This monograph examines the roles and functions of Swahili in war/conflict situations, and the impact of wars on the destiny of the language. Covering a period of over a century, the monograph explores this sociolinguistic theme in the context of six wars/conflicts: the Maji Maji resistance against German rule, the two World Wars, the anti-colonial resistance to British colonialism, the wars of the Great Lakes region, the cold wars, and the ongoing war against terrorism. In geographical focus, some of the war situations explored here are “local,” others are “transnational,” and others still rather “global” in scope and ramifications. In the final analysis, the monograph provides important snapshots of the conflict-based history of the Swahili language, demonstrating once again that language is a malleable tool that can be appropriated and galvanized to serve the interests of either party in a conflict and sometimes as a means of creating hegemonic and anti-hegemonic meanings.
Author(s): Alamin Mazrui, Kimani Njogu
Series: Palgrave Studies in Languages at War
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 237
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
1: Introduction
Expansion of Swahili
Language and Nationalism: Between Internal and External Wars
Functions of Language in War and War’s Impact on Language
War and the Swahili Literary Imagination
Outline of the Book
Terminology: Between Swahili and Kiswahili
References
2: Swahili and the Maji Maji Resistance Against German Rule
The Quiet Entry of German Rule in East Africa
The Rise of Maji Maji
Disentangling Language Choices
German Reaction to the Maji Maji War
Swahili Words in Action
References
3: Swahili in Military Context: Between World War I and World War II
World War I and Its Aftermath
World War II and Its Aftermath
Conclusion
References
4: Swahili and Imperial Britain: Colonial Creation/African Appropriation
The (Re)Construction of African Languages and Identities
Dis-Islamization/Europeanization of African Languages
Swahili and the Foundations of Anti-Colonial Nationalism
Parties, Periodicals, and Protest
Conclusion
References
5: Swahili and the Wars of the Great Lakes Region
Uganda and the NRA Effect
Rwanda, Burundi, and the RPF Effect
From Zaïre Back to the DRC
Swahili, Refugees of Wars, and Regional Integration
Conclusion
References
6: Swahili in the Context of Cold Wars
The Ideological Cold War
The Ideological Cold War in Swahili Translation
The Racial Cold War
The Economic Cold War
Conclusion
References
7: Swahili and the War on Terrorism
Swahili and the War on Terrorism in East Africa
US Policy and Foreign Language Education After 9/11
The US Swahili Initiative to Win Hearts and Minds
Local Reactions to the American Initiative
References
8: Conclusion
References
Index
