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This article covers themes in “New Tongue”, a poem by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara. Related articles include an overview of the poem with content analysis and literary devices in “New Tongue.

“New Tongue” by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara is a poem that portrays a new generation’s adoption of a new language and forsaking theirs. This acceptance of new ways extends to their culture and traditions, and they run with the new ways without a care for the past ways of doing things in their community. This creates a disregard for the past, Indigenous culture, elders, family, and heritage. The themes in “New Tongue” by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara revolve around generational differences, the loss of old ways, a focus on individual self, and the shift in culture as the new generation embraces new ways.

Analysis of Themes in “New Tongue” by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara

1. A Shift in Culture

The poem opens with the writer bemoaning the changes in how the younger generation did things as opposed to the original culture of the people. The new generation has accepted a new language over theirs and ‘dance new dances’. These acts the writer holds have shaped them differently from their people and their wonder for the new is seen in their eyes. This outcome saddens the writer as she states that the hearts of the new generation are bound and now impregnable so the old songs are no longer sung.

They speak in a new tongue
And dance new dances
Minds battered into new modes and shapes
Their eyes revel in the wonder of the new
Embraced and bound to hearts with impregnable chains
The old songs as disregarded dreams
Remnants of a past.
(Stanza 1, lines 1-7)

2. Loss

The main losses identified in the poem include:

(a)    Loss of family and friendship ties (lines 8-10)

Ties of family and friendship
Loosened, broken, burnt
The ashes strewn into the bottomless sea

(b)   Loss of reverence for the old (lines 14-20)

A new generation
Careless of bonds
Of family
Of tradition
Of heritage
They care not
Nor revere the old

(c)    Loss of regard for elders and culture (lines 25-29)

No room for elders
No,
Not even on the edge of their minds
Their ears blocked to the old tongue
And ways of doing things

The writer holds that as the new generation drifts from the old ways, their new-found ways of doing things make them care less about family bonds and friendships and erode reverence for the elders, tradition, and heritage.

It seems that to this forsaking of the old ways and adopting a new one there is no reversal. The people have to accept that only the older ones would keep the old ways. This is captured in stanza 5, lines 42-46.

Their borrowed shoes dance
Their borrowed minds parted the red sea long ago
They hang the last lock on their culture
And glide into the future
Without a backward glance.

3. Detachment from one’s roots and Identity Crisis

As the new generation pulls away from the old ways of their people and adopts foreign ways of doing things, they are detached from their roots – culture and traditions. This marks a deviation from who they are and alienates them from the emotional and spiritual connections that form the core of a people. This loss leads to a fragmented understanding of self or the adoption of an alien identity.

A strange coldness descending like snow covered mountain
Or like bathing at the back of the house
On a rainy July day
The gusts of wind falling trees
Carting roofs away
Tugging skirts
And swirling debris in the air
(Stanza 4, lines 35-41)

This loss of heritage leads to discomfort, lack of connection to the things their traditions hold dear, and displacement from relevant positions in time. The imagery of someone “bathing at the back of the house on a rainy July day” hints at what the experience feels like.

4. Focus on the Individual Self and Its Challenges

The writer points out the strange coldness that settles between people as the new generation embraces the borrowed tongue and culture and becomes more selfish. Their new way of life she described as “every man for himself, by himself, of himself” (lines 31-34). No one cares about the other and the bonds of friendship and family are eroded. Everyone lives as if their lives are no concern of another. And worse they glory in this newfound way of living. The tone of the poem suggests that this is a stark contrast to the culture they have abandoned which unlike the new way is warm.

Glorying in their new newness of a borrowed tongue and culture
Every man
For himself
By himself
Of himself
A strange coldness descending like snow covered mountain
(Stanza 4, lines 30-35)

5. Generational Gap and Conflict

The theme of generational gap and the conflict in culture that comes with it echoes throughout the poem. The writer clearly belongs to the older generation, so she opens the poem with a lament about all the new things the younger generation is learning and adopting and ensures to point out that these things are ‘new’ – new tongue new dances, new modes and shapes, and the wonder of the new.

They speak in a new tongue
And dance new dances
Minds battered into new modes and shapes
Their eyes revel in the wonder of the new
(Stanza 1, lines 1-4)

The writer is aware and worried about the things being lost due to the “new” and the effects that the loss has created. She described the new way and its outcome as “a strange coldness descending like snow covered mountain”. Pointing to the differing levels of warmth in friendship and family – the old culture was warm, the new culture was cold as snow.

And to mark the end of the generation that cherished close family ties and friendships, reverence for elders and culture, etc. The new generation glides into the future “without a backward glance”.

Their borrowed shoes dance
Their borrowed minds parted the red sea long ago
They hang the last lock on their culture
And glide into the future
Without a backward glance.
(Stanza 5, line 42-46)

Conclusion

The themes in “New Tongue” by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara include a shift in culture, loss, detachment from one’s root and accompanying identity loss and crises, focus on individual self, and generational gap and the challenges.

“New Tongue” written at a time of intense globalization portrays the depth of the influence of the invasion of Africa by the colonial masters. The themes underscore the struggles the African generations face to preserve their heritage whilst embracing the “new ways”.

Read also

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Themes in “Hearty Garlands” by S.O.H. Afriyie-Vidza

Literary devices in “Once Upon a Time” by Gabriel Okara

Read the overview and content analysis of “New Tongue by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara here and the Literary Devices in “New Tongue” by Elizabeth L. A. Kamara