Language Matters in Contemporary Zimbabwe

Speaking to a broader global preoccupation with the state of languages and language development, this book considers issues surrounding the diverse languages, linguistic communities, and cultures of Zimbabwe.

Reflecting on Shona, Xitsonga, Sotho, Xhosa, Tjwao, Nambya, IsiNdebele, Nyanja, Tshivenda, English and Braille, the book uncovers both the internal and external factors that impact language structures, language use and language ideologies across the country. The book considers how colonial legacies and contemporary language domination and minoritisation have led to language endangerment. It considers the fate of communities whose languages are marginalised and, in the process, poses questions on what can and should be done to preserve Zimbabwean languages. The authors' offerings range across subjects as diverse as music, linguistic innovation, education, human rights, literature, language politics and language policy, in order to build a rich and nuanced picture of language matters in the country.

Coming at a critical moment of increasing mobility, migration, cultural plurality and globalisation, this book will be an important resource for researchers across African literature, linguistics, communication, policy and politics.

Collen Sabao is an Associate Professor of Linguistics, Literature and Communication in the Languages and Literature Department at the University of Namibia. Prof. Sabao’s research interests lie in the areas of Phonetics and Phonology, Political Discourse, Media Discourse, Pan Africanism, Afrocentricity, Appraisal Theory, Argumentation, World Literatures and Rhetoric. He has published extensively in these areas, with quite a sizeable number of journal articles and chapters in internationally refereed publications. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in English and Communication and a Master of Philosophy in Theoretical Linguistics from universities in Zimbabwe, a PhD in African Languages (Applied Linguistics) from Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education from the International University of Management (IUM) in Namibia. Currently, he is also reading for a DLitt. et. Phil. in Literature at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He is an American Council of Learned Societies Fellow’14 and an African Humanities Fellow ‘14. Prof Sabao is also an amateur footballer and an Elder Elect of Records in the House of Nyabhinghi Rastafari.

Esther Mavengano is a lecturer who teaches Linguistics and Literature in the Department of English and Media Studies, Faculty of Arts at Great Zimbabwe University in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics and Literary Studies obtained from North West University in Mafikeng , South Africa. Her research areas maintain the interface of applied linguistics, sociolinguistis and Anglophone African literary studies. She has interests in language policy and planning, sociolinguistics, language use in media and political discourses, translingual practices in Postcolonial Anglophone African fictional writings, Identity issues in contemporary transnational Anglophone/African literature, religion and gender discourses in African literature, stylistics and language education in emerging contact contexts. She has published in reputable international journals including Cogent Arts and Humanities, African Identities, Literator, Journal of Multicultural Discourses, among others. She is a Research Fellow at the Research Institute for Theology and Religion, College of Human Sciences, UNISA, in South Africa. She was recently awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow in Germany. She is at (TUD), Technische Universitat Dresden in the Department of English, Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies, Institute of English and American Studies. She is currently working on her postdoctoral monograph focusing on Language Politics and Linguistic Ideologies in Postcolonial Anglophone African Literature. She has co-edited a number of books including, Zimbabwe in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Reflections, lessons and the Future of Public Health, published by Routledge.