Globalization and Language Vitality: Perspectives from Africa / Edition 1

by Jan Blommaert, Cécile B. Vigouroux, Salikoko S. Mufwene

Overview

This book discusses the effects of globalization on languages in Africa. In contrast to previous studies, the contributors examine whether or not globalization is affecting African languages in the same ways and at the same rate in different countries, and how local experiences of language change vary from place to place. Rather than seeing English as the 'killer language' par excellence, the contributors probe ways in which languages are being used side by side to complement each other in some contexts while competing against European colonial languages in others. The result is a diverse canvas of language vitality in the African context, including matters of endangerment and loss, through the lense of globalization in its various interpretations.

This book is a must read for students and researchers interested in language change and death and in the fate of European languages in the rest of the world.
This book discusses the effects of globalization on languages in Africa. In contrast to previous studies, the contributors examine whether or not globalization is affecting African languages in the same ways and at the same rate in different countries, and how local experiences of language change vary from place to place. Rather than seeing English as the 'killer language' par excellence, the contributors probe ways in which languages are being used side by side to complement each other in some contexts while competing against European colonial languages in others. The result is a diverse canvas of language vitality in the African context, including matters of endangerment and loss, through the lense of globalization in its various interpretations.

This book is a must read for students and researchers interested in language change and death and in the fate of European languages in the rest of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826495150
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/05/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Cecile B. Vigouroux is Assistant Professor in the Department of Romance Languages at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Salikoko S. Mufwene is the Frank J. McLoraine Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics as well as Professor on the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago, USA.

Table of Contents

Contributors Acknowledgments 1. Introduction, Salikoko S. Mufwene (University of Chicago, USA) and Cécile B. Vigouroux (Simon Fraser University, Canada) 2. Trajectories of Language Endangerment in South Africa, Rajend Mesthrie (University of Cape Town, South Africa) 3. The Circumstances of Language Shift and Death in Southern Africa, Herman M. Batibo (University of Botswana, Botswana) 4. African Modernity, Transnationalism, and Language Vitality: Portuguese in Multilingual Mozambique, Christopher Stroud (University of the Western Cape, South Africa) 5. The Lives of Local and Regional Congolese Languages in Globalized Linguistic Markets, Eyamba G. Bokamba (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA) 6. Globalization and Sociolinguistic Stratification in North Africa: The case of Morocco, Ahmed Boukous (IRCAM, Morocco) 7. The Ascent of Wolof as an Urban Vernacular and National Lingua Franca in Senegal, Fiona Mc Laughlin (University of Florida, USA) 8. On the Futurology of Linguistic Development, Robert Chaudenson (Université d' Aix-Marseille, France) 9. Globalization and the Sociolinguistics of the Internet: Between English and Kiswahili, Alamin Mazrui (Ohio State University, USA) 10. Writing Locality in Globalized Swahili: Semiotizing Space in a Tanzanian novel, Jan Blommaert (Institute of Education, UK) 11. From Africa to Africa: Globalization, Migration and Language Vitality, Cécile B. Vigouroux (Simon Fraser University, Canada) 12. Creating the Conditions for a Counter-Hegemonic Strategy: African Languages in the Twenty-First Century, Neville Alexander (University of Cape Town, South Africa) Bibliography Author Index Subject Index

Editorial Reviews

Vigouroux and Mufwene, together with the important cast they have assembled, are to be congratulated for producing one if the best applied linguistics books of recent years...

"A superb collection of essays by well-known regional specialists on a topic that will affect more and more African speech communities in the near future." - Professor Gerrit J. Dimmendaal, Institute for African Studies, University of Cologne, Germany

"If there is an African way of finding appropriate solutions for linguistic interaction in a situation of increasing cultural, economic, and political globalization then it is to be found in this book. The book presents a range of exciting perspectives on how African societies have dealt and are dealing with their communication problems." - Professor Bernd Heine, Institute for African Studies, University of Cologne, Germany

From the Publisher