OPPORTUNITIES FOR CREATIVE ARTS AND LITERACY

A lot of writing has been done by Zambians on a number of topics, but much of it has been non-fiction, targeting mostly the academics. For this sector, the distribution of books has been easy, largely supported by the education system. Due to this, the larger population, those who are excluded from the academic path, remain illiterate and without access to literature that can lead to their personal development and the growth of the communities. There are key factors that must be put in place for the development of the creative arts and promotion of literacy. Currently, the creative arts are without structural support and writers are all over the place, either trying to make a career or earn living. It is equally impossible to make strides in literacy if the people who are writing cannot reach their readers. Not all reading material should be found in a classroom.

There is need to take literacy development beyond the classroom walls, to reach the communities, to reach those who are outside the classroom. The country once boasted of community libraries but now there are more bars and groceries shops. The lack of infrastructure significantly impedes literacy development. With most public schools having limited reading materials, such support structures like a community library would play a key role in cementing the efforts of the education system and at the same time broadening the spectrum to include those who are outside the school system. A community or public library can lead to development. Apart from providing opportunities for reading, such a structure can be used to disseminate information about other issues affecting societies and promoting development. It is through such places that community participation can be promoted, to make all members of the public stakeholders in the literacy and literary agendas. It is from such centers that writing careers have successfully been launched and promoted for the benefit of the community. The creative arts can also be promoted by being housed under tertiary institutions where English and Literature are taught.  This works well when an institution opens its doors to the writing industry and creates opportunities for writers and at the same time linking them to community literary programmes. For example, the Centre for Creative Arts falls under the Department of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu Natal. Over the years, a number of brands have been developed to include, ‘Time of the Writer’, a sponsored programme that now reaches out to international writers, ‘Durban International Film Festival’ and so on. It is because of such efforts by a higher institution of learning that Durban is now named the UNESCO City of Literature. We cannot leave the government out in this process. As a key stakeholder they should work toward taking the development of literacy and creative arts outside the school walls. We look forward to a time when the local authorities for instance will reintroduce community literacy programmes.

If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, these elements should begin to work together.

 

THE ERROR OF TEXTING IS UPON US

 

One thing that puts me off is seeing a text with words like 'dis' instead of 'this' or 'ze' instead of 'the' and so on, some words that I cannot even decipher. Of course, I am old school. I believe in complete words and sentences. I find pleasure in seeing correct spellings and good use of grammar. The challenge with the modern generation is that they have not learned how to define the text language from proper words. The former has strayed to the essay, application letter and curriculum vitae. You can even see some of it in a manuscript that is supposed to find its way to the Zambian market for other people to read. When we were young, we used to develop encoded language for the purpose of hiding information from our elders. That was the only reason. When it was time for school, the language became formal. The vocabulary that was exchanged in play grounds did not cross over to the classroom. In fact, in those days, economising of words was so good that even a telegram which was one of the first forms short messaging, was not compromised on quality.

 

Yet, today the overuse of the new shortened forms have down-graded the quality of writing. With the coming of the short messaging system contractions have lost their place and abbreviations and acronyms have since disappeared. What happened to words like aren’t, you’re, didn’t, won’t, etc. There used to be common abbreviations that could be used without offending anyone; std. for standard or s/holder for shareholder or stakeholder, ltd. for limited.

The problem with today’s short forms is that they do not have a place in formal writing. Additionally, the words are not commonly understood and seem to be limited to regions or cultures. For instance, the recent derivation of lol or Laugh Out Loud, in the local Bemba language cannot be used anywhere else. The relentless usage of text language has ushered in new way of writing. The question is, should this kind of writing be given a formal place?

Communication devices are equipped to keep a user as close as possible to the proper way of writing however, with time, the software meant for auto correct, spell check and auto spell adapt to the new words that are insistently types.

Another thing that irritates me when I receive a text message is when words are misplaced and misused. The consistent mix-up of homophones (words that have the same pronunciation) and homographs (words that are spelt the same way but do not have the same meaning). The misplacement of synonyms (words that have similar meaning) and antonyms (words that have opposite meanings). Common examples in Zambia; ‘the, there, they, their’ or ‘raise up your hand’ or ‘where, were, we’re’ or ‘leave, live’ etc.

English is not our first language but it remains the official mode of communication. This being the case, there is a small percentage of tolerating mistakes that seep into English as a result of first language interference. However, Zambia belongs to a global village and if we have to head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, we must be able to tell our stories in manner that the rest of the world can understand and appreciate what we are communicating. The most unfortunate part is that even when we decide to use our own languages to write, we fall short on quality as most young people cannot even spell most local words. So whether you choose English or vernacular to write, use words properly, write grammatical sentences and get the spellings right.

MAY THE DAY BREAK- CULTURAL VALUES AND WRITING

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

When I was in senior secondary school, I remember how I learned about some of the cultural practices of the Ibo. My friends and I picked up a few phrases that we used often. For instance, 'may the day break', became more popular than 'good night'. No, we had not traveled to West Africa, neither had we any friends from there. Writing has an important role in the promotion of traditions and cultural values and the likes of Chinua Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiogo and many others  today have strongly contributed to ensuring that their world became known to others. Their writings had painted a wonderful picture of a people whose world had been disturbed by the arrival of another culture. 

 Creative writing is a sure way of preserving key practices and ensuring continuity for generations to come. Zambia has a rich history, but most of it, if not all has been told by non-Zambians. Every writer has got their own priority when they are putting work together. They also have a perspective that they wish a reader to have on a particular topic. For example, when the missionaries arrived in Northern Rhodesia, their aim was to evangelise. They wrote about the religious practices that they found and called them barbaric and the people pagans. However, would an indigenous Zambian hold the same views? What made Africa a 'Dark Continent' and yet it was and still is exploding at its seams with wealth. Writing has strong influence on people's thoughts, and when it is negative,  it can lead them to resign to hopelessness. When you travel to developed countries, it is amazing that much of their cultural values have been upheld and infact they are churning revenue through tourism.
In Zambia, the main sources for its history are academic books and these are preserved for those that pursue studies in that line. Most of the systems that were used to pass on history and other important cultural values have died with modernization and rapid urbanization. The television has replaced story telling. The internet has forcefully taken the place of being the main source for entertainment and knowledge. With modernization most of the cultural values have been watered down and if left unattended, will be lost forever. If we must head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, creative writing must take center stage of incorporating critical cultural values and symbols in all the literary forms. This means casting key elements of Zambia’s cultures in the various forms of writing. May the day break 'TOWARD A ZAMBIAN GENRE'.

Photo Credit: Kafula Mwila