Dear Editor,
Joan Cambridge’s letter ‘UG seeks to create a writing system applicable to all Creole languages’ (SN, June 24) is a stark reminder of the state of national discourse in Guyana where civilised discussion that forwards different points of view and posits uncomfortable questions is quite impossible.
When critical questions go unanswered and points advanced for discussion are not even understood there is little other option than to disengage in what should have been an important national discourse on race issues, and on querying whether Creolese is a language, at all, or should even be fashioned into a language.
To what end and purpose other than to satisfy those who feel colonised by the English Language, and with the colonizing effect of the master and his language, it does point up the complexities of such a disengagement.
Perhaps, however, Ms Cambridge will be much more content when she can speak and write in her Creole language so her attendance at UG’s Allidee Skuul should be most fulfilling.
How ironical that the cuss-down culture should present itself in a discussion about language.
Yours faithfully,
Ryhaan Shah
