Language and National Identity in Africa

Description

This book focuses on language, culture, and national identity in Africa. Leading specialists examine countries in every part of the continent - Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanbia, South Africa, and the nations of the Horn, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. Each chapter describes and examines the country's linguistic and political history and the relation of its languages to national, ethnic, and cultural identities, and assesses the relative status of majority and minority languages and the role of language in ethnic conflict. Of the book's authors, fifteen are from Africa and seven from Europe and the USA. Jargon-free, fully referenced, and illustrated with seventeen maps, this book will be of value to a wide range of readers in linguistics, politics, history, sociology, and anthropology. It will interest everyone wishing to understand the dynamic interactions between language and politics in Africa, in the past and now. Contents List of Maps Notes on Contributors 1 Introduction 2 Egypt: From Egyptian to Pan-Arab Nationalism 3 Morocco: Language, Nationalism, and Gender 4 Sudan: Majorities, Minorities, and Language Interactions 5 Senegal: The Emergence of a National Lingua Franca 6 Mali: In Defence of Cultural and Linguistic Pluralism 7 Sierra Leone: Krio and the Quest for National Integration 8 Ghana: Indigenous Languages, English, and an Emerging National Identity 9 Ivory Coast: The Supremacy of French 10 Nigeria: Ethno-linguistic Competition in the Giant of Africa 11 Cameroon: Official Bilingualism in a Multilingual State 12 D. R. Congo: Language and ‘Authentic Nationalism’ 13 Kenya: Language and the Search for a Coherent National Identity 14 Tanzania: The Development of Swahili as a National and Official Language 15 The Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia 16 Zambia: ‘One Zambia, One Nation, Many Languages’ 17 South Africa: The Rocky Road to Nation Building References Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z