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Herald Correspondent

AMONG proponents of the African cultural and indigenous knowledge systems the mood, for the past fortnight, has been celebratory.

The last time such scenes were witnessed was around the August 1996 launch of the “Duramazwi ReChishona” an initiative by the ALLEX project at the University of Zimbabwe. 

This time the cause of much of the jubilation is the translation of Ngugi wa Thiongo’s “Decolonising the Mind” by Zimbabwean student, John Mambambo into ChiShona.

Although it has been translated into more than 60 languages — mostly European since the book was published in June 1986 — this is the first time according to Professor Wa Thiongo that it has been “translated into an African language”.

“Decolonising the Mind” is a collection of essays about language and its constructive role in national culture, history and identity.

Professor Wa Thiongo has described translation of the book as “a homecoming”. The book is considered his “farewell to English”.

“Decolonising the Mind” is dedicated to all those who write in African languages and “to all those who over the years have maintained the dignity of the literature, culture, philosophy and other treasures carried by African languages”.

Mambambo has described the project’s roller-coaster experience and the subsequent reactions to the project as “exhilarating”.

In a conversation this week, he said the project was his brainchild and personal initiative as he thought of how he could engage in more practical work to elevate African Languages. 

“Of course, I could write research papers and present my papers at conferences, but who would be the consumer of that work? It could only be the intellectuals. So I wanted to produce work that could benefit the intellectuals, the students and even the layperson on the street.”

Mambambo then approached Professor Wa Thiongo who is currently a Distinguished Professor at the University of Califonia, Irvine, in the USA requesting the translation of “Decolonising the Mind”. 

He was referred to the publisher, James Currey, who indicated that the rights to translate “Decolonising the Mind” were held by Watkin Loomis in New York and Mambambo was advised to approach them personally, yet again, with his request. 

He spoke to Julia Masnik at Watkin Loomis and was informed that they usually do not negotiate with translators, but with publishers. 

However, given the journey he had traversed to get to them, they were willing to allow him to proceed with the translation process while looking for a publisher for his project. 

Once he had found a publisher, Mambambo would then link up the publisher with Watkin Loomis for finalisation of negotiations around the translation rights and the right to publish the translated work. 

“I started working on the project and since I had done my first academic book translation of Professor Prah’s book ‘African Languages for the Mass Education of Africans’, I approached CASAS in Cape Town that had published my first project and they were keen to work with me again,” explained Mambambo. 

He linked CASAS with Watkin Loomis and they negotiated, ultimately agreeing that CASAS would publish the work upon completion of the translation. 

The translation process was challenging on many fronts. It was huge. However, since this was a personal initiative, it meant soldiering on. 

Explained Mambambo this week: “It would be difficult at times to explain to my wife and children why I spent so much time glued to my computer for a project that was not going to bring any foreseeable returns. 

“It was also at the same time that I was pursuing my Postgraduate studies. So, I had to strike a balance between my research work and the translation of the book. Needless to mention my grappling with the rendition of the ideas and prioritising semantics at the expense of verbatim translation. 

“The Shona rendition had to read as original as would be possible. It had to read as if it was originally written in Shona and that became my mission. Immediately after submitting my PhD thesis for examination, I took all the time to finalise the translation process.” 

Professor Wa Thiongo was ecstatic to learn about completion of the translation of the book into an African Language. 

 “Congratulations and thanks for the Shona translation of ‘Decolonising the Mind’,” he wrote:

“Although the book has been translated into other languages, mostly European, your translation is the first into an African language. In so doing, you have restored the text to where it should have started: in an African language.

“Yours make it a kind of homecoming. For the book was the result of my wrestling with the issues of African languages being driven from their home base by colonising languages at Kamiti Maximum Prison. It was in response to those thoughts that I wrote the first novel ever in Gikuyu, Caitaani Mutharabaini/Devil on the Cross.”

It was his wish, Professor Wa Thiongo wrote, that Mambambo would be able to document its progress in Shona. He also hoped the project would provoke many more Shona writers to write stories and books in their mother language.

“And I hope a time will come when translation between African languages and then between African and other languages will become the norm.” 

Professor Wiseman Magwa, the Executive Director of the National Language Institute (NLI) at the Midlands State University this week said his reaction is that of being “jovially excited”.

“It is the homecoming kind of feeling”, he said during a conversation. “Now we are ourselves. We are doing it for our languages. I am very excited by what John Mambambo has done. If only we could have more people with that thinking that things should be done from an African perspective. 

“There is no development without our languages. It is only here in Africa, where we talk of development without languages. Talk of all the first world countries … It is surprising Africa is beginning to realise it in the wake of John Mambambo’s work.

“It is a big breakthrough — that achievement — which has a positive impact towards the role of African languages. There is no nation that has achieved any meaningful development without their languages.

“You go to Germany, China, Russia, whether it is Physics, Chemistry or Computer Studies — you go to Japan, it is the same thing. So why should  Africa be left behind?”

These, Professor Magwa suggested, were the tell-tale signs that the giant African continent is re-awakening. It is a message that even if Africans are writing in English, they should also think in terms of their people.

If a writer writes in English, there is no reason why there should be no translations, he said, referencing “Tsika dzeVatema in Zimbabwe”, whose English version is out, while the IsiNdebele version is with the printers.

On the question of where the initiative to upscale African languages should come from, Professor Magwa suggests that the task should not be entirely that of individuals. His view is that this should be a government-led initiative in the development process. 

“We need policy to that effect. In South Africa, there is a legal instrument used to promote local languages. Our Government should also do likewise, where we promote the use of local languages, which should be used to teach children in primary and secondary schools. 

“We are not saying we should do away with English because it is an international language, but not at the expense of neglecting our own languages and culture. Language is a carrier of culture. Let the Government play its role. We used to have the Literature Bureau.”

The new Republic established the National Language Institute (NLI) at the Midlands State University. It has been translating key Government documents such as the Constitution of Zimbabwe into all official languages.

NLI has also translated all Covid-19 brochures and material into Sign language and all languages. It has also embarked on translation of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) policy document into all local languages. It is at printing stage and has been delayed because of the current lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Professor Magwa believes the Government is doing its part to resuscitate the Literature Bureau.

The Africa Factbook spearheaded by Professor Simbi Mubako has just been published and copies have been dispatched to African Union leaders. Africa’s first ever publication, the Factbook tells the African story from an Afro-centric perspective.

It is the continent’s first ever co-ordinated response to more than 500 years of misinformation and other disinformation against Africa, by outsiders and more recently by global media oligarchies.

“This is the time the rest of the world should be told who we are and the correct history of Africa,” stressed Professor Magwa. “There is need for the book (Africa Factbook) to be translated into local languages in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria etc.

“John Mambambo has done a wonderful job.”

It can be argued that by actively publishing and promoting indigenous books, publishers will encourage readership and promote literacy, as the culture of reading returns. 

This will bring about a vibrant culture of reading and sharing of knowledge through other languages other than English, which is foreign to many on the African continent.

Professor Advice Viriri of the Midlands State University sees the translation by Mambambo as “important for the future of cultural missions’ movement in Africa”.

He highlights the positive role that local languages play as a source of empowerment and a tool for sustainable development in Africa.

Indigenous languages, he points out, are largely despised, eliminated or marginalised from use in most countries in Africa.

Instead of investing in and using their linguistic, cultural and human potential, African governments and the elite still continue to channel away their resources and energies into promoting and learning “imperial languages”.

Professor Viriri sees a particular widespread recognition in Africa of the need to consolidate political independence with linguistic independence.

“This landmark translation further stresses the importance of local languages as tools for fostering effective communication, socio-economic and cultural progress,” he says.

“Decolonising the Mind”, for him stands out not only as a seminal text, but as a Third World and African cultural manifesto and African universities need to work towards developing lingua franca adapted to the continent through such endeavours as translations.

“Language is without doubt the most important factor in the learning process for the transfer of knowledge or skills … mediated through the spoken or written word,” he explains, quoting Ayo Bamgbose (1992:18).

“It has been observed that the use of European languages in some operation in Africa inevitably excludes many people from close participation and therefore John Mambambo’s translation bridges the gap,” he says.

The promotion of and translation into indigenous languages, therefore, contributes significantly to a people’s culture. 

Mambambo graduated from the Midlands State University’s African Languages and Culture Department with a Distinction, scooping the University Book Prize in 2007. 

He also graduated with a Distinction for his Master of Arts Degree from the University of South Africa in 2017.

 In November last year (2020) he submitted his thesis for a PhD in Language, Linguistics and Literature with the University of South Africa.