isiXhosa and myself share a love/ hate relationship and at present it is leaning precariously close to the hate side, which I detest because I had planned to major in this beyond difficult subject. If anyone thought English was a challenge to study, then they have not come face to face with isiXhosa. I partake in the battle five times a week and it beats me every time. Everyone tells you the absolute necessity of having isiXhosa on your degree and I personally believe that in order to survive in South Africa, you have to learn the lingo. Some of my friends, who witness my struggle, believe that university is too short to spend it bleeding over a subject you do not particularly like but life is all about sacrifices and so the battle continues. Anyway, about a week ago in English we had to fill out a course evaluation form and one of the questions was whether or not we would like an increase in African literature. I had mixed responses because I feel balance is important. We need the old school literature but also need to give voice to Africa but then felt angry, in my ignorance, thinking that they wanted to destroy everything that represents the West.
This topic was brought up in our isiXhosa culture class today. But sadly our teacher thought that Rhodents were not the type of people that would accept such a change. Embarrassingly I had proved him right and then and there I realised that I should not study isiXhosa if I am not prepared to take on the task of filling the cultural void that comes from the suppression of African literature. Taking a language is not just about learning it and using it to your advantage, language is everything in life, our identity and the way we construct our reality and therefore it is a task that needs to be approached in a selfless manner. We need to uplift Africa by learning more about it through African literature. Besides that, I personally think that the English department needs a change in course work because my mother was reading the same books some 30 years ago!
This topic was brought up in our isiXhosa culture class today. But sadly our teacher thought that Rhodents were not the type of people that would accept such a change. Embarrassingly I had proved him right and then and there I realised that I should not study isiXhosa if I am not prepared to take on the task of filling the cultural void that comes from the suppression of African literature. Taking a language is not just about learning it and using it to your advantage, language is everything in life, our identity and the way we construct our reality and therefore it is a task that needs to be approached in a selfless manner. We need to uplift Africa by learning more about it through African literature. Besides that, I personally think that the English department needs a change in course work because my mother was reading the same books some 30 years ago!
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