Language Planning, Language Ideology and Entextualization: War Naming Practices

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between language and war by investigating naming practices through three prisms: language planning, language ideology and entextualization. The article focuses on names assigned to combatants during the War of Liberation for Zimbabwe's independence. In African cultures, names often address a kaleidoscope of issues which may include the collective history and life experiences of the individual name bearer and the people surrounding him or her. In most African contexts changes in an individual's personal circumstances are marked by a name change, which suggests that names are variable and are not immutable. Entering the guerilla movement in Zimbabwe was a significant transformation which, in accordance with African cultural practices, required a new name to be assigned to signify the entry into a new phase of life. The names assigned reflect a “discourse” about the hopes and aspirations of the combatants. However, it appears that the underlying principles of naming in war are not significantly different from those during peacetime. In addition, war naming practices have implications for language planning from below, language ideologies and entextualization.

Translanguaging, language ontology, and civil rights

“…Linguists have long emphasized that language communities are idealizations, as no two speakers likely have the same linguistic knowledge, and social and political forces typically play a role in delineating discrete languages. Recently, postmodernist and poststructuralist scholars in the LLP literature have suggested a different tactic, namely, the idea that we take seriously the proposition that languages do not exist, along with all that it implies (Makoni & Pennycook, 2007; Makoni, Makoni, & Pfukwa, 2010; Pennycook, 2006; Shohamy, 2006). Intended most specifically to unsettle ‘named languages’ sanctioned by nation‐states, the logic of deconstruction affects all notions of linguistic community, reducing each of us to lone language users in possession of a unique idiolect (García & Otheguy, 2014; García et al., 2017; Otheguy et al., 2015).…”

Anthroponyms of Albinos among the Shona People of Zimbabwe

“…The majority of studies on names within the Zimbabwean context focus on the war of liberation (see, for example, Pongweni 1983;Pfukwa 1998Pfukwa , 2003Pfukwa , 2007Makoni et al 2007;Makoni et al 2010). This is significant in the sense that it highlights the nature and distribution of the naming systems during an abnormal situation.…”

“…Our findings show that these names are semantically extended to reveal the myths, attitudes and cultural values associated with albinism. Makoni et al (2010) examine the relationship between language from language planning, language ideology and entextualization perspectives. The study focuses on names of the freedom fighters during the liberation struggle and demonstrates that the names highlight the ideologies and practices of naming within African cultures.…”

Discontinuity without change? the place and discourse of colonial memory in Zimbabwe’s post- Mugabe Zanu-PF politics.

“…It was meant to show off their 1970s guerrilla military supremacy centred on the liberation agenda. There is abundant literature such as Kriger (2003a;2003b;2003c;Makoni and Pfukwa, 2010;Pfukwa and Barnes, 2010) that explicitly demonstrates the deep-rooted relationship between war veterans and ZANU PF as meant to revive the 1970s war of liberation. All said, the intention was to crush the neoliberalism effects as fronted by opposition political parties, global media and civil society organisations.…”