Luanda - A book with a collection of texts by various Angolan authors, entitled ‘Letters on the Languages of Angola’, was released on Saturday in Luanda Province, as part of an initiative by the Angolan Academy of Letters.
The book, sponsored by the Bornito de Sousa Foundation, was edited by the Angolan Academy of Letters and organized by writers Paulo de Carvalho and António Quino.
It book brings together texts by Amélia Mingas, Aníbal Simões, António Quino, Bornito de Sousa, Deolinda Rodrigues, Filipe Zau, Mbiavanga Fernando, Manuel Muanza, Márcio Undolo, Paulo de Carvalho and Virgílio Coelho, with a multidisciplinary approach to the languages of Angola.
The 237-page book, divided into 12 chapters, has an initial print run of 1,000 copies and covers, among other topics, the relationship between language and society, literature, bilingualism and bilingual education.
Speaking to the press, the Minister of Culture, Filipe Zau, recalled that the colonial regime introduced its languages into schooling and administrative functions, naturally blocking the development of the languages of national citizens.
The minister added that the identity of Angolan ethno linguistic groups resisted to the assimilation policies and that to date at the level of the pedagogical speech it is already understood that a greater promotion and dissemination of Portuguese as official language starts necessarily by the cooperation between Portuguese language, as well as the predominant African languages in the country.
Paulo de Carvalho on his turn emphasized that the first book in the collection of the Angolan Academy of Letters, aims to generate a debate about the coexistence of Angola's various languages.
“There is an official language and several languages that are not official, but which are the mother tongues of a large proportion of the inhabitants. So it is also possible that, in terms of state policy, the role of national languages could be redefined”, he said.
The writer said that the Academy of Letters presents several suggestions related to the possibility to have more than one official language in Angola, both at national and regional level.
AB/OHA/MRA/AMP
