Reconceptualising Multilingualism on African Radio: Language and Identity

This book redefines multilingualism via the concept of radio in Africa. Africa presents unique challenges of lingual diversity which the media still struggles to accommodate, particularly when it comes to indigenous languages. Contributors argue that the linguistic realities of African radio reflect ethnic co-existence and fluidity of identity in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial contexts. They argue that communities consist of several “majorized” and “minoritized” indigenous languages which, if closely analysed, reflect a commonality of multilingualism. The book also suggests practical measures through which linguistic co-existence could be achieved and explores cases that redefine, reconceptualize and reframe multilingualism on African radio.

Limukani Mathe is a Research Fellow in the Research Focus Area of Social Transformation at the North-West University. He is also attached to the School of Communication at North-West University as Lecturer for Journalism and Media Studies. He previously taught Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Fort Hare. He holds a PhD from the University of Fort Hare.

Gilbert Motsaathebe is a Full Professor at the North-West University where he is attached to the Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) research entity as a Research Professor. He previously taught Journalism at the United Arab Emirates University, the University of Johannesburg and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He holds a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand.