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Mbele to co-edit Tanzanian language project

By Tom Vogel
January 29, 2007

Associate Professor of English Joseph Mbele recently was appointed one of the editors for the Languages of Tanzania Project, at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The project aims to publish research on the 127 languages of Tanzania, creating an up-to-date language map that includes demographics, grammars and dictionaries. Mbele will be editor of the Oral Literatures publications, beginning with a comprehensive bibliography of research in Tanzanian folklore, and continuing with publications of studies and collections of tales and folklore.

"The idea is to document these languages and create a record that preserves them for posterity," Mbele says. Since most of Tanzania's many languages are oral and not written, Mbele says there is concern that they may be lost entirely some day. "It upsets the ecological balance when that happens. When we lose one language, we lose a very valuable resource," Mbele explains, comparing the loss of a language to the loss of a species.

Mbele believes that recording a language preserves not only the vocabulary, but also the traditional knowledge and philosophy of a culture's heritage. "Recording these languages gives us insight into other fields, such as history," he says. "Linguistics has yielded a great deal of historic insight."

Although Mbele notes that there have been efforts to document the languages of Tanzania in the past, starting with European missionaries some 150 years ago, the Dar es Salaam project is the most comprehensive. Begun in 2001, the project -- in conjunction with the University of Gothenberg in Sweden and funded by a Swedish foundation -- has attracted scholars from Germany, England, France, Russia, Japan and the United States. Mbele predicts that work on the project will continue until at least 2012.

PRESERVING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
As a folklorist, Mbele has researched East African epic heroes, as well as tricksters and outlaws, such as Jesse James. For his book, Matengo Folktales, Mbele recorded many of the folktales from his native tongue and translated them into English.

"I wanted to share some of the folklore heritage with a wider audience," Mbele says, adding that teaching and writing about folklore is what brought him into the Languages of Tanzania Project.

Mbele has been researching and recording folklore since the 1970s as a part of the process of preserving languages and understanding cultures. Before coming to St. Olaf Mbele studied at Dar es Salaam and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has taught such courses as "Post-Colonial and Third World Literature," "Folklore," and "The Hero and the Trickster," as well as the course, "Africa and the Americas." He retains strong ties with Dar es Salaam, where he conducts much of his research and frequently advises graduate students and involves them in his research.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.