Finding the Balance

There are many African authors, like Ngugi and Achebe, who held the belief that it was not possible to accurately describe the feelings, history, and experiences of a people, who had been colonized, by using the colonizer’s language. According to these two authors colonization was evil and could not co-exist with tradition, which they viewed as good. In some ways, those who hold this opinion are right and in other ways they are not. The problem is that there is no way to completely and entirely translate one language into another. For example, I lived in Taiwan for two years, the official language is Mandarin. I had to quickly learn the language, as I didn’t speak a word of it prior to moving there. I did not have the luxury of living in a big and populous city, where many people spoke English. After some time of being immersed into the culture and spending most of my time with people speaking Chinese around me, there are phrases that I heard a lot. I learned how to use them, but there is no English equivalent to them. If I were to put the characters in this blog, you could copy and paste them into a translator and it would translate it into English. The English given is such a bad translation, but even I, who knows what it means, couldn’t give you an English equivalent. I could only teach you how to use the phrase. It is essentially a phrase that perfectly describes a variety of emotions in a huge range of situations.

This is one of the problems that Ngugi and Achebe have with using the colonial language. Every language is so rich in their own way and it is not possible adequately translate and express every word or phrase. A graphic novel can solve this problem. One can write in any language they choose, but they always draw in their own language.

Johann Sfar addresses the problems of language and colonization in his graphic novel, The Rabbi’s Cat. The images are very detailed and contain so much information. I found myself reading and examining each image several times. Different shades of brown, red, and yellow are used to show tradition. This demonstrates the comfort associated with the goodness in tradition. The city of Paris, representing modernity, is drawn as gray, very dark, and rainy. It is dreary and ruins everything.


The main characters in this book are the rabbi, his daughter, and the cat. The cat can be seen as a little arrogant and opinionated; however, this cat has one thing the other characters don’t have, a confidence in knowing who he is. I loved the cat and found him to be quite hilarious! He questions everything. Ah! Something that people who numbly follow traditional religion hate, because they no answers outside of “That’s just the way we do it.” Growing up in a very conservative Baptist home, there were many things that I questioned. At first the questions just rumbled around in my head, once I was older I started to ask why. In many ways I was discouraged from asking why, but my mom encouraged me to find what it is that I believe and not just what she believes or what my church believed. In my personal opinion, traditions within religion often make it stale and stagnate. When the question “Why?” is answered with, “Because that’s how we’ve always done it” brings about a lack of realness and conviction within religion and often even a hatred of it. The rabbi and his daughter suffer from identity crisis after identity crisis.

Sfar also demonstrates the ability for people to live together, get along, even be friends and still believe differently from each other. There is a scene between a Jewish rabbi and an Arab imam. Together they laugh and joke and sing and enjoy each other’s company. The Jewish cat and Christian dog, in Paris, run through the city and have a great time. They even learn from each other. The graphic novel was originally written in French, but drawn in Algerian. Each of these are quite different from the other; however, they all agree to disagree on certain things. They respect each other’s beliefs and ways, without requiring the other to conform to their ways. There is one scene in which Sfar uses the rabbi’s cat and the imam’s donkey to show the reality of what people are like. First they argue about a name not being able to be both Arab and Jewish, then they argue about whose ancestor’s grave they are going to visit.




Sfar does not seem to support complete colonization, but he does point out that it is possible for one to have a balance of both tradition and colonization. 

My Conundrum...

I am in a conundrum. I don’t know if I can say that colonization is inherently bad, but I can’t say that it is good either. Prior to reading the book, Nervous Condition, I would have whole-heartedly agreed with the other authors we’ve read, in saying that colonization is bad. Now, I would agree that the way in which Africa was colonized is entirely wrong. The idea that through colonization one group dehumanizes another group is wrong. Differences do not equal inferiority. Dangarembga points out some of the good sides to colonialism, which is where my conundrum starts.

In her book, Nervous Conditions, Tsitsi Dangarembga criticizes the ideas of colonization and how it affects people; however, she does not go as far in criticizing it as some of the authors we have read thus far. She addresses several different issues associated with colonization and with the Shona culture and tradition. She points out that not all the problems in Africa are solely to be blamed on colonization, but also on traditional culture, which had its own flaws. As a writer Dangarembga is speaking for those who cannot speak. She deals with both the good and bad sides to colonization and tradition.

On the side of colonization being good, it brought a whole set of opportunities for women. Education for one thing was more than just a thing to be dreamt about, it was actually a possibility. Colonization gave women rights. This was hard for everyone to accept, even some women. Their culture and traditions were so ingrained in them that simply the idea of a woman going to school was preposterous! Men were the ones who needed an education, after all they were the ones who did business and provided for the family. Women stayed home and took care of the house and raised the children. They were to obey their husbands and men in general without question. This can be seen in the parents of both Tambu and Nyasha. Both of their mothers obeyed and went along with the rules of the game. Maiguru objected, but not enough to matter or make a difference. Ma’Shingayi followed tradition and played the role of the woman. Lucia is the character who interests me the most. She was bold and had her own opinion, which she was not afraid to state, but she knew when to “back down” and play the game to get what she wanted. Women had become second-class citizens, who were subject to the decisions of men with no thought to their feelings or opinions.

Education is a huge part of this book and a subject I am very passionate about. I love school, all aspects of it: studying, homework, research, class, etc... I love studying and learning. I’ve grown up in a single parent family with very little extra money; perhaps this has given me a great appreciation for money and a keen awareness of how I use it. We have been blessed in America with an ability to go to college if we so please and to choose whatever we want to major in. Unfortunately too many people take this privilege for granted and party their college years away or just don’t care and drop out. The great thing is they have the freedom to do so. After doing research on the topic of education in Africa, I was greatly saddened. Public education is free in the U.S.; however, fees for extracurricular activities are being charged. In most cases these fees are affordable. In Africa, however, the schools fees are often way above and beyond a family’s income. They do not have the opportunity to receive financial help or go to a bank and take out student loans, and this should not be needed just to send one’s child to elementary school. Even though I did not know the extent of how bad education is in Africa, I did know that it was pretty unique to the U.S. for education to be available to everyone.

One thing I did not know, until a few years ago has to do with college. Five years ago I went to Taiwan and stayed for two years. Being in the elementary schools, Monday through Friday and being the foreigner, everyone wanted to practice their English with me. I learned a lot. One thing I found odd is how kindergarten can affect what college a person goes to. I had students, who would come to school with bruises. Most of the students felt comfortable enough with me to tell me what happened; they had been beaten by their parents. Why? They did poorly on a test. What did poorly mean? A ‘B’ is what poorly meant. Sometimes it was just an A minus. I thought this was a bit extreme; I was for one thing upset and two completely confused! A ‘B’ is not a bad grade! Then one of my friends explained to me, that one B could keep that child from college. You see after elementary school there is a test. This test determines what Jr. High the child will attend. After that another test is given to determine what Sr. High they will go to. And after Sr. High there are other tests. These determine what colleges the student is qualified to attend and what area they will major in. There is no choice, the path is laid out for them and every little grade counts. Then I started researching... And I discovered this really was not that uncommon, actually it was quite normal. This explains why so many people choose to come to the U.S. for college. They have the opportunity to choose something they enjoy, instead of having the choice made for them.

There are many problems within our education system, but we are so very privileged! These privileges would not be possible if it was not for colonization of some sort. Education according to tradition is for those who have money and can afford it. It is something that should be seen as an honor and privilege. As a result of colonization, we have been able to offer education to everyone, not just the elite in society. So, this is my conundrum... And conclude that colonization is quite complex and it is not so easy to just say “Colonization is evil and should not happen!”