Africa and Its Diaspora Languages, Literature, and Culture

Africa and Its Diaspora Languages, Literature, and Culture
Author: Olanike Ola Orie
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2019-11-26
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 152754401X

The text celebrates the academic achievements of Professor Olasope Oyelaran. It brings together over 20 papers by an international group of scholars on African diaspora languages, literatures and culture, representing four generations, all of whom have been influenced by Oyelaran’s work in one way or another. Edited by three African scholars in the USA, UK, and Nigeria, the volume presents current research on topics in applied- and socio-linguistics, phonology, morphology, syntax, oral and written literature, and Yoruba language and culture in African diasporas in Brazil, Cuba, and Trinidad. The constellation of topics presented here will enlarge the reader’s understanding of a number of issues in the field of African and African diaspora languages, literatures, and cultures today. As such, the book makes an important contribution to the expanding work on the linguistic and cultural interface of Africa and its Brazilian, Cuban, and Trinidadian diasporas.

Language Contact in Africa and the African Diaspora in the Americas

Language Contact in Africa and the African Diaspora in the Americas
Author: Cecelia Cutler
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 379
Release: 2017-07-12
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027265445

Language Contact in Africa and the African Diaspora in the Americas brings together the original research of nineteen leading scholars on language contact and pidgin/creole genesis. In recent decades, increasing attention has been paid to the role of historical, cultural and demographic factors in language contact situations. John Victor Singler’s body of work, a model of what such a research paradigm should look like, strikes a careful balance between sociohistorical and linguistic analysis. The case studies in this volume present investigations into the sociohistorical matrix of language contact and critical insights into the sociolinguistic consequences of language contact within Africa and the African Diaspora. Additionally, they contribute to ongoing debates about pidgin/creole genesis and language contact by examining and comparing analyses and linguistic outcomes of particular sociohistorical and cultural contexts, and considering less-studied factors such as speaker agency and identity in the emergence, nativization, and stabilization of contact varieties.

The Oxford Handbook of African Languages

The Oxford Handbook of African Languages
Author: Rainer Vossen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 1104
Release: 2020
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 0199609896

Une source inconnue indique : "This book provides a comprehensive overview of current research in African languages, drawing on insights from anthropological linguistics, typology, historical and comparative linguistics, and sociolinguistics. It covers a wide range of topics, from grammatical sketches of individual languages to sociocultural and extralinguistic issues."

The Languages of Africa and the Diaspora

The Languages of Africa and the Diaspora
Author: Jo Anne Kleifgen
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2009
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1847691331

This book takes a fresh look at subordinated vernacular languages in the context of African, Caribbean, and US educational landscapes, highlighting the social cost of linguistic exceptionalism for speakers of these languages. Chapters describe contravening movements toward various forms of linguistic diversity and offer a comprehensive approach to language awareness in educative settings.

Language in Contemporary African Cultures and Societies

Language in Contemporary African Cultures and Societies
Author: Leonard Muaka
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2018-12-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1498572286

Language in Contemporary African Cultures and Societies examines language in contemporary Africa by positioning language at the center of interrelationships between individuals, society, and culture. Because of how language permeates every aspect of human existence within each society, this book has assembled contributions by researchers and scholars who focus on different topics within African languages and cultures. By presenting African languages as resources and subject and subject of the study, this book discusses Africa’s multilingualism, language policy, preservation, and their uses in development, security, liberation, and identity formation in the diaspora. Based on empirical research and analysis of texts, this book takes a closer look at the continent and the diaspora by situating African languages, cultures, and literatures at the center, and shows how African languages are used in the liberation, transfer of knowledge, and promotion of literacy among Africans globally. It is a book that seeks to bridge the gap between the continent and the diaspora. All contributors are experienced scholars of language, literature, education and linguistics. The chapters provide a major means for examining the interplay of language, literature, and education.

An Introduction to African Languages

An Introduction to African Languages
Author: G. Tucker Childs
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2003-12-19
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027295883

This book introduces beginning students and non-specialists to the diversity and richness of African languages. In addition to providing a solid background to the study of African languages, the book presents linguistic phenomena not found in European languages. A goal of this book is to stimulate interest in African languages and address the question: What makes African languages so fascinating? The orientation adopted throughout the book is a descriptive one, which seeks to characterize African languages in a relatively succinct and neutral manner, and to make the facts accessible to a wide variety of readers. The author’s lengthy acquaintance with the continent and field experiences in western, eastern, and southern Africa allow for both a broad perspective and considerable depth in selected areas. The original examples are often the author’s own but also come from other sources and languages not often referenced in the literature. This text also includes a set of sound files illustrating the phenomena under discussion, be they the clicks of Khoisan, talking drums, or the ideophones (words like English lickety-split) found almost everywhere, which will make this book a valuable resource for teacher and student alike.

Rethinking Language Use in Digital Africa

Rethinking Language Use in Digital Africa
Author: Leketi Makalela
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2021-06-23
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1800412320

This book challenges the view that digital communication in Africa is limited and relatively unsophisticated and questions the assumption that digital communication has a damaging effect on indigenous African languages. The book applies the principles of Digital African Multilingualism (DAM) in which there are no rigid boundaries between languages. The book charts a way forward for African languages where greater attention is paid to what speakers do with the languages rather than what the languages look like, and offers several models for language policy and planning based on horizontal and user-based multilingualism. The chapters demonstrate how digital communication is being used to form and sustain communication in many kinds of online groups, including for political activism and creating poetry, and offer a paradigm of language merging online that provides a practical blueprint for the decolonization of African languages through digital platforms.

Culture and Development in Africa and the Diaspora

Culture and Development in Africa and the Diaspora
Author: Ahmad Shehu Abdussalam
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2020-12-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000203204

This book examines the intersection between cultural identities and development in African and the Diaspora from multidisciplinary perspectives. Starting with the premise that culture is one of the most significant factors in development, the book examines diverse topics such as the migrations of musical forms, social media, bilingualism and religion. Foregrounding the work of Africa based scholars, the book presents strategies for identifying solutions to the challenges facing African culture and development. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of African Studies and African Culture and Society.

The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics

The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics
Author: H. Ekkehard Wolff
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019-05-16
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9781108417983

This book provides an in-depth and comprehensive state-of-the-art study of 'African languages' and 'language in Africa' since its beginnings as a 'colonial science' at the turn of the twentieth century in Europe. Compiled by 56 internationally renowned scholars, this ground breaking study looks at past and current research on 'African languages' and 'language in Africa' under the impact of paradigmatic changes from 'colonial' to 'postcolonial' perspectives. It addresses current trends in the study of the role and functions of language, African and other, in pre- and postcolonial African societies. Highlighting the central role that the 'language factor' plays in postcolonial transformation processes of sociocultural modernization and economic development, it also addresses more recent, particularly urban, patterns of communication, and outlines applied dimensions of digitalization and human language technology.