AFRS 383 - Creolizing the World: Language, Empire, Globalization

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as ANTH 383) The era of mass migration, multilingualism, and hybrid identities that we live in today began with European imperial expansion into the Americas five centuries ago. Our globalized world today cannot be understood separately from the histories of imperialism and colonialism. This course examines the role of language in imperial projects, anti-colonial resistance, post-colonial states, and multilingualism in postcolonial settings. This course also traces how imperial legacies continue to inform attitudes about language in today’s transnational global economy. Themes include language contact and language change, anti-colonialism, and nationalism, the creolization of language and culture, post-nationalism, global languages, language shift, and language revitalization. The first section of the course discusses colonial linguistic policies and missionary efforts. The second focuses on language contact and the emergence of pidgins and creoles in colonial situations. The third section treats the role of language in anti-colonial movements, and in post-colonial discourses of modernization and development. The fourth section examines colonial legacies that shape ongoing conflicts surrounding language rights and language policy. Drawing on readings on language death and language revitalization as legacies of imperial rule and post-colonial state formation, the final weeks of the course address the relationship between imperialism, the emergence of English as a global lingua franca, and the emergence of transnational linguistic blocs such as La Francophonie and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. Louis Römer.

Prerequisite(s): prior coursework in Anthropology or Africana Studies, or permission of the instructor.

One 3-hour period.