[lg policy] book notice: Language Policy and Nation-Building in Post-Apartheid South Africa

[Harold Schiffman]

Language Policy and Nation-Building in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Series: Language Policy, Vol. 10

Orman, Jon

2008, XII, 204 p., Hardcover

ISBN: 978-1-4020-8890-2



Theoretically rigorous and innovative: pushes forward theoretical
understanding of concepts such as national identity and language
policy/planning and the way in which they interrelate

The first chapters of the book address universal themes and issues in
the study of national identities and language policy and planning.
This makes the book accessible and interesting for sociolinguists,
language policy and ethnicity/nationalism scholars in general, beyond
a strictly South African context
Interdisciplinary, non-linguicentric, discussion of the South-African
situation, including a chapter on the issue of Afrikaans
The urgent need to forge an inclusive, multi-racial, multicultural
South African national identity has been one of the most dominant
themes in post-Apartheid politics and society. With the realisation
that many of the social problems which beset contemporary South
African society are sociolinguistic in origin, the critical importance
of language policy and planning for democratic ‘nation-building’
becomes evident. This book adopts a rigorous theoretical approach to
the study of language policy and national identity, both in a general
sense and with specific application to the sociolinguistic situation
in South Africa. It also includes an entire chapter devoted to the
issue of the status and role of Afrikaans in the post-apartheid era.
Employing a strictly multi-disciplinary approach, the book draws on
insights from a number of academic disciplines including
sociolinguistics, the sociology of language, sociology, social
psychology, political theory and social anthropology.

The book will be of considerable interest to a wide range of academic
theorists and students whose work is either specifically concerned
with, or touches upon, issues of language policy and national
identity, as well as language planners and policymakers, language
pedagogists and educational organisations, both within South Africa
and beyond.



 Abstract.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Key concepts in the study of ethnic
and national identities.- 3. Language policy, language planning and
national identity: theoretical perspectives.- 4. Language policy and
identity planning in South Africa: a historical overview.- 5.Language
policy, identity conflict and nation-building: the case of Afrikaans.-
6. Towards an alternative, inclusive approach to language policy and
national integration for post-apartheid South Africa.- 7. Conclusion.-
References.- Name index.- Subject index.

http://www.springer.com/education+&+language/book/978-1-4020-8890-2

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