Literature and Languages

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An analysis of Gender issues in Zambian Literature in English
(2012-01-05) Chilala, Cheela F.K.
Domination of females by males is evident not only in the economic, political, educational and social spheres, but also in the field of written literature. Analyses of gender stratification in all these fields reveal and reflect the extent and nature of male dominance. In the area of written literature, gender inequalities are reflected and even perpetuated through the portraiture of male and female characters, the type and choice of language used, among other means. This study analyses the treatment of gender issues in six primary texts, all of them Zambian novels written in English. Three of the novels are male-authored while the others are female-authored. The male-authored texts are: The Accusing Finger, Ticklish Sensation and Changing Shadows by Nyambe Wina, Gideon Phiri and Henry Musenge respectively. The female-authored works, on the other hand, are: Picking up the Pieces, Behind the Closed Door, and The Fight for Justice, by Maliya Mzyece Sililo, Susan Chitabanta and Josephine Bwalya Muchelemba respectively. The purpose of this study is to identify intratextual and intertextual common features and trends. The method of analysis utilises theories of gender and textuality, particularly Gerard Genette's theory of textuality. The findings of this study reveal that Zambian literary works written in English are not only male-dominated, but also perpetuate and largely reflect the gender inequalities of Zambian society. Generally, male characters are portrayed in better light than female ones; they are generally more privileged than the womenfolk economically, politically, socially, and generally occupy higher positions than women. According to the findings, the male-domination of the literary field has not only entrenched the male perspective and writing style, but also influenced women writers to largely follow the male writing tradition. However, the findings also reveal that, despite being influenced by male writers, female writers also exhibit archetypes which are peculiar to a female perspective in writing. Finally, the findings show that some archetypes exist in Zambian literary works written in English by both male and female writers, and that these archetypes are largely similar to what obtains in similar works written by other African writers.
'China: a thousand feet tall tree knows its roots'
(Times of Zambia, 2019-10-09) Ngalande, Sande
The death trap
(2012-11-01) Katai, Kaule
Emerging Patterns of Stress in Zambian English: Deviation or Nationalization ? An Exploratory Study
(The University of Zambia Press, 2011) Kashoki, Mubanga
Esquisse sur espace filmique et espace mental de la chambre dans Les enfants terribles de Cocteau et Melville
(The University of Zambia Press, 2010) Mwansa, Mulenga Rene
Abstract This article looks at the film `£e£ E#/o#/s rerrJ.6/es' by Jean Cocteau and Jean-Pierre Melville. The movie is a fiction drama about a brother and his elder sister who create an unrealistic romance. The scene of the bedroom unravels the shocking incest between siblings. Incest here might not be directly related to the Oedipus compl.ex, but it is in every way regarded as incest. Morally, a relationship between brother and sister, in this way, is a taboo to the community. The author's psychology is directed towards great Greek tragedy flgures, where he brings forth images related to the Greek mythology. He made an adaptation of `Oedipus Rex' in `£o Wczc47.#e lyifernale' . The article is divided in three parts: the first is a brief narration of the storyline; the second part is an analysis of the plot with two sub-categories- `cinematic space of the bedroom' and `mental space of the bedroom'; the third part is the collective imagination and symbols in the film, which look ~. the symbols of death, mirrors and stars. These three symbols are the materialisation of what cannot be seen: the death. This materialisation is an ffort to depict how the two children constantly lived with death, which represents the death of their mother and sister's husband. The bedroom is the place that united the brother and the sister at the physical level as well as at the mental level. In that bedroom, there is an evil spirit but also a treasure, which is the narcissistic instrument for both of them, Paul and Elisabeth. Furthermore, the fish that killed one and the gun that killed the other were both kept at the treasury. Paul and Elisabeth were deflnitely united in a fatal way, one to another despite the will to get married elsewhere. What they could not do in the flesh is spiritually realised beyond theworldwhenthesistercommitssuicidewhilecalculatingtheexactmoment of her brother's death. The detailed revelation of the whole shocking story is in the main text.
The Impact of Language Policy on Teacher-Training Programs: Cases of Selected Teacher-Training Colleges in Zambia and Malawi
(Kyoto University Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, 2013-03-01) Ngalande, Sande; Chigeda, Antonie
The study highlights the glaring mismatch between language policy and planning, especially in education, and the actual practices on the ground. It seems Zambia and Malawi are lost somewhere between policy formulation and implementation. Since the education sector is usually the major player in language policy and planning implementation, the study was conducted in teacher training colleges in both countries to mainly observe what impact the prevailing language policy and planning issues are having on the two countires. The rersults are indicative of the struggles of divising and implementing a language-in-education policy that agrees with demographic principles of the two democratic, multiethnic and multilingual states.
Language adaptability: lexical adoption or word borrowing in Zambian languages.
(2022) Kashoki, Mubanga E.
Neologisms: a morphological analysis of social media discourse on the Zambian online media.
(Multidisciplinary Journal of Language and Social Science Education, 2020-09) Nkhata & Jimaima
Drawing on lexical morphology, the study discursively interrogates the outcome lexical items of the social media discourses and self-asserting narratives. An attempt is made to discursively examine the interplay between technology and grammar. The point of departure is the interplay between technology and word formation processes in establishing whether these outcome lexical items can be placed within the known word formation processes aptly discussed in morphology or form their own Morphological categories. Although a lot of literature exists on social media discourse in general, little is known on the grammatical concerns arising from the transformative nature of technology on language. The study takes the view that, new words have been coined with time and social media neologisms should be seen as an outcome of the creativity of language as well as its productivity. The study problematizes lexical morphology in the broader context of media affordances in which creativity and self-asserting narratives drive and dominant the performativity of identity and communication on social media. The premise of the theoretical concerns is on three separate components: the Word Formation Rules, the filter and the mental lexicon. We take the view that, even though most social media users may not be fully informed about the word formation processes which morphologists put forth, the shared sociocultural knowledge with which these actors come to virtual spaces is sufficient to productively transform the virtual-scape linguistically. To this end, the study shows that, though some of the neologisms created on social media conform to Word Formation Rules, others are created by ‘pseudo’ word formation processes.
Nsenga proverbs in Zambia: linguistic, ethnographic and logical analyses
(Center for African Studies,Kyoto University, 2015) Ngalande, Sande
As African societies are rich in, and dependent on, orature to transmit societal information, proverbs play a central role in reflecting people's culture and traditions and they are hence entrusted with one of the most important functions of teaching and transmitting ethnic traditions and moral values across generations. It is therefore generally agreed that proverbs are not only the fruit of people's wisdom but also represent general characteristics of a society. Proverbs exist both orally and in print in the multitude of cultures and languages of the world. Whereas numerous collections already exist, several hundreds of both proverbs and publications on proverbs are added annually world over. Generally, most studies consist in paremiography. Paremiography is the commonest practice in the study of proverbs. Various people of various disciplines have collected proverbs either simply for the sake of making a collection or for specific purposes. Paremiography dates back as far as Aristotle's times and beyond in religious books. However, paremiologists occupy themselves with both the collection and classification of proverbs. In Africa and particularly Zambia, the majority of proverb information consists in collections more than the study of proverbs. Common in studies on proverbs is also the classification or categorization of proverbs based on discourse functions, conversational meanings and uses of proverbs. It is therefore common practice to find several works listing proverbs on one hand and their meanings on the other. The proverbs are also presented according to general functions and uses. As most African societies are multilingual, proverbs are also presented in local languages and translated into official languages, usually European languages, which are languages of the former colonial masters. In the Zambian case, translations are made in English. Although proverbs are an important part of language, many linguists have not directly dealt with the subject. Linguists too have involved themselves in classification and collection of proverbs as is the general trend. Some linguists have looked at proverbs under phraseology, but there remains the need for linguists to go beyond treating proverbs as phraseological units. In this manner, while research on proverb collections, conversational meanings, functions and use of proverbs abound, there is a dearth of information on the grammar of proverbs in Zambia in particular. Stated as a question, the problem is "What is the grammar of proverbs in Nsenga language?" The study is a departure from merely documenting proverbs to undertaking intensive analyses of individual proverbs in order to exhaustively deal with meanings and related linguistic and ethnographic aspects of individual proverbs. Thus rather than focus on collecting large volumes of proverbs, more time is allocated to dealing with individual proverbs from various angles or approaches in a holistic manner. The study therefore contributes by developing a new approach in analyzing proverbs. It combines the linguistic, ethnographic and logical approaches to deal with the complexity of the nature of proverbs and meaning in proverbs. Eight hundred proverbs and their accompanying ethnographic data were collected from the Nsenga people who speak a language called Nsenga using qualitative methods. Nsenga is spoken in Eastern Zambia. While Zambia has at least 73 speech varieties, English is the sole official language and only seven other indigenous languages have been selected as semi-official languages known as "Regional Official Languages". These languages are especially taught as subjects in schools. In Eastern Zambia, Nyanja is used as the official language. As a result, Nsenga is neither taught in schools nor used in any official capacity. It is therefore a minority language that has very little literature. The linguistic analysis reveals that Nsenga proverbs constitute a special form of language with a number of distinguishing features. The features include eight rhythm patterns based on Nsenga syllable structure that chiefly distinguish the phonology of Nsenga Proverbs from that of ordinary Nsenga. Other features of the phonology of Nsenga proverbs include grammatical and poetic alliteration of both consonant and vowel segments. The study also reveals morphological and syntactic structures that distinguish the grammar of Nsenga proverbs. These include a special form of pronominalization and nominalization. Others are bipartite structures, incomplete structures, imperative structures and the non-comphance to rules of grammar. The ethnographic analysis shows the manner in which proverbs are performed among the Nsenga people and the various societal characteristics as revealed by the proverbs. This analysis helps to move the study from merely dealing with linguistic meaning to dealing with pragmatic and cultural specific meaning of Nsenga proverbs. The analysis of meaning in proverbs is complemented by the logical analysis, which examines the reasoning pattern displayed in Nsenga proverbs. The study subsequently shows deductive reasoning in the form of Modus Ponendo Ponens as the predominant logic in Nsenga proverbs.
Translanguaging as commodified semiotic resource among traders and customers of Soweto market in Lusaka Zambia.
(Multidisciplinary Journal of Language and Social Science Education, 2020-09) Katundu & Jimaima
Motivated by the practical and theoretical need to interrogate the place of urgency, actorhood and convergence of semiotic assemblages and resources in places of trade and business, this paper investigated the use of translanguaging as a commodified semiotic resource among traders and customers at Soweto market in Zambia’s Capital City. For in-depth appreciation of the phenomenon, data were obtained by the semi-structured interview, audio recording and general observation within the broader context of qualitative ethnography. A careful analysis of translanguaging practices among traders and customers during a transaction revealed that speakers in a market setting of Lusaka place high premium on stylizing their multiple languages as commodified semiotics, which invariably results in dissolved traditional linguistic boundaries through the use of the extended linguistic repertoire from their language system. Consequently, the speakers combined English lexemes with bound morphemes from their local languages, the standard and non-standard language forms, as well as fragmented pieces of languages as semiotically motivated act. Revealingly, therefore, it is contested that translanguaging, as a commodified semiotic resource, is deployed to engender a clearer conveyance of messages that strive for inclusivity, and multiple deployment of identities as marketization strategy. Of course, one cannot deny the fact that these marketers have the ability to use language in whatever way they feel for meaning making. This entails that, for speakers, the type or form of language to be used in informal contexts does not matter as along as the cause for which the language is being used is met. Which means all bits and pieces of language are treated as meaning making resources in their own right

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