Abstract
Debates over the impact of colonialism on indigenous African languages dates to several decades. Literary experts like Ngugi wa Thiong'o has advocated for the use of indigenous language as means of communication in public schools in Africa. Chinua Achebe, on the other hand, has advocated for a "hybrid language," that is, a localize English in a ways that recognize Africans ability to reimagine foreign languages. At the heart of this advocacy is the imperialistic or hegemonic nature of European languages imposed on Africa. Although there is an abundance of studies in the overlapping fields of literature, linguistics, and history on how African governments have attempted to promote Mother's Tongue Education (MTE) or indigenous language as a panacea to Western literary encroachment and as part of the politics of identity construction after the demise of colonial rule, research has overlooked how young Africans, with little or no training in African literary scholarship are creating digital contents on social media, such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, among others, for audience that cuts across gender, race, ethnicity, and even generation. This study investigates the decolonial relevance, Science in Yoruba (SiY), one of the new social media platforms committed to making an African sense of global science.
Recommended Citation
Yusuff, Sikiru A.
(2025)
"Decolonizing Science: Indigenous Language and Digital Culture in Africa,"
The Millennium: Vol. 1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/millennium/vol1/iss1/4
