Panel 149: African Languages in/and African Engagements: A Call for Re-Considerations

More than one billion people, more than 2000 living languages: Africa is a linguistic paradise. Yet current scholarship seems not to account fully for the place and importance of African languages in the communication and interactions of African peoples with the rest of the world. In Africa, intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic communication, and transfer of information and knowledge, are predominantly mediated by indigenous languages. In the current globalization, African peoples and nations are entangled in a web of languages, media networks, and communication highways, where African identities and cultural reflections are either lost or disfigured. Therefore, Africanists have to re-consider the place and the use of African languages in the engagements of the continent with herself and the rest of the world.
This panel will address the crucial issues regarding the evolution of African languages as tools for community and national development; as tools for constructive communication with the rest of the world; and as tools for inter-generational transmission of values, knowledge, know-how, and thought systems. Guiding themes will be the current dynamics of literacy activities in African languages; the challenges faced by African linguistic communities in the promotion, preservation and maintenance of local languages; the modernization and intellectualization of African languages; and the production and diffusion of literatures in African languages. This panel will also propose constructive perspectives towards re-establishing and reinforcing African languages into their key role as tools for new African engagements based on the respect and appreciation of local African languages and cultures.