Culture's Oxygen
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CULTURE’S OXYGEN THE PEN REPORT DEVELOPING THE MINORITY-LANGUAGE CREATIVE WRITING INDUSTRY IN KENYA, HAITI, SERBIA AND NIGERIA AN INTER-REGIONAL RESEARCH, ADVOCACY AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME TO THE MEMORY OF KEN SARO-WIWA, JNR. (1968–2016) Author and Project Director: Simona Škrabec Editors: Sarah Clarke & James Tennant Copyright © PEN International 2016 Design: Brett Evans Biedscheid Cover Photo: PEN’s Nigeria’s Olúwáfrópò Ewénlá at Port Harcourt Book Festival, 2014 With special thanks to: Moses Kilolo, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, André Brenner, Ronald Blunden, Romana Cacchioli, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, Ken Saro-Wiwa Jnr, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Juno Fitzpatrick, Judy Nwanodi, Tony Enyia, Mark Cowling, Paul Finegan, Jose Borghino, Philip Omorogbe and Hay Festivals. Published by PEN International, with the support of UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity PEN International Unit A - Koops Mill Mews 162-164 Abbey Street London SE1 2AN United Kingdom PEN International promotes literature and freedom of expression and is governedby the PEN Charter and the principles it embodies: unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations. Founded in 1921, PEN International connects an international community of writers from its Secretariat in London. It is a forum where writers meet freely to discuss their work; it is also a voice speaking out for writers silenced in their own countries. Through Centres in over 100 countries, PEN operates on fve continents. PEN International is a non-political organisation which holds Special Consultative Status at the UN and Associate Status at UNESCO. International PEN is a registered charity in England and Wales with registration number 1117088. http://www.pen-international.org/ CULTURE’S OXYGEN THE PEN REPORT LIST OF ACRONYMS AND CREDITS ................................................................................................................ 1 CONCLUSIONS AND LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES ............................................................................. 36 List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................................2 Valorisation of minority languages...........................................................................................................................36 Photo credits .............................................................................................................................................................2 Translation ...............................................................................................................................................................36 List of documents ......................................................................................................................................................2 Freedom of Expression and Minority-Language Publishing ...................................................................................39 List of case studies ...................................................................................................................................................2 Spontaneous and unregulated creativity .................................................................................................................39 Transformation of teaching methods.......................................................................................................................40 PREFACE ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Thiomi: Okicinjeni ya Mĩikarĩre ...................................................................................................................................3 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................................. 41 Language Contact: The Oxygen of Culture ...............................................................................................................4 To Governments: .....................................................................................................................................................41 To Cultural Actors, Publishers and Writers: .............................................................................................................41 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Cultural Osmosis .......................................................................................................................................................5 STUDY SOURCES ............................................................................................................................................................. 42 Study Methodology ...................................................................................................................................................5 Primary Sources ......................................................................................................................................................42 The Importance of Translation ...................................................................................................................................6 Reports Commissioned ...........................................................................................................................................42 The Role of New Technologies ..................................................................................................................................8 Chronological List of Meetings, Seminars and Workshops Held. ...........................................................................43 List of Interviews .....................................................................................................................................................43 PART ONE ................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Secondary Sources .................................................................................................................................................43 Trends in Minority-Language Literatures .................................................................................................................10 Creolisation .............................................................................................................................................................11 RESEARCH TEAM ............................................................................................................................................................ 46 Supraregional Languages........................................................................................................................................12 Project Director .......................................................................................................................................................46 Fragmented Peoples ...............................................................................................................................................12 Country Coordinators ..............................................................................................................................................46 Peoples with the nomadic lifestyle ..........................................................................................................................12 Project Managers ....................................................................................................................................................46 Vitality of ‘minority’ languages in everyday life ........................................................................................................14 Residual Languages, Ethnological Treasures ..........................................................................................................15 ENDNOTES TO CASE STUDIES AND TESTIMONIES ..................................................................... 47 Minorities that Originate from Neighbouring Countries ...........................................................................................16 PART TWO ................................................................................................................................................................................ 17 The Linguistic Situation in the Four Countries ........................................................................................................17 Kenya: Minority Languages as an Obstacle to National Unity? ..............................................................................17 LIST OF ACRONYMS Haiti: Building Pride for One’s Roots .......................................................................................................................18 Serbia: Reclaiming a Space for Culture ..................................................................................................................18 IFCD UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity TKK (Kiswahili: ‘Let’s Read Our Own’). Programme of teaching materials for schools Nigeria: Inconsistent Promotion of Mother-Language