Cultural Disclaimer and Literary Sterility: Domestication of the English Language in Gabriel Okara’s the Voice, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Amos Tutuola’s the Palm Wine Drinkers

Abstract

One of the touchstones in the pursuit of literacy excellence, according to Longinus, is the creation of what ennobles and enriches the soul, an art which represents everything that shapes a society and orders its values.  In western concept, however the above ideal can only be achieved through the deployment of an elevated and heightened linguistic expression rather the ordinary and culture-based expression of the ordinary people.  This paper makes the case that contrary to western literary episteme, sublimity in African literature is largely dependent on the successful exploitation of the cultural raw materials and ordinary experiences of the people.  An aspect of this literary enterprise is the domestication of the English language for the effective expression of African culture in the selected novels of Okara, Achebe and Tutuola.  The study concludes that African literature has its root in the oral traditions and culture of the people and that the linguistic resources of this cultural environment are elevated and heightened enough to carry the weight of the people’s experiences.  The challenge however is that with the current preference for western epistemological paradigm in our blind quest for globalization, to the exclusion of indigenous and traditional episteme, African literary creativity in doomed to sterility.  African cultural studies are therefore called to the rescue.

Keywords: African literature, culture, oral tradition, translation, transliteration and language.