Page 11 - 2020 SoMJ Vol 73 No 2_Neat

2 The Society of Malaŵi Journal

Africans were indeed backward and that they needed Europeans to uplift them to
a new social stratum. Such acknowledgements can be observed in the conclusion
made by Africans within the DRCM system that the latter restricted the use of
5
English in order to keep them ‘backward’.
Ironically, missions that promoted the use of English, like the Livingstonia
Mission (LM), are accused of cultural imperialism and promoting ideologies
6
which emphasized the ‘backwardness’ of Africans. This is apparent in the claims
made by missionaries that English was a language of a ‘high culture,’ better
7
poised to express abstract concepts than vernacular languages. Thus, Africans
were subservient to Europeans regardless of the policy their respective missions
implemented; they were either under ‘conservative’ missions (like the DRCM)
which made them backward, or ‘progressive’ missions (like the LM) which
endangered the African social system. These two positions are evidently in
conflict; however, they highlight how identity is constructed in contrast with the
other. Pascal Kishindo refers to this as ‘contrastive self-identification on the basis
of language’ and shows that it has an impact on the construction of ethnic
identities.
8
This paper builds upon this theme of the futility of categorizing the mission
environment under binary categories. It maintains that the relationship between
missionaries and their African converts was complex and in a state of flux,
affecting the way identities were conceptualized by both Europeans and Africans.
The paper explains in detail vernacular projects initiated by LM, as well as their
impacts on its relationship with the DRCM. Furthermore, the paper describes the
Bible translation project undertaken by Protestant missions. This section shows
that missionaries, in their language studies, employed theories that suggested that
African communities were homogenous and not heterogeneous. Finally, the paper
considers the political ramifications of the vernacular translations. Though I use
‘vernacular’ in discussing colonial language policies, I am aware of the
contentions surrounding the term. Some find it condescending and ‘insulting’ to
refer to other languages as ‘vernacular’, especially when contrasted with English

Presbyterianism and Patriarchy.
5 Mvera Manuscripts, “To All Europeans Ministers and African Ministers of the C.C.A.P
of Mkhoma Synod Our Grievances” (1950s), KS 1030 Kerkargief Stellenbosch.
6 Archwells Moffat Katani, “Traditional Malawian choral music: a liturgical-critical study
within the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP)-Nkhoma Synod” (2008), 88–90.
7 Katani, 88–90; Kayambazinthu, “The Language Planning Situation in Malawi,” 401;
Peter G. Forster, “Culture, Nationalism, and the Invention of Tradition in Malawi,” The
Journal of Modern African Studies 32, no. 3 (September 1, 1994): 478.
8 P. Kishindo, “‘Flogging a Dead Cow?’: The Revival of Malawian Chingoni,” Nordic
Journal of African Studies 11, no. 2 (2002): 214; J. Thompson, “Presbyterians and Politics
in Malawi: A Century of Interaction,” The Round Table 94, no. 382 (October 1, 2005):
583.