Reclaiming the tongue: The politics of African indigenous languages in contemporary creative writing

Abstract

The question of language remains one of the most urgent debates in African literature, with indigenous languages often marginalised in favour of colonial tongues. This paper examines how contemporary African authors deliberately incorporate indigenous languages into their creative works as a form of political resistance, identity reclamation, and cultural preservation. The study employs postcolonial theory and sociolinguistic perspectives on code-switching, language attitudes, and diglossia to analyse how multilingual literary practices challenge linguistic imperialism and reconfigure the African literary landscape. It analyses internalised language attitudes as portrayed through character development and authorial voice. Using selected works by Zakes Mda, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, NoViolet Bulawayo, and Mia Couto, the paper explores strategies such as code-mixing, untranslated lexical items, idiomatic expressions, and the embedding of oral traditions in written texts. These linguistic choices not only enrich the aesthetic texture of the selected works but also affirm the validity of indigenous knowledge amid cultural erosion. The paper further considers reader reception, examining how multilingual texts invite engagement across cultural boundaries while maintaining a sense of rootedness in local identities. The study argues that the deliberate use of indigenous languages in African creative writing serves as both a reflection of societal struggles and a powerful tool for shaping cultural futures. It therefore contributes to broader discussions on the decolonisation of African literature and the preservation of linguistic diversity in a globalising world.