are from.
In his book Decolonizing the Mind, Ngugi wa Thiong’o expresses the certainty that the African literature should be created with the help of African languages only. His works refer to the political awareness of decolonization. They are definitely anti-colonist. For Ngugi wa Thiong’o, language is not only the means of communication, it is a part of the culture and it can be considered as a culture itself. The memory of people is realized through the language they speak and write. Therefore, culture is hard to distinguish from the language. Hence, the African languages are considered as a way of decolonizing the African literature.
On the other hand, Indian author Salman Rushdie suggests the opposite idea. The use of English language helps his books to receive the wider audience and draw attention to the local problems through the means of the international language. Rushdie points out at blending of native Indian culture in English. He proposes using untranslatable words as a distinctive characteristic of the post-colonial literature. It can separate ex-colonies’ English from the true British English. Anyway, the use of the English language influenced the Indian culture. They are tied to each other. Books in English will only help to enrich the culture.
Though arguments of Ngugi wa Thiong’o are very strong and convincing, it is hard to accept his rightness. It is true, that the culture is formulated with the help of the language. Yet, the literature cannot be up-to-date and cannot reach its audience without being international. This means that it should be written in a language understandable for the large group of people.