Sunday, September 21, 2014
Language!
In class recently we discussed the idea of a lack of vocabulary that can be used to describe slavery from an inside perspective. This is interesting to me because it symbolizes how not only history is written by the winners, but so is language. Communication in the time of slave trade and kidnapping was extremely difficult for those being captured because there are a momentousness amount of languages in Africa and they can not all understand each other, therefore basically the only option was to assimilate into the English language. This is obviously not ideal because not only does it require learning how to communicate in total immersion, but it also does not accommodate African culture as the original languages do.
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It is key that you pointed out the diversity of African languages and their repercussions in the slave trade. Yet, is language really the reason that slaves were so easily captured and traded? Also, I would say that total immersion is actually a pretty good way to learn a language; it's very practical.
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