Document details

Publishing in African Languages: Challenges and Prospects

Chestnut Hill, Mass.: Bellagio Publishing Network (1999), 163 pp.

Series: Bellagio Studies in Publishing, 10

ISBN 0-9646078-5-9

Signature commbox: 100:20-Books 1999

"A collection of essays on an important ongoing debate, the publication of material in indigenous languages. Three African publishers – Dumisani Ntshangase (Juta Publishers, South Africa), Victor Nwankwo (Fourth Dimension Publishing Company, Nigeria), and Mamadou Aliou Sow (Les Editions Ganndal, Conakry, Guinea) – two African writers-editors/academics M. Mulokozi (Tanzania) and Damtew Teferra (Ethiopia); a woman publisher from India, Urvashi Butalia (Kali for Women, New Delhi), and Thomas Clayton, an American academic, look at the situation of indigenous language publishing in Africa, analyzing the problems, and offering possible prescriptions for advancing the cause of publishing in African languages. The contributors examine the situation in the various countries and regions covered, including issues such as colonial heritage, lack of national publishing policies, ambiguities towards the use of mother tongue in education beyond the first few years of primary school, forbidding economics of minority language publishing, as well as other aspects such as orthography, and technical issues related to management of the publishing and printing industries. The papers provide informative overviews of publishing in indigenous languages in African countries and elsewhere." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2084)
1 The Dilemmas of Publishing in African Languages: A Comparative Perspective / Philip G. Altbach, 1
2 Publishing in Kiswahili: A Writer's Perspective / M.M. Mulokozi, 11
3 Publishing in Southern African Languages: History, Challenges, and Opportunities / Dumisani K. Ntshangase, 43
4 African Publishing and National Languages: The West African Experience / Mamadou Aliou Sow, 65
5 The Politics of Multilingual Education and Publishing in Ethiopia / Damtew Teferra, 75
6 Publishing in Local Languages in Nigeria: A Publisher's Perspective / Victor U. Nwankwo, 111
7 Publishing in Indian Languages: Perspectives from the Subcontinent / Urvashi Butali, 129
8 World or Indigenous Languages? Influences on Language Policies for Publishing in Africa / Thomas Clayton, 145