Zugl.: Leipzig, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 2002

\"Are there any national literatures in black Africa yet? The simple answer is no. [...] If one examines the development of the African language literature that do exists, one is struck by certain recurring tendencies. Many of the books produced, particularly the early works, are of a predominantly moralistic nature. Sometimes they are retelling of folk stories or Bible stories, sometimes imitations of European religious literature, sometimes both.\\\" (Lindfors 1997: 121; 123) Certain anomalies are obvious in the above extract. Swahili written literature with its long-standing tradition, dating far back to the 17th century, has relativly gathered its own aesthetic criteria, values and sensibility, hence \\\'own\\\' integrity and world view. I dare say that Lindfors will be suprised to learn today, how fast the Swahili novel has developed since when he had left it when he read Andrzejewski et al (1985) and Gérard (1981), who (by the way), themselves did not then see the their works as presenting a complete picture of African literatures in African languages. This essay aims at showing the predicament of the Swahili novelist at the crossroads and how, in a contemporary situation, s/he works out his or her strategies towards resolving the impasses.

\"Are there any national literatures in black Africa yet? The simple answer is no. [...] If one examines the development of the African language literature that do exists, one is struck by certain recurring tendencies. Many of the books produced, particularly the early works, are of a predominantly moralistic nature. Sometimes they are retelling of folk stories or Bible stories, sometimes imitations of European religious literature, sometimes both.\\\" (Lindfors 1997: 121; 123) Certain anomalies are obvious in the above extract. Swahili written literature with its long-standing tradition, dating far back to the 17th century, has relativly gathered its own aesthetic criteria, values and sensibility, hence \\\''own\\\'' integrity and world view. I dare say that Lindfors will be suprised to learn today, how fast the Swahili novel has developed since when he had left it when he read Andrzejewski et al (1985) and Gérard (1981), who (by the way), themselves did not then see the their works as presenting a complete picture of African literatures in African languages. This essay aims at showing the predicament of the Swahili novelist at the crossroads and how, in a contemporary situation, s/he works out his or her strategies towards resolving the impasses.

Mass communication through the print and the electronic media has not been spared by the post-Cold-War wind of change that is sweeping across Africa and the rest of the world. According to Wilcox (1974: 37), in 1974 over 70 percent of all the newspapers that were printed in Africa were government-owned; in the same year, almost all radio and T.V. stations were owned by government. In the changing socio-eonomic climate, however, a state monopoly of the mass media in many Sub- Saharan African countries is now a thing of the past (see for instance, Bourgault 1995). Where, for example, there used to be only one or two newspapers owned by the government or the ruling party, there now exists a plethora of privately owned competing newspapers and other publications; and where there used to be only one sycophantic radio and T. V. station owned by the government, there now exist several radio and T. V. stations, many of them privately-owned commercial broadcasters. The general philosophy behind the liberalization of the mass media is what has come to be called `the freedom of speech`. Citing the liberalization of the electronic media in Kenya, this paper argues that the liberalization of the media in many Sub-Saharan countries has not been matched by policies that encourage the entrenchment, spread and full utilization of African indigenous languages. It is further argued that the lack of media policy that favours African indigenous languages is likely to lead to negative consequences for the languages of Africa.

Texte remanié de: Th. État--Sci. du langage--Rouen. / Bibliogr. p. 271-282.

Mass communication through the print and the electronic media has not been spared by the post-Cold-War wind of change that is sweeping across Africa and the rest of the world. According to Wilcox (1974: 37), in 1974 over 70 percent of all the newspapers that were printed in Africa were government-owned; in the same year, almost all radio and T.V. stations were owned by government. In the changing socio-eonomic climate, however, a state monopoly of the mass media in many Sub- Saharan African countries is now a thing of the past (see for instance, Bourgault 1995). Where, for example, there used to be only one or two newspapers owned by the government or the ruling party, there now exists a plethora of privately owned competing newspapers and other publications; and where there used to be only one sycophantic radio and T. V. station owned by the government, there now exist several radio and T. V. stations, many of them privately-owned commercial broadcasters. The general philosophy behind the liberalization of the mass media is what has come to be called `the freedom of speech`. Citing the liberalization of the electronic media in Kenya, this paper argues that the liberalization of the media in many Sub-Saharan countries has not been matched by policies that encourage the entrenchment, spread and full utilization of African indigenous languages. It is further argued that the lack of media policy that favours African indigenous languages is likely to lead to negative consequences for the languages of Africa.

Sociolingvistiska studier visar att kontakten mellan den brasilianska portugisiskan och afrikanska språk under kolonialtiden ledde till att afrikanska ord assimilerades in i det brasilianska talspråket. Vissa ord är idag en del av det brasilianska vardagsspråket, medan andra används enbart inom den afro-brasilianska religiösa kontexten. Den brasilianska populärmusiken kan ses som en viktig faktor för spridningen av ord med afrikanskt ursprung. Musiken är ett instrument med vilket det brasilianska samhället kan medvetandegöra sig om hur essentiellt Afrika var i det brasilianska samhällsskapandet. Samtidigt ges kännedom om de afrikanska orden och olika afro-brasilianska kulturella element. I de musikaliska verken av Gilberto Gil, en brasiliansk kompositör, musiker och artist, används ofta ord med afrikanskt ursprung. I den här studien analyseras dessa ord, och med hjälp av ett förslag till klassificering från den brasilianska etno-lingvisten Yeda Pessoa de Castro, görs ett försök att klassificera de afrikanska orden utifrån dess användning, beroende av dess sociokulturella nivå. Analysen visar att det förkommer ord med afrikanskt ursprung i stor del av kompositörens verk, majoriteten av dessa kommer ifrån de afrikanska språkgrupperna bantu och kwa. Orden kommer ifrån olika semantiska fält som till exempel mat, musik och kultur, och en majoritet är benämningar som kommer ifrån den Afro-brasilianska religiösa kontexten. Just det Afro-brasilianska religiösa temat är vanligt förekommande inom brasiliansk populärmusik, men i Gilberto Gils sångtexter ses också teman från den Afro-brasilianska sfären i användandet av välkända afrikanska ord, men det förkommer också ord som är för okända för den större publiken. Ett medvetet användande av de afrikanska orden ses som förstärkande i skapandet av en samhörighet med den Afro-brasilianska världen. / The sociolinguistic studies show that during the inter-linguistic contact between the Brazilian Portuguese and the African languages during the colonial period, many words were assimilated in the vernacular Portuguese of Brazil. Some of the words are today a part of the vernacular language, while others are used exclusively in Afro-Brazilian religious communities. For the diffusion of the words with African origins, the popular music could be an important factor. With this musical theme, the Brazilian society is reminded of the importance that Africa had in the forming of the Brazilian society, and the music brings awareness of the African words and the Afro-Brazilian cultural elements. There is a frequent use of these African words in the musical accomplishments of the Brazilian composer, musician and artist Gilberto Gil. In the present work these words are analyzed, and with the proposal for classification made by the Brazilian ethno-linguist Yeda Pessoa de Castro, the aim is to classify the words, depending on their sociolinguistic level. The analysis shows that the African words can be found in a great part of the composers work, and the majority comes from the banto and kwa languages. The words are being classified in various semantic fields, for an example food, music and culture, and the majorities are designations that come from Afro-Brazilian religion. The Afro-Brazilian religious theme is a common element in the Brazilian popular music, but in the song lyrics of Gilberto Gil the African theme is also showing in the use of well-known African word. Whereas others words with African origin are not that well known, but in the conscious use of Gilberto Gil words of African origin reinforce a connection to the Afro-Brazilian universe. / Pesquisas sociolinguísticas mostram que no contato linguístico entre o português brasileiro e as línguas africanas durante o tempo da colonização, muitas palavras africanas foram assimiladas à língua falada no Brasil. Certas palavras fazem hoje parte da língua cotidiana, enquanto outras são utilizadas exclusivamente nas comunidades de religião afro-brasileira. Para a difusão das palavras de matriz africana, as músicas populares podem ser um fator importante. Com a ajuda da música, a sociedade brasileira lembra-se da importância que teve a África na formação da sociedade brasileira, e leva para o conhecimento palavras africanas e elementos culturais afro-brasileiros. Na obra musical do compositor, músico e artista Gilberto Gil pode-se observar um uso frequente de palavras de matriz africana. Neste trabalho analisa-se este vocabulário, e com uma proposta de classificação feita pela etnolinguista Yeda Pessoa de Castro, procura-se classificar as palavras conforme o nível sociocultural no qual se encontram. A análise mostra que em grande parte da obra do compositor acham-se palavras africanas, a maioria de origem banto e kwa. As palavras vêm de campos semânticos diferentes como culinária, música, cultura e a maioria são designações derivadas de religiões afro-brasileiras. Justamente o tema da religião afro-brasileiro aparece como elemento comum na música popular brasileira, mas nas letras de Gilberto Gil é possível ver temas do universo afro-brasileiro também através do uso de palavras africanas. A análise mostra que algumas são bem conhecidas, outras nem tanto. O uso tão elaborado do léxico de origem africana por Gilberto Gil em suas letras de canções manifesta uma identificação com o universo afro no Brasil.