The 'Othering' in the Poem “My Husband's Tongue is Bitter”

           According to the Postcolonialism theory, a literary work, especially a work written from a once colonized nation, manifest in it the concept of SELF and OTHER. The idea of good, educated and in order is that of a colonial nature which represents the SELF. The concept of bad, ignorant and chaotic, on the other hand, is that of a colonized which represents the OTHER.

            In the poem of Okot p' Bitek's “My Husband's Tongue is Bitter” is evident in its use of the SELF and OTHER. The speaker of the poem is a black woman talking to her husband. The husband sees their colonizers as modern, progressive, civilized and educated. He considers learning English and following their acts would also make him one of them (colonizers), and by doing so, he will acquire the identity of the SELF. On the other hand, he offended his wife and his own people by citing and ennumerating their deeds as backward, primitive and ignorant.