Lost in Translation

Language is a funny thing. It’s so misleading. We work under the assumption that two people who both speak English should be able to communicate easily; this isn’t necessarily the case. Language is far from uniform, and completely influenced by culture (and for those anthropologists of you out there, yes, culture is also influenced by language).

It’s so amusing to see all kinds of signs and shirts that are imbued with meaning for me, coming from an American culture, while the Ghanaians sporting these sayings either have no idea what they mean, or interpret the meaning differently than I do.

Here are some amusing examples (I usually see these while I’m in taxis, so I never get photos):

- an old woman, with a walking stick, hobbling down the road, wearing a t-shirt that featured a giant hand, flipping the bird at everyone the lady passed.

- a portly middle-aged man with a huge potbelly wearing the shirt “0 to bitch in 60 seconds.”

- a taxi named “Obesity.” (They name taxis and buses here as if they were ships or something…) or how about a bus named “All Shall Pass?”

- “Bencrazy Cyber Café” (I am not making these up). Or “Fred Perp internet café.”

- A sign in the stadium for the African Cup of Nations- a soccer tournament being played right now in Egypt, says “No Racism.” Another one says “Be Fair Play.”

- How would you like to send your kids to a “crack tutor”? There was a huge banner in town offering remedial classes for junior and senior high that were taught by “crack tutors.”

And lastly, an anecdote. Mus and I were watching TV- it was some sort of talk news show. During the breaks, they play music videos. The anchor announced that they were going to play a “Golden Oldie” by Diana Ross. But somehow there was a miscommunication and Gloria Estefan appeared instead. When the anchor came back on, flustered and embarrassed, he apologized. Next break, he says, “And NOW we’ll see Diana Ross.” Sure enough, Diana Ross was on the screen. Along with Ru Paul and about 100 men in drag, all singing “I Will Survive” to a crowd of very homosexual men (and not a single woman). They switched back to the anchor, who was grinning and dancing to the music… Now I have to say, Ghana is NOT a tolerant place for homosexuals. So I found this odd. I turned to Mus and said, “Why are they showing homosexuals and drag queens on public television?” Mus was like, “WHAT?” He had no idea that Diana Ross was the only person on screen that was “all woman,” and he assured me that the anchor didn’t either, or they would never show the video. If the anchor had realized, he would be mortified to be seen dancing and grinning to the song.

Airing Out the Laundry

Sometimes it strikes me how different American and Ghanaian culture is (and I’m using the term very loosely since both countries are made up of all different kinds of cultures).

For example, many Americans work under the idea that they shouldn’t “air their dirty laundry out in public.” We don’t like to raise our voices or make scenes in public, and family problems stay in the family- they are not discussed in front of anyone else.

Here, it seems that the phrase they work by is: “If you got something to say, then say it.”

An example that made this very apparent to me:

We were back in Nkwanta, Mus and I, staying with his uncle the cocoa farmer again. It seems this uncle has one son who’s a bit of a black sheep; he’s rebellious, doesn’t contribute to the house, and is always causing trouble. This son gets into an argument with his sister- and let me just say, their arguments are different than ours. At least in my family, usually there might be a few minutes of shouting, if any, and then lots of glares and cold shoulders. Not here. They were yelling for over a day- and the whole household was in on it. Finally during the day that sat down to hear both of them out- but see the family runs kind of a restaurant in their courtyard, which is full of customers all day. So a sort of court was held, and the judge and jury included every adult within earshot of the house- neighbors, customers, family members, and Mus. (I was watching from my room since I couldn’t understand what was being said, anyhow.)

It was so interesting listening. Everyone present gave his or her view, and when the brother got out of hand, they “hooted at him” which like booing someone and insulted him, trying make him feel ashamed for the way he was behaving.

The next day a neighbor came with a grievance against the same brother, and this little court was held again, with the same result of hoots and insults.

It’s interesting to me how this system works. In my house, for example, conflicts are usually resolved without an arbitrator, but if one is needed than it’s my mom or dad. Not the whole extended family, neighbors, and anyone else in the community. We would never yell at each other in such a public setting.

But with this method, first of all everyone gets a fair say. The father has no more importance in the discussion than anyone else. I think it’s also good because it makes the person see that he’s held responsible for his actions; it shows that his actions don’t just effect him and maybe one or two other people, but the whole community, and he has to answer to all of them for what he does. And I think that’s good- to realize the repercussions your actions have. Not that the system insures that everyone is a good, responsible adult, of course. Ah well, nothing’s perfect.