Give local writers a place in setbooks

By Irene Owino

When I left high school some years back, I could recite Nigeria author Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine from page to page. I knew the Nigerian Igbo culture like the back of my hand –– more than my own.

During our time, we also read Shamba la Wanyama translated from Animal Farm, Kisima cha Giningi and Nikolia Gogol’s The Government Inspector among others for Kiswahili and English Literature.

Set books for secondary school literature syllabi have changed since then, but foreign authors still dominate examinable literature.

These fictional books picked for secondary schools are loaded with information and help students learn about different literature genres in different cultural settings.

This extends debate on the role of such books in shaping the cultural trends of the students even after school. Do students develop a reading culture after high school? If so what do they read?

Some students are known to burn their books immediately after sitting Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams. This means they only read literature material for exam purposes. It is not uncommon to find students scrambling to read foreign fictional titles during and after school. And there are favourites like Danielle Steele, Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon and Nora Roberts among others. Seldom will one find students interested in local books.

One wonders whether the education system is to blame for this trend.

What criteria does the Kenya Institute of Education use to select books for literature studies in schools and colleges?

Local titles authors should be given a chance because they could be a rich source of information. Currently, of the four books studied in secondary school literature, only Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between is a local title.

Introducing local literature books for studies will encourage budding writers and uplift the standards of the existing ones. Giving local writers a chance to have their books read in schools will promote a reading culture in students even after they leave school.

Incentives for writers

The Ministry of Education should also come up with incentives to reward local writers. Reading novels and plays written by foreigners only uplifts foreign culture. Learning other cultures is not wrong but isn’t it true that mwacha mila ni mtumwa?

When reading local writers, students can identify with the features in the narrative. These include the setting of the story, characters and the period in which the story is set.

According to Industrialisation PS John Lonyangapuo, the basis of knowledge and information is in the books we read.

While speaking at the launch of Masinde Kusimba’s Strange Twist of Fate last month, the PS noted that any society that seeks to develop must have a lot of information circulating around in form of books and other scholarly material.

"Books are powerful vehicles through which ideas, opinions and attitudes are shared transformed and disseminated. Books are also one of the greatest sources of entertainment and therapy. They teach you how to cope with problems like stress, anger, depression, hatred, and love," Prof Lonyangapuo said.

He said Kenyans are touted as non-readers and if they read foreign material is their favourite.

This is coupled by the fact that foreign authors get preference in choosing school set books. Nigerian authors Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Elechi Amadi are among foreign writers that dominate our school literature curriculum. Others include William Shakespeare, Velma Polland, Henrik Ibsen and John Ruganda.

Way forward for authors

So what happens to local writers? The PS while commenting on this issue said: "Thus as a nation that appreciates knowledge, and creative arts, we should acknowledge and reward our local writers for their excellent efforts of being able to understand, imagine, picture and capture realistic events in the society and bring them to us in a creative and captivating manner."

He added: "It is surprising that sometimes we read more books written by foreigners and understand their culture and way of life better. A secondary school student can narrate the story of Okonkwo and Igbo culture but may know little or nothing about Kenyans. Let us give first priority to books written by Kenyans."

—The writer is a sub-editor at the Standard