Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Among Cameroonian Immigrants in Cape Town
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Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices among Cameroonian Immigrants in Cape Town Magdaline Mbong Mai A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor Philosophiae in the Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape May 2011 Supervisor: Professor Felix Banda Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices among Cameroonian Immigrants in Cape Town Keywords Cape Town Cameroonian immigrants Transformation Multilingualism Anglophone Francophone Identity (performative) Cape identities Hybridity Translocality ii Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Abstract Negotiation of Identities and Langua ge Practices among Cameroonian Immigrants in Cape Town. Magdaline Mbong Mai PhD Thesis, Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape. This thesis is an exploration of the historical, socio-cultural, economic, and political settings in which identities are negotiated and performed among Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town. Focusing on language as localized practices and different interaction regimes, the thesis investigates how Cameroonian immigrants maintain and reconfigure the Anglophone/Francophone identity options in novel and hybrid ways. In addition, the study examines how ideologies favouring different languages are reproduced and challenged in translocal and transnational discourses. Guided by the poststructuralist theories the thesis explores the stance that reality is socially constructed, based on symbolic and material structural limitations that are challenged and maintained in interaction. That is, whatever we do or believe in, is supported by some historical or cultural frames of meanings in our lived world, which often gives room to some manoeuvre to do things in a new way. The study adopts a multiplex interpretive approach to data collection. This entails a qualitative sociolinguistic approach where interviews, discussion and observations at different socio-economic places namely; meetings, workplaces, homes, restaurants, drinking spots and many sites from all over Cape Town, were explored. The study suggests that Cameroonians have a multiplicity of identity options, which are manifested and negotiated performatively through language, dress code, song, food, business, and other practices that comprise their lifestyles. These identities are translocal and transnational in nature, and tend to blend South African, Cameroonian, and even American traits. It is also suggests that the different identity options which they manifest are highly mobile, enabling Cameroonians to fit into South African social structures as well as the iii Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Cameroonian ways of doing things. Additionally, the multiplicity of identities that Cameroonians manifest, blur the fault-line between Anglophone/Francophone identities. It is evident from the study that hybridity and the reconstruction practices are not only confined to languages. Hybridity also extends to discourse orders especially in terms of how meetings are conducted. The Cameroonian meetings captured through the activities of Mifi Association and CANOWACAT are characterised by ‘disorder of discourse’ in which both formal and informal versions of English and French are used separately or as amalgams alongside CPE and their national languages, not only in side talks, but also when contributing to the meeting proceedings. Ultimately, the study concludes that Cameroonians are social actors making up an indispensable part of the social interaction in the Cape Town Diaspora. Just as they influence the languages, the entrepreneurial practices, and spaces in which they interact, the Cameroonian immigrants are also transformed. The major contribution of the study is that it adds to the recent debates about the nature of multilingualism and identities in late modern society. It emphasises that languages and identities are fluid, complex, and unstable. The distinction or boundaries between the various languages in multilingual practices are also not as clear-cut. This leads to a reframing of voice and actor hood as meaning is constructed across translocal and transnational contexts and domains in a networked world transformed by the mobility of endless flows of information, goods, ideas, and people. Thus, the study contributes to those arguing for a paradigm shift in sociolinguistic theory in which language is not a property of groups, nor is it an autonomous and bounded system fixed in time and space. Thus, identities, languages and the spaces of interaction are not fixed systems; identities, languages, and spaces are dynamic and in a state of flux. This in turn questions the notions of multilingualism and language itself, as well as the veracity of concepts such as code-switching, speech community, language variation, as the search for a sociolinguistic framework that can deal with phenomena predicated by motion, instability, and uncertainty, continues. Date: May 2011 iv Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Declaration I declare that Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices among Cameroonian Immigrants in Cape Town is my own work, that it has not been submitted for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references. Full name: Magdaline Mbong Mai Signed: ___________________________ Date: ________________________ v Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Dedication In loving memory of my late dad, Pa Nuth Thomas Mai, you were an example worth emulating. With determination, you taught, empowered, and encouraged my quest to drink education to its lees. For all the innumerable lessons and for being a brilliant father, I devote this work to you. vi Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Acknowledgements There are so many I would like to thank for making the completion of this dissertation possible. First, I thank almighty for all his wonderful deeds. Lord, I revere your Holy name! Second, I would like to express sincere gratitude to my supervisor, and H.O.D., Professor Felix Banda. Prof, your patience, diligent guidance, listening ear, logical judgment, and humane nature have allowed me to achieve what would have been considered impossible. You sustained my research interests from Honours and Masters till now while remaining ever humble and inspirational. Merci beaucoup! Next is the fact that I had been blessed with friendly colleagues and lecturers at the University of the Western Cape. Among these are; Dr. Bock Zannie whose useful pieces of advice, keenness to reassure, warm hugs, and resolve kept me strong, Dr. Mushayikwa Emmanuel who read the final draft of this thesis, Amiena Peck, Sibonile Mpendukana and other staff not expressly mentioned, offered positive contributions during the course of this thesis. Thank you. This thesis has benefited from the valuable insights and honest critique of a visiting Professor, Elsa Auerbach from Massachusetts University, Boston, USA. This has given the project its shape. My husband Dr. Mba Jules-Clement has entertained debates and provided constructive insights on this current study. As a perceptive dad, he made video clips of Sarah back home reciting rhyme and singing for me, and has looked after Milcah while I took long reserved hours working on this thesis. Cheri, que-ferai-je sans toi? To my children, Sarah Muh-Ngolela Mba, and Milcah Kengne Mba, I appreciate you for understanding and for the fun. To you I dedicate this thesis. For my family, my mother, Mai Winifred, and my late father, Pa Ntuh Thomas Mai, I am gratified to have had you as parents. You are always there! I am equally thankful for the support and loving care given to my daughter Sarah back in Cameroon by Ndongmo Jacob vii Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Meh (fondly known as Bishop), and Ndze-la-ah Gilbert (alias Fon Echekiye). My sister-in- law, Seignè Lydie Mafor of blessed memory, was the fastest and most efficient typist ever, and did a great job in the course of this project. Thank you and May you rest in peace. To all the research participants, among which were some meeting groups and associations, notably the Cameroon North West Association in Cape Town and the Mifi Association, now Mifi Association in Cape Town(MACAT), thank you for helping me find the interesting disorders in discourse. viii Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices TABLE OF CONTENT Title Page Key Words ii Abstract iii Declaration v Dedication vii Acknowledgment viii Chapter 1: Sociolinguistic Practices in Cameroon and South Africa: Setting the 1 Scene 1.0 Introduction and Background 1 1.1 Contextualising the Study 1 1.2 Cameroon Pidgin English: Its Origin, Functions and Development 3 1.2.1 Franglais: A New Sociolinguistic Phenomenon in Cameroon 4 1.3 Linguistic Behaviour in Post-Colonial Cameroon 5 1.4 A Brief Sociolinguistic Account of Postcolonial South Africa 6 1.5 Statement of the Problem 8 1.6 Aims and Objectives 9 1.7 Research Questions 10 1.8 Rationale 11 1.9 Limitations 12 1.10 Methodology 12 1.10.1 Context and description of subjects 13 1.10.2 Data Collection Techniques and Procedures 14 1.10.3 Data Analysis 15 1.11 An Outline of Chapters 16 1.12 Summary 17 19 Chapter 2: The Sociolinguistic Situation in Cameroon 2.0 Introduction 19 2.1 The Anglophone Problem 19 2.2 The Origin of Pidgins and their Influence 24 2.3 Cameroon Pidgin English: Its Origin, Functions and