Friday, April 1, 2011

Melissa Schreiber The Stranglehold of English Lit

Melissa Schreiber
Professor Dr. R.E. Benander
ENGL223
01 April 11

Strangled
            Many African authors are fighting oppression and making sure the world is listening. “The Stranglehold of English Lit,” by Malawian author Felix Mnthali approaches the ugly subject of racism through this poem and demands that we find a way to surpass ignorance relating to oppression of African people in Africa. Mnthali is not alone on his quest, African playwrights, essayists, and novelists are also out for justice. For example Jomo Kenyatta’s,  The Gentlemen of the Jungle is an allegory that communicated the overarching theme for Africans, human rights are demanded and Africans will conquer anticolonialism. Another example is, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s, “Creating space for a Hundred Flowers to Bloom,” Ngugi describes the same themes in a direct way, his academic style demands freedom from African oppression as well. Together these authors and many more have been attempting to win what is there’s and the right to what they deserve as human beings. “The Stranglehold of English Lit,” is a poem filled with passion for the African people suffering as the “Jane Austin Lovers” of the world are blind to what oppression even means. This poem personally frustrates me because the uneducated people in the 21st are still acting as though colonialism hasn’t stripped many people of what is rightfully theirs, and it still exists today. Strangled are these African authors, unable to be heard for centuries. English Lit need not be a stranglehold, but a new outlet to be a voice for all oppressed voices to be heard. I agree with all the African scholars as they become internationally known for fighting for what they believe in. Mnthali writes, “How could questions be asked at Markerere and Ibadan, Dakar and Ford Hare-with Jane Austin at the center? How could they be answered?” This communicated to me we must all begin to acknowledge and recognize what has been happening to Africans must be stopped. “Like Goethe, Ngugi contends that a world literature can flourish only when it acknowledges the linguistic and cultural particularities of the many traditions that make up the global community.” This powerful ending from author Ngugi, is telling us we can end the strangulation, and accept freedom to be universally had, never taken. By educating the world of this still occurring problem, we in the 21st century can release the stranglehold and aid these authors in their pursuit of equal rights and freedom. I am Caucasian and the poetry I have studied is powerful and doesn’t necessarily like “Jane Austin Lovers”, but overall the past is the past and we must create a new future for all to be loved and respected. I recommend this poem to all college students and intelligent adults who want to educate their children of what not to do to another person. African oppression is real and must be acknowledged by everyone, I believe in time this will be possible. The centuries of inhumanity and suffering will end, if the 21st century can believe in English Lit.



1 comment:

  1. Very nicely done: I like how you reference Ngugi, Mnthali, and Goethe. I also enjoy your positive spin on the problem. You make a coherent argument for a good solution. In your next one, could you add some paragraph breaks? That would make it easier on your readers to understand how you organize your ideas.

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