Mozambican writer Paulina Chiziane defends the need to decolonize, treat and clean up the Portuguese language so that it belongs to everyone who speaks it.

Paulina Chiziane defended this position in Lisbon on Friday, May 5, World Portuguese Language Day, the date on which the writer received the Camões Prize 2021, the highest distinction in Portuguese-language literature, a joint initiative of Portugal and Brazil that has been awarded annually since 1988.

According to the Mozambican writer, it is in Portuguese that she expresses her feelings and asserts herself to the world, "but I would like the language to belong to everyone".

"I'm startled by some of the specifics, like the word catinga, which comes as a nauseating smell characteristic of the black race," she said.

He went on to question the term "matriarchy", which is defined in the Portuguese dictionary as "African tribal custom", as opposed to patriarchy, "the heroic tradition of patriarchs".

"In Africa we have matriarchy, especially in northern Mozambique. It's a tribal custom, throw it away, it's an African thing. But patriarchy already has value. What kind of machismo is that?" asked the writer, who confessed: "It makes me very sad when I look at that. Have we really had time to look at these issues?"

Meanwhile, regarding the award of the Camões prize, Paulina Chiziane highlighted the honor she felt at being among political personalities from a simple background.

"For someone who comes from the ground, to be here in front of the Portuguese government, the Brazilian government, the diplomatic corps and various personalities is something that moves me deeply," said Chiziane, quoted by VOA, and acknowledged having walked "without knowing where I was going, but I got somewhere, which is this award".

The writer recalled learning to write in the sand and that she received her first pair of shoes at the age of 10, in a distant Mozambique when seen from the West.

"We Africans have been usurped, by these and by those, because the traces of our history have been erased over time. We are adrift, we don't really know who we are and are therefore easily manipulated by the world. Self-knowledge has to be the key to success for anyone," said Chiziane, who, in her thanks, highlighted her readers, "in Mozambique and in all Portuguese-speaking countries".