Abdel Rahman Elsaka

Professor Aisha Sidibe

English 110

4 May 2019

Language and Colonialism: Colonialism exterminating the colony’s language

How did colonialism exterminate languages and cultures in the specific areas where it was practiced?

Each of the languages of the world in one way or the other helped spread European imperialism and was a significant tool in colonialism, both in Africa, America and Asia. European empires that reigned most of the world from the 16^thto the 19^thcentury tried to completely transform colonized land to become an exact replica of their homeland in Europe. Therefore, the economic expansion of Europe was extended to colonies for development purposes but also saw an erosion of native languages and cultures. As some people may argue that Linguistic colonialism and imperialism is somehow beneficial to the colonized nation by letting the people of that nation get more open to the outside world. However, Linguistic colonialism brainwashes people minds by whipping out their culture and forcing them to use the colonized countries culture. This brainwash eventually weakens society, which leads to diseases and ignorance.

It is important to understand cultural and linguistic practices that came to be associated with the European colonial rule. The European languages and practices assigned low prestige to non-European cultures and languages, which included cultural and linguistic forms that were born as a result of Europe’s colonial expansion and subsequent establishment of its superiority on the language and culture of their colonies.

Through a literature analysis of texts, the research will collect information about Europe’s colonialism, specifically in Asia and Africa and the resulting effects, both desirable and undesirable. The research will also rely on reviews and literature search from experimental sources and studies on how colonialism exterminated native languages and cultures.

Sourcing the information?

Information will be sourced from empirical studies and published literature from credible sources and authors. The six sources will be reviewed scientifically for authentication before use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

works cited

Alexander, Simone A. James. “NINE: POSTCOLONIAL HAUNTINGS: GHOSTLY PRESENCE IN JAMAICA KINCAID’S THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MY MOTHER.” Wagadu: a Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies19 (2018): 107-130.

Heller, Monica, and Bonnie McElhinny. Language, capitalism, colonialism: Toward a critical history. University of Toronto Press, 2017.

Korang, Kwaku Larbi, and Stephen Slemon. “Post-colonialism and language.” Writing and Africa. Routledge, 2017. 246-263.

Nicholls, Brendon. Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Gender, and the Ethics of Postcolonial Reading. Routledge, 2016.

Kincaid, Jamaica. “On Seeing England for the First Time.” Transition, no. 51, 1991, pp. 32–40. JSTOR,

Ngũgĩ, wa T. Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. London: J. Currey, 1986.