The Stranglehold of English Lit

History repeats itself

The poem “The Stranglehold of English Lit” by Felix Mnthali, in actuality opened my eyes to impact the European civilization had on the African culture. It is an amazing and repulsive feeling to know how powerful a society can operate. In the text, Mnthali makes references to the author Jane Austin, which complicated the poem for me. Later I realized that Jane Austin is a British author and was used to state and express the anger, the African people had toward the British. I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for the Africans. When my grandparents came from Haiti and the Dominican Republic to attend the North Carolina A&T, they were told that the education they received in their secondary school was ethically wrong. I remember my grandfather telling me, in the most ghastly voice, how he had to suppress his cultural beliefs to obtain the knowledge of North American culture. Although this isn’t as severe as the British and African conflict, it still shows the impact of one nation has on another. I feel that it was wrong for the British to impose there beliefs on the Africans. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Author of “Creating Space for a Hundred Flowers to Bloom”, States “European languages of course and the cultures these have carried will have shaped the dominated in similar ways. The fax, the telex, the computer, while facilitating communications, also mean the instant spread of information and culture across national boundaries”. This quote tells me how the African people are coping with the inflation of these new crazes and growing in the modernization period, but in the back of their minds there is a missing spot in the heart of what it means to be “true” African.  He also goes on to say “Television images via satellites enable the whole world to experience the Palestinian uprising in the Middle east, the struggled for Amandle’ in South African, the mass uprisings and calls for democratic accountability to the people in Eastern Europe, at the same time”. Ngugi tells how media is down grading the African society and causing people to undermine them. Reading the poem repeatedly often reminds me of the story of Christopher Columbus coming to America. He came to a land already inhabited by natives and automatically implemented the British rulings. Consequently, in retaliation to this appalling act, the 13^th colony went missing. This end result had a very similar solution to the animals in the story “Gentleman of the Jungle” by Jomo Kenyatta. Like the story of Christopher Columbus, this poem and the other readings changed my opinion about the British involvement in different cultures. I was unaware of the severity of the matter, and became deeply concerned with the knowledge I obtained. On the other hand, being a non-violent individual, I don’t agree with Jomo Kenyatta’s approach with killing the people who oppressed them (British). Ngugi’s message in his story, sends the perfect message, to acknowledge all the cultures and not excluding no one. I thoroughly enjoyed the poem and the stories. It hit important points, such as the colonialism and how it affected many lives. The beauty of the message was illustrated through allegories, personifications and heated mind boggling literature.