Black History Month 2024

AfriStadi x CoCoLaC Workshop “The Black histories, present and futures of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese”

AfriStadi x CoCoLaC WorkshopThe Black histories, present and futures of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese” 

A Black History Month workshop on October 4  2024 

 

Location: HSSH meeting room, HSSH, Fabianinkatu 24A, room 524, Helsinki and online 

Registration for coffee break: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/131418/lomake.html 

 

Zoom link coming shortly 

 

Workshop information 

Languages of European origin have become world languages in the wake of European expansion from the 15th century onwards. They continue to have lasting legacies in postcolonial states, of which they are the official languages in many cases, and in which they have become important languages of literary expression. Their African, American and Asian speakers have transformed them and created new local varieties, mixed languages and registers, for instance Brazilian Vernacular Portuguese, Hinglish in India, Singlish in Singapore, Taglish in the Philippines, Media Lengua in Equador, Sheng in Kenya, Nouchi in Côte d’Ivoire or Urban Wolof in Senegal. These varieties are often at odds with standard varieties used in formal education systems. Their African, American and Asian speakers, in particular if racialised as non-white, are often barred from integrating the ranks of accepted native speakers of (standard) English, French, Spanish or Portuguese, since their speech is not seen as prestigious and norm-creating. 

Many speakers with local varieties of these languages in their repertoires now live in Europe, where their linguistic needs, for instance in terms of service provision and translation, are ill-served by standard-based communication and facilities. In a massive demographic shift, the near future will see a numerical reversal of proportions of speakers of these languages, with predictions unanimously pointing to speakers of local varieties originating in the Global South dramatically outnumbering speakers of standard varieties, in particular on the African continent and in its Diasporas. This shift will have tremendous consequences on the linguistic makeup of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, on the sociolinguistic dynamics of the settings where these languages are used, and on education systems and linguistic services such as interpretation, translation and AI-based language technology. It will become more and more important for research and teaching on English, French, Spanish and Portuguese and their literatures and linguistics to be more inclusive of global, in particular Southern-originating, varieties of these languages and the linguistic needs of their speakers.  

This workshop intends to offer the first occasion at the University of Helsinki to bring Black speakers and varieties of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese to the fore and to formulate important research questions cross-cutting not only the individual language-based philologies and disciplines in which they are studied, but also and crucially including translation studies, African studies, comparative literature and postcolonial studies, a collaborative endeavour benefitting from CoCoLaC members’ combined expertise. 

 

Programme 

13:00-14:00 

Keynote: Kingsley Ugwuanyi, SOAS, University of London: From alien to own language: The evolution of African Englishes and its implications for global linguistic diversity 

14:00-15:00 

Roundtable: How to integrate global perspectives to the teaching of Portuguese, Spanish, French and English in Finland and elsewhere? 

Chair: Elizabeth Peterson 

Discussants: Carsten Levisen,  Friederike Lüpke, Patricia Ribeiro, Eeva Sippola, Kingsley Ugwuanyi 

15:00-15:30 Coffee break 

15:30-16:00 

Ana Paulla Braga Mattos, Aarhus University: Pretuguês' in the context of global Portuguese varieties 

16:00-16:30 

Friederike Lüpke, University of Helsinki: A troubled troubadour: Aya Nakamura as the contested performer of cosmopolitan French 

16:30-17:00 

Sandro Sassarego, University of Texas at Austin: On the importance of legal history to Afro-Hispanic linguistics and creole studies 

 

 

Abstract of the keynote 

Kingsley Ugwuanyi, SOAS, University of London: From alien to own language: The evolution of African Englishes and its implications for global linguistic diversity 

 The implantation of English on the African continent was initially marked by its imposition as a colonial language—a language alien to the cultural and linguistic realities of the local populations. Over time, however, African speakers of English have transformed the language into local varieties that reflect their unique histories, identities, and linguistic ecologies. Drawing on sociolinguistic theories and empirical research, this talk will explore how these varieties have undergone processes of nativisation that have reshaped English in Africa, drawing evidence from Nigerian English. Further, the talk will examine the implications of this linguistic evolution for global Englishes, emphasising how African Englishes contribute to global linguistic diversity. As African Englishes gain increasing recognition both locally and globally, they offer new perspectives on what it means to be a “native speaker” and challenge traditional hierarchies in world Englishes. In this talk, I will also consider the broader sociolinguistic, identity and educational implications of this shift, particularly in terms of inclusivity, linguistic prejudice, and the future of English as a world language.