Abstract
Does the so-called Lusophone or Portuguese-speaking world refer to a community that is completely in harmony and engaged in strengthening fraternity and cooperation ties among its members? Or are we rather in the presence of an entity clad in new postcolonial garments that ultimately conceal hegemonic agendas? I submit that the Portuguese language does not yet enjoy full citizenship rights in the thousands upon thousands of African homes where the other national languages spoken (24 in the case of Mozambique) have a real existence but are consistently denied citizenship. Without the promotion of national or African languages, Portuguese loses its cultural legitimacy. It will remain a language with a merely political validity. Rather than labeling African countries in an abstract common language universe, I believe we must highlight the singularity of each country.
Resumo
Abstract
Does the so-called Lusophone or Portuguese-speaking world refer to a community that is completely in harmony and engaged in strengthening fraternity and cooperation ties among its members? Or are we rather in the presence of an entity clad in new postcolonial garments that ultimately conceal hegemonic agendas? I submit that the Portuguese language does not yet enjoy full citizenship rights in the thousands upon thousands of African homes where the other national languages spoken (24 in the case of Mozambique) have a real existence but are consistently denied citizenship. Without the promotion of national or African languages, Portuguese loses its cultural legitimacy. It will remain a language with a merely political validity. Rather than labeling African countries in an abstract common language universe, I believe we must highlight the singularity of each country.
- © 2013 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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