The Power of Babel

1. The Power of Babel Introduction: Africa’s Linguistic Legacy: Between Expansionism & Nationalism

2. Africa’s vulnerabilities • They did not have a culture of territorial expansionism • They were not linguistically nationalist • They had cultures of oral tradition, not cultures of numeracy, precise measures, and technology

3. The borders that came with colonialism • Were artificial • Could not follow any cultural borders, since there were no such borders there in the first place • Did not result in border clashes; most conflict is internal, civil wars

4. Linguistic frontiers and national boundaries • Weak nationalism made Africa vulnerable to Euro-linguistic penetration • “The national boundaries of most African states lack the underpinning of any national linguistic identity” • Most sub-Saharan countries are multilingual • Africans are often nationalistic about race, land, or tribe, but not about language

5. Linguistic frontiers and national boundaries, cont’d. • Sub-Saharan cultures are traditionally oral, with no sacred scripture • Nationalism is motivated more as a quest for racial dignity than to protect languages • African countries are often thought of as “Francophone” or “English-speaking”, but very few people speak the imperial languages • Educational systems promote European languages and often ignore the indigenous languages

6. Language in the public arena • Business & legislation are entirely in the imperial languages and in most countries speeches to the nation are given in a European language • African politicians make know many languages, but MUST know the relevant European language in order to serve in government • Sub-Saharan constitutions are written in European languages and unintelligible to most of their populations