Language as a means of cultural inclusion in Chukwuemeka Ike’s Toads for Supper

Abstract

For what its worth, man, especially the Igbo man dwells in constant union with his environment. This union evokes the supernatural. It creates a perception or pattern of reasoning. This perception is embedded in language and if altered poses a threat to the communal existence of man. Language on its own has always been man’s tool for realignment to a natural world order to better understand the cosmos. The absence of this alignment reminds one of a people whose ways are fast receding and whose center obviously cannot hold. According to the United Nations’ Institute for Environment and Human Security, “A language is not simply a means of communication, it is part of the bedrock of one’s cultural identity. Language helps people build a stronger sense of belonging to their culture, boosting their mental health and overall social cohesion.†The Objective therefore is to investigate the changing lives of the African society, especially the early African/Igbo man in a world that lacks inclusion. In our present clime, there are obvious and severe struggles for identity and equity despite how liberal our world has become. Which means the ‘inclusion fight’ is not exactly water under the bridge. Therefore one could only imagine what it was like in the early times. The aim is to understand how races came in contact with this virus that seems to be rampaging through and through, and continue to push for a more inclusive world, through the means of language. The African novel has always been a representation of time and space, mirroring a people’s background, culture and heritage through speaking their thoughts and actions, which are all parts of a people’s heritage. Hence, serves as a method of x-raying the times in question, of reliving the past, in order to acquire a deep understanding of that time and then place it side by side with the present texts and times. The method here is a critical review of issues that bother on inclusion. This paper recommends that language is a visible means of cultural inclusion, power tussle and absolute control, also its distortion could result in a downfall of both their physical and spiritual worlds, which is an utter lack of cohesion.