Let's Encourage Sheng in Kenyan Literature

This article first appeared on Saturday Nation, January 18, 2014 under the title; “To Get Students to read, write in Sheng”

The prospect of using Sheng in literature among Kenyan writers is entirely positive. Sheng cannot be “a language for criminals,” as Kennedy Echesa Lubengu describes it in one of his past articles. Rather it gives the East African region (especially Kenya) a sense of identity. It springs from a combination of English words with local ones – like Swahili and Kikuyu words. Killing Sheng is like wallowing to Western colonialist directive in language terms.

In the Kenyan 8-4-4 school curriculum, African languages and other relevant essentials are discouraged inapplicable in composition writing. Examiners award marks only for impeccable Queen Elizabeth English. The way we struggle to muster English is the way Westerners should do in respect to African languages, like Sheng. At least this might bring unity of languages.

Using Sheng in literature also points at the growth of African languages. I wouldn’t be wrong by maintaining that Kenyan youth should be among the greatest readers, for literary future of the country is in their hands. Since Sheng is most popular among the youth, writers should employ the language to keep youthful eyes glued on literary books.

Kwani Trust has entirely achieved this. Since purchasing a Kwani Journal on August last year, several of my fellow students have read it for its regularly well-used Sheng words, although few. They have even been attending the monthly Amka Space literature forum at Goethe-instutit Nairobi.

Sheng further arouses reading interest. A reader is usually anxious to see how Sheng words affect and work with English ones and the whole work. Literary originality initially began in West Africa, with Amos Tutuola, and later Chinua Achebe; who faced stiff criticism for using Pidgin-English (a mixture of Igbo and English) in his writings, notably “A man of the people”. Osi Ogbu has also used the language in his novel; “The Moon also Sets”.   

©2014 Peter Ngila