Power of Babel: Language and Governance in the African Experience - Softcover

Mazrui, Ali A.; Mazrui, Alamin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0852558074 ISBN 13: 9780852558072

Publisher: James Currey, 1998

Synopsis

Ali Mazrui address the great language debate in Africa. Tackling the contentious question of African languages versus European languages, this study argues that the dominance of the incoming languages is due to two factors: originally the societies were not expansionist enough, and later the peoples of Africa failed to be nationalist enough. ALI A. MAZRUI was Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton and Senior Scholar in African Studies atCornell University North America: Chicago U Press; Uganda: Fountain Publishers; Kenya: EAEP

About this title

From the Back Cover

Linguists estimate that there are currently nearly 2,000 languages in Africa, a staggering figure that is belied by the relatively few national languages. While African national politics, economics and law are all conducted primarily in the colonial languages, the cultural life of the majority of citizens is conducted in a bewildering babel of regional vernaculars and local dialects. In The Power of Babel, Ali Mazrui and Alamin Mazrui explore the cultural and political implications of this linguistic diversity, including the role of language in nationalism and expansionist policies, gender roles, and social theory, to provide one of the most comprehensive studies of the complex linguistic constellations of Africa.

The Power of Babel draws on Ali Mazrui's earlier work in its examination of the "triple heritage" of African culture, in which indigenous, Islamic, and Western traditions compete for influence. In bringing the idea of the triple heritage to language, the Mazruis unravel issues of power, culture, and modernity as they are embedded in African linguistic life. The first section of the book takes a global perspective, exploring such issues as the Eurocentrism of much linguistic scholarship on Africa; part two takes an African perspective on a variety of topics from the linguistically disadvantaged position of women in Africa to the relation of language policy and democratic development; the third section presents a set of regional studies, centering on the Swahili language's exemplification of the triple heritage. The Power of Babel unites empirical information with theories of nationalism and pluralism -- among others -- to consider the future of a linguistically pluralisticAfrica and to offer the richest contextual account of African languages to date.

Synopsis

Tackling the contentious question of African languages versus European languages, this study argues that the dominance of the incoming languages is due to two factors: originally the societies were not expansionist enough, and later the peoples of Africa failed to be nationalist enough.

Edition details

• Publisher: James Currey
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0852558074
• ISBN 13: 9780852558072
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320