CAN REINCARNATION EXPLAIN LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE?
Abstract
In this study, Maama is believed to be the reincarnation of her paternal grandmother whose greatest wish in her past life was to master ‘foreign language’. Though a polyglot[1], she is referred to as bilingual by reason of having French and English in her language repertoire. Curiously, a French man who speaks Alsacien/Spanish/Catalan is already a language prodigy. What makes Maama and many Africans less prodigious? Why is African bi/pluri-lingualism dependent on its citizens’ proficiency in English and many other European or Asian languages? How can African linguists define their plurilingualism and engage their western counterparts ontologically drawing from existing western theories? This paper compares the theory of reincarnation to several beliefs/theories drawn from Abrahamic and contemporary religions. Finally, inspired by the Jungian collective unconscious, the study reviews Maama’s mastery of French language as attributed to reincarnation, and redefines language competency from a psycholinguistic perspective.
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