Globalization and language vitality : perspectives from Africa / edited by Cécile B. Vigouroux, Salikoko S. Mufwene.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Vigouroux, Cécile B.

Mufwene, Salikoko S.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African languages.

Language and culture--Africa.

Language and culture.

Languages in contact--Africa.

Languages in contact.

Linguistic geography.

Globalization--Social aspects--Africa.

Globalization.

Globalization--Social aspects.

Africa--Languages.

Africa.

Language and languages.

Physical Description:

ix, 291 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, [2008]

Summary:

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 lens 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.

Contents:

1 Colonization, Globalization and Language Vitality in Africa: An Introduction / Salikoko S. Mufwene, Cecile B. Vigouroux 1

2 Trajectories of Language Endangrement in South Africa / Rajend Mesthrie 32

3 The Circumstances of Language Shift and Death in Southern Africa / Herman M. Batibo 51

4 African Modernity, Transnationalism and Language Vitality: Portuguese in Multilingual Mozambique / Christopher Stroud 70

5 The Lives of Local and Regional Congolese Languages in Globalized Linguistic Markets / Eyamba G. Bokamba 97

6 Globalization and Sociolinguistic Stratification in North Africa: The Case of Morocco / Ahmed Boukous 126

7 The Ascent of Wolof as an Urban Vernacular and National Lingua Franca in Senegal / Fiona Mc Laughlin 142

8 On the Futurology of Linguistic Development / Robert Chaudenson 171

9 Globalization and the Sociolinguistics of the Internet: Between English and Kiswahili / Alamin Mazrui 191

10 Writing Locality in Globalized Swahili: Semiotizing Space in a Tanzanian Novel / Jan Blommaert 210

11 From Africa to Africa: Globalization, Migration and Language Vitality / Cecile B. Vigouroux 229

12 Creating the Conditions for a Counter-Hegemonic Strategy: African Languages in the Twenty-First Century / Neville Alexander 255.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

0826495141

9780826495143

082649515X

9780826495150

OCLC:

231585296