No matter where you go on our beautiful blue globe, English changes according to the culture and native tongue of the particular area. Sometimes understanding what the other person is saying proves to be slightly difficult, but with patience and a little creativity communication can be relatively pain free and enjoyable.
Literature has also come to reflect the differences in expression and slang in the English language. In my youth reading a copy of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart for my literature class was as foreign as reading Ngugi wa Thiong'o's The River Between. There were things I learned about the Nigerian and Kenyan culture that opened my eyes to things I may have not otherwise known.
This kind of exposure has not only been by African authors, but by American authors and screenplays as well. A popular phrase heard around Qalil.com is one taken from something Madea, a character played by Tyler Perry.
Google Translate via Chrome has allowed me to follow some passionate blogs by various people around the World. I can follow Basketball in a blog written in Portuguese from Angola, understand the issues that may lead up to another bout of civil unrest in Morocco or enjoy the beautiful descriptions of Tanzania written in Swahili The World has fewer and fewer boundaries.
The of course, I had to happen upon the one book I am curious to read that will take a little longer for me to have access to. Masimba Musodza has written a sci-fi novel in Shona. Shona is an African language spoken by a group of people who can be found in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Musodza's book, MunaHacha Maive Nei? presents another challenge for the language challenged curious George. I want to know what is in the book. Exerpts can be found here, all written in Shona and a puzzle for those of us that do not speak it.
The novel tackles issues ranging from greed and corruption to sustainable development and corporate intrigue. Harmful checmicals are released into the ecosystem by a research station operating in secret and the animals and plants begin to mutate. After a child has been attacked, the locals believe it to be one of the custodians of their folk lore and attempt to appease it, but they soon realize the reality which is wilder and more horrifying than their minds could have imagined.
See what I'm saying? Now how am I supposed to read this one? I want to know. I'll probably phone my own Zimbabwean friend and talk her into reading it to me over the phone.
Needless to say, the World is getting smaller as language barriers continue to fall to the ground. I'm off to go rent a wrecking ball!
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