Today I had the unique privilege of translating Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice into Krio, which is probably an unusual thing to put on a resume. One of the classes I am teaching is English Literature - Certificate level. I have tried to cover the fact that Literature is made up of prose and poetry... although trying to explain poetry in another culture to someone who speaks a different language is a challenge, I have to say. I explained it as words that have a drum beat in them. That seemed to work better than anything else. In prose, of course we have fiction and non-fiction, that was fairly straight forward. But now we are covering examples of different eras of Literature. I don't have many things on hand, so I am using what I have. The best part was... THEY LOVED IT!!! In a culture in which marriages are arranged, the idea of being preoccupied with finding a wealthy husband for your girls... well, that it is just logical. For Mrs. Bennet to be so silly about it, well that is downright funny!!! It would seem that what truly makes a good author is the ability to get down to what really makes us tick... those universal tendencies to foolishness and humor... and portray them in a way that allows us to relate across time and culture. Amazing... and really fun!!! I have always enjoyed reading... but this puts a whole new spin on things.
The best part is that, since I am teaching in a Bible School, I can point out to my students that God is the "author" of the Bible, and He has the ultimate ability to see into the hearts of men across time and culture. He portrays things with grace and humor in such a way that we have the opportunity to see ourselves in truth. He is the "author AND finisher of our faith..." How cool is that? I feel so fortunate to be able to explore with my class, all of the dimensions of literature and how, really, we as "mortal man" are not all that different from each other. I wonder if Jane Austen would have ever imagined that she would be used to teach spiritual concepts to people in Sierra Leone, West Africa.