Digital Political Communication and Indigenous Languages in Africa - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3032096286 ISBN 13: 9783032096289

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2026

Synopsis

This book explores the various kinds of political communication that social media enables or curtails in African indigenous languages. Despite calls to decolonise the media, indigenous languages still have minimal representation on digital platforms like Twitter (now X), Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, and existing studies have tended to focus on stylistic elements rather than a deeper exploration of how indigenous languages are used in political communication. This book addresses this gap by delving into how local language discursive texts, which are central to participatory journalism and citizen interpretive communities, function on social media platforms and online forums. Often complex and sometimes vulgar, these texts play a significant role in political communication in Africa, and their study offers important new perspectives on the potential of digital platforms as spaces for unrestricted linguistic expression.

About this title

About the Author

Limukani Mathe is a Research Associate at the University of South Africa. He was a Research Fellow and Lecturer at North-West University in South Africa. Prior to that he was Lecturer and Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg and Guest Lecturer at the University of Fort Hare. He has published books, book chapters and journal articles in high impact journals. Recent books include Reconceptualising Multilingualism on African Radio: Language and Identity, published by Palgrave Macmillan, which reflects on the evolving identities and lingua in Africa and radio as a mirror of such realities. He has also written a monograph entitled African Radio and Minority Languages: Participation and Representation for Routledge, which theorises the African multilingual public sphere and the political economy of African radio.

Gilbert Motsaathebe is a Full Professor at the North-West University where he is attached to the Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) focus area. He is the Founder and Co-Principal Editor of the International Journal of Indigenous Languages Media and Discourse. Previously, he was the Editor-in-Chief of Communicare-Journal for Communication Studies in Africa. He is an NRF-rated researcher with more than 70 peer-reviewed scholarly articles and chapters in leading journals and compendiums. In addition, he has published 13 books with publishers such as Palgrave Macmillan, Rowman & Littlefield/Lexington Books, UNISA Press, and Routledge.

From the Back Cover

This book explores the various kinds of political communication that social media enables or curtails in African indigenous languages. Despite calls to decolonise the media, indigenous languages still have minimal representation on digital platforms like Twitter (now X), Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, and existing studies have tended to focus on stylistic elements rather than a deeper exploration of how indigenous languages are used in political communication. This book addresses this gap by delving into how local language discursive texts, which are central to participatory journalism and citizen interpretive communities, function on social media platforms and online forums. Often complex and sometimes vulgar, these texts play a significant role in political communication in Africa, and their study offers important new perspectives on the potential of digital platforms as spaces for unrestricted linguistic expression.

Limukani Mathe is a Research Associate at the University of South Africa. He was a Research Fellow and Lecturer at North-West University in South Africa. Prior to that he was Lecturer and Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg and Guest Lecturer at the University of Fort Hare. He has published books, book chapters and journal articles in high impact journals. Recent books include Reconceptualising Multilingualism on African Radio: Language and Identity, published by Palgrave Macmillan, which reflects on the evolving identities and lingua in Africa and radio as a mirror of such realities. He has also written a monograph entitled African Radio and Minority Languages: Participation and Representation for Routledge, which theorises the African multilingual public sphere and the political economy of African radio.

Gilbert Motsaathebe is a Full Professor at the North-West University where he is attached to the Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) focus area. He is the Founder and Co-Principal Editor of the International Journal of Indigenous Languages Media and Discourse. Previously, he was the Editor-in-Chief of Communicare-Journal for Communication Studies in Africa. He is an NRF-rated researcher with more than 70 peer-reviewed scholarly articles and chapters in leading journals and compendiums. In addition, he has published 13 books with publishers such as Palgrave Macmillan, Rowman & Littlefield/Lexington Books, UNISA Press, and Routledge.

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3032096286
• ISBN 13: 9783032096289
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 300
• Editor: Mathe Limukani, Motsaathebe Gilbert