Say, write, scream
Peter Stalker investigates the dangerous world of words.

Kicking the habit
Ros Coward explains why we need to keep up the struggle for non-sexist language.

Leaving the peasants in the dark
The international 'development community' hides its manoeuvres behind obscure jargon. Tarzie Vittachi sheds some light.

Third world novels - the top ten
An NI selection of books to bury your head in from the Third World's best writers.

The loss of Lardie Moonlight
Barry Blake laments the disappearance of Aborigine cultures.

Language - The Facts

The empire is dead. Long live the imperial lingo
India's dozens of local languages lead to confusion and conflict. That's why English survives, according to Ashok Mitra.

The grannies make their mark
Literacy is hard to come by in Bolivia - and hard to hang on to. Susanna Rance reports from the Altiplano.

Simply... Linguistics

Learning by root
Should immigrant children be taught in their 'heritage' language? Wayne Ellwood looks at Toronto's dilemma.

Many papers compile lists of what they consider to have been the best novels of the previous year - a useful guide to what readers might try to get hold of. Since this issue of the NI is devoted to language we thought we might join them for once, but give our own particular slant and maybe set you off in a different direction.

We have offered what we consider to be the best works of fiction by Third World writers - not just of this year, but of any year. This is partly because we think they should be more widely recognized but also because they can also be wonderfully informative and entertaining. I first read Petals of Blood by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o while on a visit to Kenya. I realized as I turned its pages that this was probably telling me more about the country and its people than my actual visit. I don't speak Swahili, the local papers were subject to heavy Government censorship and I had learned very little from history books of the opinions or lives of ordinary Kenyans. But Ngugi managed to lift me out of my armchair and place me inside his imaginary village of Ilmorog. Had the only purpose of my visit been to discover what Kenya is really like I might have saved on the air fare and just bought the book.

You can get similar value from Isabelle Allende's Of Love and Shadows which gives a vivid picture of what it is like to be on the wrong end of the dictatorial boot in Chile. In this case the book is not only cheaper but considerably safer.

Compiling such a list was a labour of love - too pleasurable an activity to pursue in office hours. Indeed I piled up on my home bookshelf many more volumes than appear here and which I have regretfully had to omit. How on earth does one decide which are the best - and choose only ten? In the end it comes down to personal prejudice. I did consult with many other people; my thanks to all of them even if their suggestions could not be taken up. They pointed me towards writers I had never even heard of, let alone read. I was fairly ignorant of Third World literature at the outset and in many respects still am. I would like to have heard of Sembene Ousmane years ago; I could have enjoyed God's Bits of Wood much earlier.

The final selection was slanted towards books with a strong social content and which explored political issues. So Mario Vargas Llosa is represented by The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta rather than the technical brilliance of Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. And, again somewhat arbitrarily, we have allowed only one book per author.

We also looked for a geographical spread of writers. It was disappointing that there were relatively few possibilities from Asia. Africa and Latin America seem to have been rather more prolific - in English translation at least - though this may be due to the vigour with which the publishers have sought out writers to publish.

It is unusual for us to devote much space to fiction. But this month it is particularly helpful. Language is a tricky subject to write about. Words about words tend to float off into a mysterious space of their own - though I hope most of those we have used have been firmly pinned down. Fragments of fiction can, in their own way, add an additional touch of reality.

The only certain result of such a selection, however, is that it will provoke dissent from NI readers. I look forward to your suggestions for the most glaring omissions.

Letters
Letter from China
Update
Briefly
Endpiece: by Anna Robinson
Reviews: including Alice Walker classic
Country profile: Syria

COVER PICTURE: based on a photo by
W Eugene Smith / Magnum
ONLINE MAG MAINTAINED BY SIMON LOFFLER