Language Decolonisation and the Radio

Approaches to language decolonisation vary but are all actions taken "to undo the social, political, and cultural effects of dominance of colonial languages" and to fight against language shift, endangerment, extinction and death. Languages and identities suppressed by linguistic imperialism are legitimated, revitalised, and maintained, linguistic inequality, manipulation, repression and cultural oppression are redressed.

Media is a strong tool for language decolonisation. In Ghana, for instance, radio record most of the programmes in Ghanaian languages. Mass media becomes "a mechanism for the storage of expressions, reservoirs and reference points for the circulation of words, phrases and discourse".

Linguistically, African language programmes on radio and TV have immensely contributed in African societies. Listeners learn a lot of things on language such as new vocabularies for modern concepts in politics, medicine, health, education, administration, economics and science from African programmes. They get new terms, idiomatic expressions, etymologies of words, proverbs, archaisms, appellations, etc. of indigenous languages (see Agyekum 2010 on radio). 

One of the major functions of the African language programmes on radio and TV talk-shows is language modernization, development and elaboration of terms to cater for most aspects of human life. Radio is one of the most powerful tools in the dissemination, interpretation and recontextualisation of discourse (see Agyekum 2000, 2010). Coined terms and phrases commonly used on African language radio programmes are picked up by the people and accepted for use outside radio.

Oral literature genres are less available in urban spaces and appear more and more on radio which somewhat replaces the "traditional village oral traditions" once provided by the elders. Both radio and television become repositories for African languages particularly when it comes to orality which was the main feature of African laguages before the advent of missionaries (Agyekum, 2018).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

-- Agyekum, K. (2018). Linguistic imperialism and language decolonisaiton in Africa through documentation and preservation. In J. Kandybowicz, T. Major, H. Torrence and P. Duncan (eds.) African Linguistics on the Prairie: Selected papers from the 45th annual conference on African linguistics. Berlin: Language Science Press, pp. 87–104.

- photograph by Pierre Verger via

Burkina Faso's School for Husbands

A few years ago, the project "School for Husbands" was launched in Burkina Faso. This concept is not new, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been supporting such schools since 2008, starting in Niger (via). The schools in Burkina Faso are financed by the International Development Association through the Sahel Women's Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) and implemented with support from the UNFPA. Husbands (and future husbands) meet once a week to discuss family life, a facilitator guides the meetings in which topics such as women's rights, maternal and reproductive health, family planning and hygiene are addressed. The project aims to change attitude and behaviour among men by allowing them to share their experiences, asking questions and learning from each other. All this is taking place in a region that is characterised by a very unequal distribution of household responsibilities among women and men and where, in 2018 alone, there were 747 cases of neonatal death and 95 women died during childbirth (via).

“The school for husbands creates an environment in which men can feel confident sharing with and learning from each other, Here, they can speak without fear of what people will say about subjects traditionally left to women, such as family planning, prenatal consultations, the need to give birth in a health center, and postnatal consultations. Convincing husbands that they have a role to play in these issues helps promote harmony among couples and families. Before the school for husbands was launched in the village, there was a lot of tension among members of my family. And when I drank too much millet beer, I argued with my wives. But that is now all in the past!”
Ouanibaouiè Bondé

“Now, my husband often brings me seasonings from the market for cooking. When I want to do the laundry, his eldest son goes with him to collect water from the creek. When I am pregnant, he goes to the health center with me for the weighings. On the day I gave birth, he was the one who drove me to the hospital and wanted to stay at my side during the birth. I was so happy on that day that I forgot about the pain from the contractions!”
Martine Gnoumou

As of 2019, more than 1,640 schools for husbands have been established in the countries where SWEDD is being implemented (via).

photographs by Sory Sanlé via and via and via and via and via and via and via

Sory Sanlé and the "People of the Night"

"Photography is a witness to everything, a kind of proof of life. When I started out, my nation was a French colony. A few months after, in 1958, we became an independent colony. Two years later, we were fully independent. Haute-Volta, as the country was known before 1983, flourished after independence, and the region experienced its own nouvelle vague."
Sory Sanlé

"There were only a few photographers working in Haute-Volta at the time. Most were in Ouagadougou, the capital. I was one of the first in Bobo, and the first to use the name Volta. People were excited about the possibilities independence offered and played with new identities in the studio."
Sory Sanlé

Sory Sanlé is a Burkinabe photographer, born in 1943, who developed "a reputation as photographer of the Burkinabe club scene in the 1960s and 70s" (via). Burkina Faso's club scene was vibrant in the years after the independence from France, bands played to "stylish crowds riding a wave of liberation". And Sanlé captured it all. (via)

“It was a pleasure to show the joy of those people. People loved each other and there was so much fun. … They might have been poor but they had a ball and enjoyed those moments.”
Sory Sanlé

“It did not matter what anyone’s position was,” says Sory. “People would always mingle, interact and take care of each other — not like today.”
Sory Sanlé

photographs via and via and via 

The forgotten victims in Africa's conflict zones

"We found that time and again older people were at risk of abuses during the armed conflict, including summary execution, arbitrary detentions and rape.… The reality of the war is that no one is spared and that older people remain ignored and invisible victims."

Bridget Sleap, Human Rights Watch

"Older people can be heightened or particular risk of abuse for a number of reasons. One of them is when they are unable to flee the fighting when it comes to their communities. Some choose to stay to protect their property or to protect their homes. Others are unable to run away, to escape the violence or sometimes they don’t have family members to support and help them flee."

Bridget Sleap, Human Rights Watch

"Older people must be included in the pre-conflict warning signs, in the pre-conflict arrangement, older people must be included in the discussion so that their interests are known to the community and also known to the warring parties… it's possible during the conflict the harm that happens to older people could be minimized."

Carole Agengo, HelpAge International

- - - - - - - - - -

photograph by Johnson Donatus Aihumekeokhai Ojeikere (1930-2014) via