COLONIAL
SCARS:
I think one of the most interesting
consequences of the colonization of African countries by European colonial
empires, is the presence of European languages in Africa. French, for example,
which is the most common European language in that continent, is spoken by more
than twenty African countries. However, there are a lot other European
languages there which are a little less popular. One example is Portuguese.
This language is spoken in countries such as Cape Verde, Angola or Mozambique
(in this one more than 27% of population knows it as second language). In
Mozambique, the 5th of May they celebrate the Day of Portuguese
Language and Culture, as well as in many other Portuguese-speaking African
countries. However, the influence of this language in this country has
increased during time as a way to improve communication between Mozambicans
during the independence. Henrique Terreiro Galha, revolutionary leader, posted
some blog entries about this independence in which he affirmed the following:
“Portuguese was the only vehicle of communication among the different
ethnicities… Joaquim Chissano ‘the need to transform the Portuguese language,
from an instrument of depersonalization and oppression, to a vehicle of
communication of the People’”. Definitely, Portuguese has become an important
part of Mozambique since, thanks to colonization, this language was brought
there. However, Mozambique is also very important for Portuguese people as a way
of escaping from the crisis of the democracy, as well as other colonies of the
past such as Angola. The main reason, some people affirm, is that there, with
only some formation, you can help the country grow a lot. And that is happening
thanks to all this immigration; only in 2011 Mozambique’s economy grew a 7, 4%.
Finally, it is important to say,
that this is only one of the lots of European languages that are actually
spoken at Africa thanks to colonization of the early XX c. and that have lasted
until today. Moreover, as well as this one, there are other scars of
colonialism which can be observed nowadays, such as the Commonwealth, Multiculturalism
in France's Presidential Debate, etc.
WORKS CITED:
Global
voices page, Translation
posted 19
May 2011 16:46 GMT (Not mentioned author).
https://globalvoices.org/2011/05/19/mozambique-portuguese-the-language-of-mozambicanness/
Nations online page (Not mentioned author).
Eldiario.es, Mozambique, la huída de la emigración, Susana
Irles, 17/10/2012, 09:00 a.m.
Here you can see an image explaining the main facts of Modernisme.