Black linguistics : language, society, and politics in Africa and the Americas

Enslavement, forced migration, war and colonization have led to the global dispersal of Black communities and to the fragmentation of common experiences. The majority of Black language researchers explore the social and linguistic phenomena of individual Black communities, without looking at Black experiences outside a given community. This groundbreaking collection re-orders the elitist and colonial elements of language studies by drawing together the multiple perspectives of Black language researchers. In doing so, the book recognises and formalises the existence of a "Black Linguistic Perspective" highlights the contributions of Black language researchers in the field. Written exclusively by Black scholars on behalf of, and in collaboration with local communities, the book looks at the commonalities and differences among Black speech communities in Africa and the Diaspora. Topics include: * the OJ Simpson trial * language issues in Southern Africa and Francophone West Africa * the language of Hip Hop * the language of the Rastafaria in Jamaica With a foreword by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, this is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the linguistic implications of colonization Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Figures and table......Page 10 Foreword Decolonizing scholarship of Black languages......Page 12 Introduction Toward Black Linguistics......Page 14 Part 1 IDEOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN RESEARCH ON BLACK LANGUAGES......Page 32 1 Ideologies of language and socially realistic linguistics......Page 34 2 “We are the streets”: African American Language and the strategic construction of a street conscious identity1......Page 53 3 Sound and power: the language of the Rastafari......Page 73 Part 2 CONCEPTUALIZATION AND STATUS OF BLACK LANGUAGES......Page 94 4 Promoting African languages as conveyors of knowledge in educational institutions......Page 96 5 Language policies and language education in Francophone Africa: a critique and a call to action......Page 116 6 Contradiction or affirmation? The South African language policy and the South African national government......Page 130 7 From misinvention to disinvention of language: multilingualism and the South African Constitution......Page 145 Part 3 INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION THROUGH LANGUAGE......Page 166 8 Linguistic profiling......Page 168 9 “Whassup, homeboy?” Joining the African Diaspora: Black English as a symbolic site of identification and language learning......Page 182 10 US and South African teachers’ developing perspectives on language and literacy: changing domestic and international roles of linguistic gate-keepers......Page 199 Contributors......Page 228 Index......Page 234