Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Gaël Rangain
Published on 2024-02-25 15:00:21
The Creole Speaking Union (CSU) is still working on proposing a structure for the study of Kaya’s texts in language classes. This was indicated by Kimberly Oxide to Le-Mauricien following a lively evening about the famous seggae singer who died in police custody on February 21, 1999.
Kimberly Oxide spoke at the Centre culturel d’expression française (CCEF) on February 16 as a member of the CSU, a doctoral student, and a collaborator on the work Kaya ant sime lamizer ek sime lalimier, published in 2020 under the direction of Christina Chan-Meetoo by the CSU.
During the event on the sidelines of the commemoration day of Kaya’s disappearance, Kimberly Oxide shared “the cultural, linguistic, and musical richness” of Kaya’s texts. She mainly relied on the book Kaya ant sime lamizer ek sime lalimier, which she considers “a reliable support to present the real texts of Kaya, written by himself, and even signed by himself on several occasions”.
On this occasion, she highlighted the symbolism of February 21, which marks the triple commemoration of International Mother Language Day, Seggae Day, and Kaya’s death. She then gave an overview of Kaya’s personality before focusing on the “poet in music” that he was. She then addressed the connection between poetry and song, as well as the parameters and specificities of studying songs in language classes.
This was an opportunity for her to propose an idea from a CSU project in progress: “What if we studied Kaya’s songs in language classes?” When asked by Le Mauricien to better understand the approach that the CSU would propose regarding the study of Kaya’s texts in class, Kimberly Oxide explained that the CSU is “still working to propose a structure for the study of Kaya’s texts”. She also noted that the project is part of a broader effort to promote the Creole language, including in literary terms.
She also mentioned that during her doctoral research, she addresses songs in Creole. Kimberly Oxide is also continuing her MPhil project titled “Languages in Cultural Industries in Mauritius.” She indicates that “it is only by following up on this and other ongoing work on the promotion of the Creole language that it would be possible to propose a study structure for songs, including Kaya’s texts”.
Read the original article(French) on Le Mauricien
