This book is critically important for Bible translation theorists, postcolonial scholars, church leaders, and the general public interested in the history, politics, and nature of Bible translation work in Africa. It is also useful to students of gender studies, political science, biblical studies, and history-of-colonization studies. The book catalogs the major work that has been undertaken by African scholars. This work critiques and contests colonial Bible translation narratives by privileging the importance African oral vitality in rewriting the meaning of biblical texts in the African sociopolitical, political, and cultural contexts.

This book is about interactions in the funeral context among the Bukusu people of Kenya that brings together many religions. The author describes and accounts for hybridity as it is revealed by communicative techniques used by the priest and the comforter in the two communicative genres-the sermon and the traditional public comforting-that belong to the Christian and the Traditional Bukusu religions respectively. By approaching the co-existence of the two religions from a linguistic perspective, the study aims at ascertaining the relationship between the two religions. Dissertation. (Series: Contributions to Africa Research / Beitr�¤ge zur Afrikaforschung, Vol. 84) [Subject: Anthropology, African Studies, Religious Studies, Sociology]

The present volume grew out of the 30th International LAUD Symposium, held on April 19–22, 2004 at the University of Koblenz-Landau in Landau, Germany. The conference, "Empowerment through Language", was centrally concerned with the concept of power and/or empowerment as observed in the status and use of language(s) and their speakers in bilingual and multilingual communities. The book discusses the theoretical issues inherent in the relation between language and power, the empowerment strategies involved in language policy and language planning situations, and the issue of language endangerment in Africa, i.e., the fate of minority languages and their speakers and the sociopolitical factors perpetuating their exclusion from access to knowledge and skills. The volume constitutes a collection of papers by prominent linguists from many countries who explore the exciting interdisciplinary area of language, power, and linguistic empowerment. Broadly speaking, the papers focus on the theoretical and sociolinguistic problems related to the role of power in language policy and language planning situations in multilingual settings, language choices, code switches, and associated topics. Thus, the aim of the volume is to open up language policy and language planning issues as observed in multilingual contexts (nations, institutions, other settings, and domains) to the wider community of critical sociolinguistics by concentrating on the relationship between language and power. More particularly, it offers a decidedly sociolinguistic perspective to the study of language and power, which likewise has been tackled from other perspectives in the areas of sociology and political science. This interdisciplinary relationship is important both for linguistics and for the sociology of language. In this way, the book is an important contribution to general linguistics, sociolinguistics, minority issues in multilingual settings as well as the social sciences. In honor of his upcoming 80th birthday (2006) , Fishman's colleagues and former students are preparing five volumes by him or about him, this being one of them.

The collection of papers in this special volume discuss issues and challenges that are pertinent in understanding present-day moves and tendencies in the use of languages in the African contexts. The volume's major asset lies in the diversity of topics, the range of languages and the African geographical areas covered. Not only do the contributors come from different nations in Africa but also many of them are established scholars who interact with and interpret the unique situations in their nations on a daily basis.

Rediscover the diversity of modern African literatures with this authoritative resource edited by a leader in the field How have African literatures unfolded in their rich diversity in our modern era of decolonization, nationalisms, and extensive transnational movement of peoples? How have African writers engaged urgent questions regarding race, nation, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality? And how do African literary genres interrelate with traditional oral forms or audio-visual and digital media? A Companion to African Literatures addresses these issues and many more. Consisting of essays by distinguished scholars and emerging leaders in the field, this book offers rigorous, deeply engaging discussions of African literatures on the continent and in diaspora. It covers the four main geographical regions (East and Central Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa), presenting ample material to learn from and think with. A Companion To African Literatures is divided into five parts. The first four cover different regions of the continent, while the fifth part considers conceptual issues and newer directions of inquiry. Chapters focus on literatures in European languages officially used in Africa -- English, French, and Portuguese -- as well as homegrown African languages: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Swahili, and Yoruba. With its lineup of lucid and authoritative analyses, readers will find in A Companion to African Literatures a distinctive, rewarding academic resource. Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students in literary studies programs with an African focus, A Companion to African Literatures will also earn a place in the libraries of teachers, researchers, and professors who wish to strengthen their background in the study of African literatures.

In Indigenous Languages and Indigenous Knowledge in East Africa: Swahili, Kikuyu, and Kamba, Esther Mukewa Lisanza and Catherine Mwihaki Ndungo argue that African languages and indigenous knowledge forms are the tools which have made African communities such as Swahili, Kikuyu, and Kamba thrive for generations. Using interviews and research data, this book investigates the following questions: what is the nature and role of multilingualism in East Africa?; what role do herbs and indigenous foods play in Swahili, Kamba, and Kikuyu communities?; how are the communities governed indigenously?; and what is the connection between indigenous languages and knowledge? The findings presented within this study have demonstrated that multilingualism is a great resource in East Africa as many have prided themselves on their multilingual abilities within their education, careers, and cultures. Although these languages have been identified as carriers of indigenous governance, judiciary, and herbal medicine that have survived for generations, Lisanza and Ndungo advocate for policies and education systems to recenter these indigenous languages and their accompanying indigenous knowledge forms and practices once the older generations have passed on.