African Multilingualisms: Rural Linguistic and Cultural Diversity - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1498588956 ISBN 13: 9781498588959

Publisher: Lexington Books, 2020

Synopsis

Although multilingualism is the norm in the day-to-day lives of most sub-Saharan Africans, multilingualism in settings outside of cities has so far been under-explored. This gap is striking when considering that in many parts of Africa, individual multilingualism was widespread long before the colonial period and centuries before the continent experienced large-scale urbanization. The edited collection African Multilingualisms fills this gap by presenting results from recent and ongoing research based on fieldwork in rural African environments as well as environments characterized by contact between urban and rural communities of speakers. The contributors—mostly Africans themselves, including a number of emerging scholars—present findings that both complement and critique current scholarship on African multilingualism. In addition, new methods and tools are introduced for the study of multilingualism in rural settings, alongside illustrations of the kinds of results that they yield. African Multilingualisms reveals an impressive diversity in the features of local language ideologies, multilingual behaviors, and the relationship between language and identity.

About this title

About the Author

Pierpaolo Di Carlo is postdoctoral researcher in the department of linguistics at the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Jeff Good is professor in the department of linguistics at the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Review

"Di Carlo and Good have broken new ground by showing that multilingualism flourishes well beyond the African city, and that even the smallest rural communities on the continent often use multiple languages. In addition to inspiring a new generation of linguists and Africanists, this volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of African multilingualism and of multilingualism everywhere."--Fiona McLaughlin, University of Florida (Fiona McLaughlin, University of Florida)

"This is an authoritative volume on facets of multilingualism in rural Africa written generally by Native linguists. It debunks two myths in particular, viz., that multilingualism is a peculiarity of urban ecology and it necessarily disadvantages minority languages. Congratulations to the editors for helping enrich and decolonize knowledge of my home continent."--Salikoko S. Mufwene, University of Chicago (Salikoko S. Mufwene, University of Chicago)

"If you still think multilingualism is a recent and urban phenomenon, you need to read this book. If you are already familiar with rural multilingualisms in the Global South, you need to read it, too, for its rich case studies and nuanced epistemological and methodological reflections. The volume presents dazzlingly diverse multilingual settings in Senegal and Cameroon, and, importantly, combines the perspectives of Northern and Southern researchers in their description. A great achievement."--Friederike Lüpke, University of Helsinki (Friederike Lüpke, University of Helsinki)

"Editors Pierpaolo Di Carlo and Jeff Good have assembled a set of detailed studies contradicting the general belief that multilingualism is an urban rather than a rural phenomenon. Complex communities of practice govern linguistic behavior in the country as well as in the city, yet previous studies have neglected the former. Complex identity patterns in the country determine language choice with no isomorphism between ethnicity and language. The many case studies, rich in ethnographic detail, present a challenge to prevailing orthodoxies."--Tucker Childs, Portland State University (Tucker Childs, Portland State University)

"This book is an important step toward decolonizing linguistics in Africa. It is a superb collection of informative chapters that shed light on rural multilingualism, individual and societal language repertoires, linguistic ideologies, and language vitality in Sub-Saharan Africa. The contributions show that if linguistics had been born in Africa, the discipline’s theorizing on multilingualism could have been radically different."--Cécile B. Vigouroux, Simon Fraser University (Cécile B. Vigouroux, Simon Fraser University, Canada)

Edition details

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 1498588956
• ISBN 13: 9781498588959
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 310
• Editor: Di Carlo Pierpaolo, Good Jeff