‘The greasy pole of dehumanisation’: Language and violence in South Africa (original) (raw)
Related papers
SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND VIOLENCE AS THE 12TH LANGUAGE OF SOUTH AFRICANS -AN ANALYSIS OF XENOPHOBIA 2015
Socio-linguistics is the descriptive study of the effect and the way language is used, and the effects of language use in society. South Africa's vibrant democracy is a raucous interaction between people of different backgrounds and nationalities. Transition to democracy from the brutal apartheid system was an iconic testimony of peaceful coexistence , however, the literature review suggests that perceived inflammatory hate speech is nexus that precipitated such violence. This causal link between the 2015 violent attacks is attributed to speeches calling for foreign nationals to return to their countries of origin as they were causing problems in the country. These attacks violated the constitutional values that South Africa embodies such as respect for human life, human rights and human dignity. Although authenticity has become a popular and critical feature for efficient leadership, Ibarra (2015) argues that the success of the authentic leadership approach depends on the way it is perceived and defined. To understand the extent of violence, Gould (2014) contends an introspective analysis of the country's recent history, considering how South Africa has dealt with its violent past and the fact that it has increasing poverty and inequality. As a country it's perceived that South Africa has failed to secure confidence and respect for the rule of law. Whilst South Africa is not alone when it comes to these kinds of difficult conversations, this qualitative study used triangulation to investigate the root causes instigating black-on-black violence. Interviews were conducted in 3 cities to distinguish Xenophobia from Afrophobia and the findings are conclusive that there is need for social cohesion, the concept of nationhood and the forging of solidarity for Africans on the whole.
Mediation, the Political Task: Between Language and Violence in Contemporary South Africa
Two paradigms of communication confront each other in South Africa today. One posits an ideal public sphere that recognizes the task of mediation but also requires its effacement. The other, frustrated by deferral, seeks to bypass mediation through apparently immediate forms of speech that range from visual slogans to messianic utterances that can be heard even by the dead. When viewed ethnographically, these competing conceptions and aspirations cannot be linked to particular technologies. On the contrary, the social scene is technologically heterogeneous. Epochal and ontological schemata of mediatic displacement must thus be rethought. In this paper I pursue such a rethinking on the basis of long-term ethnography in the gold-mining region of South Africa following the infamously violent assault on striking miners at Marikana.
The Linguistic Landscape of Post-Apartheid South Africa: Politics and Discourse
2016
Liesel Hibbert is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa. Her interests include discourse studies, South African writing, linguistic ethnography, political rhetoric, stylistics, the bilingual classroom and higher education pedagogy. Her previous publications include Multilingual Universities in South Africa (Multilingual Matters, 2014), which she co-edited with Christa van der Walt.
They all Speak Your Language Anyway…': Language and Racism in a South African School
South African Journal of Psychology, 2004
This article reports a rhetorical discourse analysis of learner perspectives on language diversity in a contemporary South African high school. Based on four group discussions with Grade 12 isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English-speaking learners, the analysis traces two interrelated clusters of argument. In the first, a liberal discourse of individual freedom and human rights is mobilised to argue against a language order where languages are made compulsory, or forced upon people. We show that this argument was employed inconsistently: it only extended to languages other than English. To understand how this dilemmatic use of liberal ideas was justified, we trace a second line of argument. This is the construction of English as a universal language and, consequently as neutral, necessary and unifying; a language of 'rational choice' for all South Africans. Based on these arguments, language diversity -or the formal recognition and empowerment of languages other than English -was problematised as both violating individual rights of choice and a public order characterised by the mutual and universal understanding afforded by the universality of English. Supporting English-only practices in the school was thus presented as itself a liberal gesture, allowing not only the continued racialisation of isiXhosa, but also a rhetoric of racial blame: isiXhosa speakers, when they use their language in public, were blamed for instigating racial tension and misunderstanding in the school.
Violence as a form of communication : making sense of violence in South Africa
African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 2013
This article explores the meaning of violence in South African society against the backdrop of its violent past. Using a perspective suggested by H.W. van de Merwe** and Sue Williams in an article in 1987 – understanding violence as a form of communication – the article seeks to analyse how the persistence and scale of violence can be understood as a legacy of our past. This approach can also help foster spaces for more constructive engagement with those who resort to violence in the face of the society’s failure to provide effective channels for more constructive communication.
Human Rights Documents online
6 9. Sensitise and capacitate media to undertake responsible reporting on migrants and migration issues: Implement programmes to capacitate the media to understand the different categories of migrants, the various aspects of migration, and the rights and responsibilities of migrants, in order to promote responsible and factual reporting about migrants and migration, based on proper investigation. This will help to reduce the prejudices and stereotypes that are fostered by irresponsible media reporting that tends to refer to migrants generally as 'illegal immigrants'. There are no guarantees that the mechanisms outlined above will prevent future attacks targeted at foreign nationals or other minority groups. However, in the absence of such measures, we may witness further social fragmentation, disrespect for human rights and the law, resulting in further violence. Research Design and Data Collection This study builds on the FMSP's ongoing explorations of xenophobic violence in South Africa with new comparative, qualitative data. While drawing on past work, the study primarily reflects original research in seven selected sites in Gauteng and Western Cape Provinces: five sites where xenophobic violence occurred between January 2007 and June 2008, and two where the presence of foreign nationals did not lead to significant violence. The sites in Gauteng included Itireleng in Laudium; Madelakufa II and Madelakufa I (non-affected) in Tembisa; Sector II and Sector V (non-affected) in Alexandra. The two sites in Western Cape included Masiphumelele and Du Noon. By comparing similar sites in which violence did or did not occur (i.e. a most similar systems approach), this study helps to isolate specific triggers and structures associated with anti-outsider violence. This study's respondents included South African residents of the selected townships, foreign nationals who reside or resided in the same locations, relevant government officials, community leaders, and representatives of different civil society organisations operating in the selected areas. The research team conducted individual interviews with local residents and affected non-nationals living in the community and/or in governmentcreated Centres of Safe Shelter (CoSS). The team also conducted interviews with an extensive range of key informants, including local government officials, police, civil society and community leaders (e.g., ward council members, street committee leaders, Community Policing Forums (CPFs), and izinduna). Focus group discussions were also organised including specific groups of women, men, and youth.
Xenophobic Violence and 'Struggle' Discourse in South Africa
Journal of Asian and African Studies, 2019
This paper argues that xenophobia in South Africa is entangled in discourses of liberation struggle, which are often used to justify anti-foreigner violence. We first examine some existing academic explanations for xenophobia, namely internalised racism, poverty/inequality, nationalism, and township and informal settlement politics. To avoid deterministically explaining xenophobia as 'caused' by any of these factors, however, we introduce a concept from social psychology, the concept of 'working models of contact'. These are common frames of reference in which contact between groups is understood in terms of shared meanings and values. Xenophobic violence is not caused but instantiated in ways that are explained and justified according to particular understandings of the meaning of the 'citizen-foreigner' relationship. We then review three case studies of xenophobic violence whose perpetrators constructed a model of contact in which African 'foreigners' were undermining the struggles of South Africans in various socioeconomic contexts. We also examine three cases where xenophobic violence was actively discouraged by invoking an inclusive rather than divisive form of struggle discourse. Thus the nature of the struggle itself becomes contested. We conclude by considering some dilemmatic implications that our analysis provokes.
Rethinking Multilingualism in South Africa
'Rethinking Multilingualism in South Africa', in Out of History, eds. Leslie Witz, Annachiara Forte, and Paolo Israel
This draft pre-publication chapter meanders through language issues of various kinds, and comes basically to no conclusion as far as suggestions for multilingual policies may be concerned. Instead, my aim has been rather to revisit certain narrative - and even epistemological - sites through the issue of South African languages, more specifically Afrikaans, English, and isiXhosa, the main languages of the Western Cape. The work of Mqhayi, Langenhoven, and N.P. Van Wyk Louw are briefly examined. I have also attempted to 'read' those languages and their social domains jointly rather than serially. Namely, I do not believe those languages have historically been constructed in isolation. Also, I must stress that they are to me first and foremost very complex historical constructs, not merely objects lying around for a linguist to take up and describe.