1 - Global and Local Hybridity in African Youth Language Practices

Abstract


 
 
 This article investigates and describes youth language practices in Africa in the era of globalisation. It opens up debate over the impacts of globalisation on youth linguistic identities in Africa. Further, it suggests some aspects of youth participation in linguistic change in Africa and provides some examples of how youth linguistic cultures are practised in everyday interactions. The authors show the intersection of cultures in everyday discourse and in youth language vocabulary, and the incorporation of global (popular) culture in African youth language practices through bricolage to achieve hybridity. The ways in which the global intersects with the local and how the youth in Africa recontextualise the global and create local traditions of youth culture and identity are discussed and exemplified. The article concludes by arguing that, while global brands impact on youth language and practices, they are interpreted and applied locally; youth culture in Africa is enriched by global symbols and cultural artefacts and figures, not impoverished by them; the global does not displace the local, but rather complements it. The youth in Africa, in their spaces, are therefore active creators and contributors towards linguistic and cultural change and through this change they are agents of Africa’s globalisation.
 Fridah Kanana Erastus, Kenyatta University, Kenya. Email: kanana.fridah@ku.ac.ke
 &
 Ellen Hurst-Harosh, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Email: ellen.hurst@uct.ac.za
 
 

Citizenship, language and digital rights: the question of language in the process of decolonising the internet and digital rights

“…Sheng is inexorably linked to youth culture and, indeed, the choice of words for different objects or events in Sheng is often a generational marker. Erastus and Hurst-Harosh (2020) argued that the combination of language innovation and digital cultures has allowed young people to create distinct youth cultures and push the boundaries of African languages. They call these networks “communities of practice” – a group of people who share a common mutual endeavour – reflecting the definition of a digital public sphere or a digital citizen as a member of a community united by a shared interest in a specific social or political aspect ( ibid .).…”

“…Erastus and Hurst-Harosh (2020) also pointed out that patois like Sheng and digital cultures also share the characteristics of hybridity and an ability to take what exists in the dominant culture and add to it, enriching their digital experiences with this mix of backgrounds. Their research in South Africa shows how vernaculars from various geographies can often collide in WhatsApp messages, for example, where young people fluidly combine American slang with isiZulu and Afrikaans words in forms that would not be acceptable in any of these languages.…”

Citizenship, African languages and digital rights

“…Erastus and Hurst-Harosh (2020) argue that the combination of language innovation and digital cultures has allowed young people to create distinct youth cultures and push the boundaries of African languages. They call these networks 'communities of practice' -a group of people who share a common mutual endeavour -reflecting the definition of a digital public sphere or a digital citizen as a member of a community united by a shared interest in a specific social or political aspect (Erastus and Hurst-Harosh 2020). The emergence of Sheng' in Kenya identifies urban youth as a distinct community of practice that is dealing with socio-economic concerns that are qualitatively different from those faced by (for example) rural agrarian communities.…”

“…Githiora argues that for young people in Africa, the rejection of standard forms of language is a form of rebellion, but also a reflection of the high level of mobility among African youth (Erastus and Hurst-Harosh 2020). Sheng' , he argues, is an attempt to create a non-ethnic youth culture that reflects the need to navigate these parallel worlds.…”

Uraia, Lugha na Haki za Kidijitali: umuhimu wa lugha katika harakati za kuondoa ukoloni katika teknolojia

“…Kama tulivyoeleza, sheng ni lugha ya vijana na maneno yanayochaguliwa na mzungumzaji yanaashiria rika lake. Erastus and Hurst-Harosh (2020) wanasema kwamba ubunifu wa lugha na tamaduni za kidijitali imesaidia vijana kubuni tamaduni maalum na kuendeleza lugha za Kiafrika. Wanaita mitandao hii ya lugha “communities of practice” au vikundi vya watu vilivyounganishwa na kazi au nia fulani, kwa mfano jinsi vile vikundi vya vijana wanaotumia mtandao huwa vimeunganishwa kwenye jumuiya zinazojaribu kutimiza nia moja ya kijamii au kisiasa (Ibid).…”