Papers on Language and Culture: an African Perspective


Book Description

Most of the papers reproduced here have either been presented at a national or international conference, and some have been published elsewhere. I have obtained permission to republish because I think it is important to have them all together. The idea came to me when I was asked, during an interview, why I wrote on such different topics as part of my scholarship. The question was based on the different publications in which the person asking had found them. I had to explain that they are all on language and culture, two areas that are closely interrelated. It occurred to me that having all the papers published in one volume would help show how they relate to one another, and thereby provide a more meaningful dialogue on the general topic. I therefore hope that although each paper stands alone, use of cross-referencing will provide a cumulative effect that is impossible when the papers are read as separate publications. The last chapter is not a paper in the traditional sense, in that it is just a list of words. However, it adds to the readers understanding of the Kikuyu language. The semantic domains are a people groups way of understanding, categorizing and labeling the world around them. I hope it will be especially important as a source for future scholars who will want to analyze the culture and thought processes of their ancestors.




Language in Contemporary African Cultures and Societies


Book Description

Language in Contemporary African Cultures and Societies examines language in contemporary Africa by positioning language at the center of interrelationships between individuals, society, and culture. Because of how language permeates every aspect of human existence within each society, this book has assembled contributions by researchers and scholars who focus on different topics within African languages and cultures. By presenting African languages as resources and subject and subject of the study, this book discusses Africa’s multilingualism, language policy, preservation, and their uses in development, security, liberation, and identity formation in the diaspora. Based on empirical research and analysis of texts, this book takes a closer look at the continent and the diaspora by situating African languages, cultures, and literatures at the center, and shows how African languages are used in the liberation, transfer of knowledge, and promotion of literacy among Africans globally. It is a book that seeks to bridge the gap between the continent and the diaspora. All contributors are experienced scholars of language, literature, education and linguistics. The chapters provide a major means for examining the interplay of language, literature, and education.




Cultural Universals and Particulars


Book Description

"Wiredu's discussion of culturally defined values and concepts, as well as his attention to such timely issues as human rights, makes this book invaluable interdisciplinary reading." —D. A. Masolo Ghanaian philosopher Kwasi Wiredu confronts the paradox that while Western cultures recoil from claims of universality, previously colonized peoples, seeking to redefine their identities, insist on cultural particularities. Wiredu asserts that universals, rightly conceived on the basis of our common biological identity, are not incompatible with cultural particularities and, in fact, are what make intercultural communication possible. Drawing on aspects of Akan thought that appear to diverge from Western conceptions in the areas of ethics and metaphysics, Wiredu calls for a just reappraisal of these disparities, free of thought patterns corrupted by a colonial mentality. Wiredu's exposition of the principles of African traditional philosophy is not purely theoretical; he shows how certain aspects of African political thought may be applied to the practical resolution of some of Africa's most pressing problems.




The Rise of the African Novel


Book Description

Engaging questions of language, identity, and reception to restore South African and diaspora writing to the African literary tradition




Language and Development in Africa


Book Description

This volume explores the central role of language across all aspects of public and private life in Africa.




Kenyan English


Book Description

Kenyan English: Domains of Use, Forms, and Users' Attitudesfocuses on the unique issues that concern language researchers in Kenya and elsewhere. Edited by Martha M. MichiekaandEvans Gesura Mecha, the collection examines the English language forms and usages to describe the reality of Kenyan English use. The contributors address questions such as: What are the characteristics that distinguish Kenyan English from other national varieties? How is English taught, and what impact does that kind of teaching have on learner proficiency? What is the place of English in mass media, in politics, in the churches, and in multilingual homes? The contributors, all experienced language practitioners based in Kenya or currently conducting language-related research in Kenya, bring fresh perspectives to the topic at hand and give readers a glance into contexts that have not yet been addressed in this way. They highlight the sociolinguistic reality of the English language in present-day Kenya and raise questions that will prompt further research.




African Print Cultures


Book Description

Broad-ranging essays on the social, political, and cultural significance of more than a century's worth of newspaper publishing practices across the African continent




Women, visibility and morality in Kenyan popular media


Book Description

Women, visibility and morality in Kenyan popular media explores familiar constructions of femininity to assess ways in which it circulates in discourse, both stereotypically and otherwise. It assesses the meanings of such discourses and their articulations in various public platforms in Kenya. The book draws together theoretical questions on ‘pre-convened’ scripts that contain or condition how women can circulate in public. The book asks questions about particular interpretations of women’s bodies that are considered transgressive or unruly and why these bodies become significant symbolic sites for the generation of knowledge on morality and sexuality. The book also poses questions about genre and representations of femininity. The assertion made is that for knowledges of femininity to circulate effectively, they must be melodramatic, spectacular and scandalous. Ultimately, the book asks how such a theorisation of popular modes of representation enable a better understanding of the connections between gender, sexuality and violence in Kenya.




Assessing Academic Literacy in a Multilingual Society


Book Description

South African universities face major challenges in meeting the needs of their students in the area of academic language and literacy. The dominant medium of instruction in the universities is English and, to a much lesser extent, Afrikaans, but only a minority of the national population are native speakers of these languages. Nine other languages can be media of instruction in schools, which makes the transition to tertiary education difficult enough in itself for students from these schools. The focus of this book is on procedures for assessing the academic language and literacy levels and needs of students, not in order to exclude students from higher education but rather to identify those who would benefit from further development of their ability in order to undertake their degree studies successfully. The volume also aims to bring the innovative solutions designed by South African educators to a wider international audience.




Essays on Language, Communication and Literature in Africa


Book Description

Essays on Language, Communication and Literature in Africa explores language choice questions, together with domain-driven lingua-communicative and literary resources situated within the discourses of law, culture, medicine, visual art, politics, the media, music and literature in Africa. It identifies the distinctive African paraphernalia of these discourses, and foregrounds their real-world and mediated cultural and societal values, and highlights the Western presence through the inclusion of aspects of Shakespearean perspectives which bear universal tidings and speak to the African gender tradition. The chapters’ attention to verbal and visual artistic communicative mechanisms underlines such engagements as multilingualism policies, socio-political declension, social dynamism and cultural interventions that characterise the African setting. These realities are discussed in impressive detail, authoritative scholastic depth and effective stylistic tones that reflect the authors’ familiarity with the facets of African societies deducible from language, communication and literature.




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