Resuscitation of African Languages: Theorising the Battle Against Sociocultural Genocide

By: Isaac Mhute and Zilibele Mtumane and Vimbai Moreblessing Matiza

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Synopsis: This book argues the case for indigenous African languages, which have been stripped of their importance and are now often overshadowed - both officially, through governmental language policies, and informally, through attitudes and ideologies - by former colonial languages. The authors present case studies from a range of countries in the region, arguing that languages tell us peoples’ identities, and that by dropping their own languages in favour of foreign and imperialist languages they lose their culture, history and identity as well. The book addresses many of the challenges currently associated with African languages, with the intention of influencing policy and practice in favour of their resuscitation. This book will be of interest to policy makers, academics and tertiary students in fields including Language Policy and Planning, Language Revitalisation, Heritage Language Learning, Indigenous and Endangered Languages, and Language Attitudes and Ideologies.