Eng2603 Assignment 1
Kimeshri Reddy – 50062778
ENG2603 – Assignment 01 – poetry and Nervous Conditions
Submission Date: 1 September 2014
The contexts in this module represent the different ways in which colonial tools define characters and their experiences. The English language and Christianity are two particularly powerful colonial tools. The essay shows Ntsikana kaGabha’s poem, “Ntsikana’s Bell”, and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, Nervous Conditions, depict the impact of these tools. This essay shows that neither English nor Christianity is represented in an unproblematic manner. The discussion also proposes that these are political instruments in colonial contexts and that the authors highlight the complexities surrounding these tools’ utilisations.
In the extract from Nervous Conditions, it is clear that the English language is an important and valid tool and that Nhamo’s usage of this instrument changes him in term sof his behaviour and personality as well as his relationships with his family members. However, I personally do not agree with the assertion that “no attempt is made to critique” English as a tool of colonial oppression. Dangarembga bring to light that both the positive and the negative consequences of Nhamo’s exposure to a Western mission education and his training in English. The text that is provided clearly shows that, after a year at his new school, the “change in his appearance was dramatic”. There is also the suggestion that this makeover altered his appearance but personality as well. The changes are so far reaching that he “was no longer the same person”.
Dangarembga first mentions the more positive changes that made him look much healthier and more active as he was now “fit and muscular”. The narrator, Tambu, then goes on to note that, while “all this was good, there was one terrible change”. She identifies the “terrible change” as his feigned loss of his home tongue, Shona. Dangarembga is offering an explicit and unambiguous critique of the English
ENG2603 – Assignment 01 – poetry and Nervous Conditions
Submission Date: 1 September 2014
The contexts in this module represent the different ways in which colonial tools define characters and their experiences. The English language and Christianity are two particularly powerful colonial tools. The essay shows Ntsikana kaGabha’s poem, “Ntsikana’s Bell”, and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, Nervous Conditions, depict the impact of these tools. This essay shows that neither English nor Christianity is represented in an unproblematic manner. The discussion also proposes that these are political instruments in colonial contexts and that the authors highlight the complexities surrounding these tools’ utilisations.
In the extract from Nervous Conditions, it is clear that the English language is an important and valid tool and that Nhamo’s usage of this instrument changes him in term sof his behaviour and personality as well as his relationships with his family members. However, I personally do not agree with the assertion that “no attempt is made to critique” English as a tool of colonial oppression. Dangarembga bring to light that both the positive and the negative consequences of Nhamo’s exposure to a Western mission education and his training in English. The text that is provided clearly shows that, after a year at his new school, the “change in his appearance was dramatic”. There is also the suggestion that this makeover altered his appearance but personality as well. The changes are so far reaching that he “was no longer the same person”.
Dangarembga first mentions the more positive changes that made him look much healthier and more active as he was now “fit and muscular”. The narrator, Tambu, then goes on to note that, while “all this was good, there was one terrible change”. She identifies the “terrible change” as his feigned loss of his home tongue, Shona. Dangarembga is offering an explicit and unambiguous critique of the English