Join the Program of African Studies for our weekly lunch and lecture.
Speaker: Michael Wairungu, Swahili, Program of African Studies, Northwestern
Title: "Niko Cool Still, Na Bado NimeChill": Language, Identity, and Power in Kenyan Schools
Abstract: In today’s post-colonial urban Africa, language competence among many young people is not measured by the performance of the standard language, but the speaker’s ability to draw from the many languages in his/her repertoire. In Kenya, for example, despite the promotion of Standard Swahili as a national language, and together with English as official languages, many young Kenyans prefer speaking Sheng for various reasons. Sheng is a “mixed” non-standard language variety that draws linguistic material from Swahili, English and various other language varieties spoken in cosmopolitan areas. In this presentation, I interrogate teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward Sheng in relation to Standard Swahili, English and other language varieties spoken in urban high schools. Using Bourdieu’s (1977) notions of linguistic market, legitimate language and standard language ideology, I explore young Kenyans’ preference for Sheng over English and standard Swahili. I also question the validity of Standard Swahili as both official and a national language in Kenya. The presentation draws data from Nakuru and Mombasa, two major cities with underlying ethnic tensions and competing varieties of Swahili. Overall, the presentation contributes to the ongoing debate among linguists and educators about the relevance of standardized African language varieties as symbols of power and tools of national identity.