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8/18/2019 Book- Blommaert- Sociolinguistics of Globalization
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/book-blommaert-sociolinguistics-of-globalization 1/231
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For Michael S. and Sali M.
loyal Kepketarians
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Table of contents
Preface
1. A critical sociolinguistics of globalization
1.1. The challenge
1.2. Two paradigms
1.3. Globalization s!per"di#ersity and m!ltiling!alism
1.$. The start o% a tradition
1.&. The challenge again
2. A messy new marketplace
2.1. 'ina(s derri)re
2.2. Socioling!istic scales
2.3. *rders o% inde+icality
2.$. ,olycentricity
2.&. - socioling!istics o% mobile reso!rces
2.. Selling accent
2./. 0oncl!sion
3. Locality, the periphery an images of the worl
3.1. riting locality a globalized Tanzanian no#el
3.2. ocality and the periphery
3.3. The norms o% the periphery
3.$. 4mages %rom the periphery
!. "epertoires an competence
$.1. Tr!ncated repertoires
$.2. Globalized genres o% %ra!d
$.3. - world o% reso!rces
#. Language, globalization, an history
&.1. 5istorical concepts
&.2. The worlds o% gol%
&.3. ong and short histories
&.$. The chaotic shop
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&.&. 0oncl!sion
$. %l an new ine&ualities
.1. Globalization the state and ine6!ality
.2. ang!age asyl!m and the national order
.3. Mainstreaming the migrant learner
.$. The end o% the state and ine6!ality7
'. "eflections
/.1. Sketch o% a road map
/.2. 8nglish in the periphery imperialism re#isited
/.3. 0oncl!sions
(otes
"eferences
Author )ne*
+ubect )ne*
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Preface
4 see this book as the third one o% a trilogy in which 4 try to %orm!late some o% the
conse6!ences o% globalization %or the st!dy o% lang!age in society. The %irst book o% the
series Discourse: A Critical Introduction 92::&; attempted to sketch these conse6!ences %or
o!r !nderstanding o% disco!rse as well as %or o!r ethos o% analysing it. The same approach
was applied to literacy in Grassroots Literacy 92::<; and 4 am here bringing the same
e+ercise to the %ield o% socioling!istics. 8ach o% the books is an attempt an essai in the
classical and original sense o% the term in which 4 try my best to describe the problem and
o%%er some concept!al and analytical tools %or addressing it. -nd 4 make this e%%ort beca!se 4
belie#e that globalization %orces !s = whether we like it or not = to an aggiornamento o% o!r
theoretical and methodological toolkit. M!ch as modernism de%ined most o% the c!rrent
widespread tools o% o!r trade the transition towards a di%%erent kind o% social system %orces !s
to rede%ine them. S!ch an e+ercise howe#er iconoclastic it may seem at %irst cannot be
a#oided or postponed.
The tone o% this book like the pre#io!s two is conse6!ently critical and paradigmatic.
4 deliberately try to p!sh mysel% to e+plore the limits o% the present socioling!istic
instr!mentari!m in an attempt to demonstrate its shortcomings and the need to re#ise its
ingredients. 4t is a conscio!s attempt to think o!tside the bo+ and at times it will s!%%er %rom
its own radicalism. There will be passages in this book where 4 will probably o#erstate my
case while trying to be as clear as possible and there will be places where 4 prod!ce
theoretical o#erkill. 4 hope howe#er that 4 will nowhere create a caricat!re o% socioling!istic
globalization processes. 4 ha#e in this book tried to be o!tspokenly empirical in the theoretical
e%%ort 4 make. The theoretical iss!es will be addressed by pro#iding long and detailed
empirical analyses partly to enhance the clarity o% my arg!ment and partly to pro#ide
baseline descriptions o% globalization phenomena o% a partic!lar kind. 4 hope that e#en in the
e#ent that the theoretical e%%ort will be >!dged to be worthless the empirical e%%ort will be
appreciated. ?ehind the >ob o% theoretical de#elopment lies the work o% description and being
an ethnographer 4 tend to take that >ob 6!ite serio!sly. 4 also belie#e that this >ob o%
description is the most important contrib!tion that socioling!istic work can make. e possess
9i% we !se it well; a descripti#e apparat!s o% !nparalleled precision capable o% reading
&
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in%initely big %eat!res o% society %rom in%initely small details o% comm!nicati#e beha#ior. *!r
most pers!asi#e disco!rse is empirical and descripti#e we are at o!r best when we pro#ide
theoretically gro!nded and sophisticated descriptions o% lang!age problems in the world. The
theoretical challenges o% globalization may make some scholars inclined to prod!ce more
theory than description@ in my #iew this wo!ld mean that we thereby sacri%ice some o% o!r
best and most power%!l tools.
The three books ha#e one large theoretical theme in common = a theme which will
emerge here towards the end o% this book. 4t is a criti6!e o% the Sa!ss!rean synchrony = a
#iew o% socioling!istic reality in which lang!age is !ndressed so to speak and robbed o% the
spatial and temporal %eat!res that de%ine its occ!rrence meaning and %!nction in real social
li%e. 4t is my #iew that this Sa!ss!rean synchrony has no real e+istence and cannot remain
intact e#en as a hypothetical theoretical constr!ct. e need to replace it with a #iew o%
lang!age as something intrinsically and perpet!ally mobile thro!gh space as well as time and
made for mobility. The %inality o% lang!age is mobility not immobility. 4 share this insight
with se#eral other scholars and cannot claim to be original in this respect. Michael Sil#erstein
%or one has done a lot in 6!estioning this old paradigm and the book is dedicated to him and
to Salikoko M!%wene another scholar with a !ni6!e sense o% history 9and the man who
o%%ered me an opport!nity to write this book;. ?!t the attack started as soon as people s!ch as
Aohn G!mperz Bell 5ymes 8r#ing Go%%man and -aron 0ico!rel redisco#ered the
theoretical and paradigmatic #al!e o% ethnography and ,ierre ?o!rdie! Michel Fo!ca!lt and
others la!nched their criti6!es on str!ct!ralism. 'eedless to say G!nther Kress( de#elopment
o% m!ltimodal analysis was also instr!mental in the criti6!e o% the static and totalizing
%eat!res o% synchronicity. 4n my #iew synchrony is a %eat!re o% a modernist epistemology one
that re%lected its times. 'ow that times ha#e changed and we are looking at a world that no
longer can be neatly di#ided into clear and transparent categories the theoretical paradigms
need to be re#ised as well. My e%%ort is in that sense deeply historical.
8#en i% the direct origins o% the book are a series o% seminars 4 ta!ght at the Cni#ersity
o% 0hicago in 2::3 this book is a synthesis o% a decade o% research and 4 cannot possibly
thank e#eryone who has in%l!enced its so!nd and shape. ?!t 4 m!st thank the original co"
a!thors o% certain parts o% it %or allowing me to re"!se o!r >oint work here Tope *moniyi
0harlyn Byers 'athalie M!yllaert Marieke 5!ysmans 8#ita illaert ies 0re#e and
ieselotte Dan der Bonck. Ste% Slembro!ck and Aim 0ollins were essential in %orm!lating
some o% the key concepts and insights that dri#e this book. 4 am also grate%!l to Kathy AieBong -pril 5!ang S>aak Kroon Ma+ Spotti Sari ,ietikainen and Eob Moore my partners
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d!ring %ieldwork ad#ent!res o#er the past %ew years who ha#e helped me shape my tho!ghts
on n!mero!s iss!es 9and sometimes also helped me in %orm!lating them;. My wi%e ,ika ga#e
me ad#ice on the Aapanese e+amples and read the whole man!script a co!ple o% times
pro#iding me with tons o% help%!l comments and s!ggestions %or clari%ication. -nd some o%
my interloc!tors o% the past %ew years = G!nther Kress ?en Eampton Eo+y 5arris ?rian
Street 0onstant e!ng Ba#id ?lock Sirpa eppnen and ,i#i ,ahta = constantly %ed me
with a s!pply o% tho!ghts re%lections and criticisms o% my radical #iews.
*ne %inal word abo!t the series in which this book is appearing. 4 consider it a great
pri#ilege to become an a!thor in the Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact . The series
has consistently prod!ced books o% the highest 6!ality and 4 can only be %lattered and
h!mbled by the association with the o!tstanding gro!p o% a!thors in that series. The consistent
6!ality o% the series is to a large e+tent the e%%ect o% the rigoro!s and metic!lo!s editorial work
o% Sali M!%wene who th!s deser#es another accolade here. 4n my own case Sali pro#ided
me with h!ndreds o% tho!ght%!l and constr!cti#e comments and 6!estions on the %irst dra%t o%
this book. The re#isions prompted by them greatly impro#ed the book.
-ll o% these people deser#e my thanks and i% the book is >!dged to be good it is in no
small meas!re d!e to them. *n the other hand i% it(s >!dged to be bad 4 nat!rally take alone
the blame %or it.
-ntwerp and Ay#skyl Aan!ary 2::
Aan ?lommaert
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Acknowlegements
Bi%%erent parts o% this book are based on materials that were pre#io!sly p!blished. Section 2.2
is based on HSocioling!istic scales( 9 Intercultural Pragmatics $I1 1"1 2::/;. The sections2.3 and 2.$ ha#e their orginis in HSocioling!istics and disco!rse analysis *rders o%
inde+icality and polycentricity( 9 Journal of Multicultural Discourses 2I2 11&"13: 2::/;.
Section 3.1 is a re#ised #ersion o% Hriting locality in globalized Swahili Semiotizing space
in a Tanzanian no#el( 94n 0Jcile Digo!ro!+ Salikoko M!%wene 9eds.; Globalization and
Language itality: Perspecti!es from Africa: 21:"22<. ondon 0ontin!!m 2::<;. Section
3.3. is based on H,eripheral normati#ity iteracy and the prod!ction o% locality in a So!th
-%rican Township school 9 Linguistics and "ducation 1 3/<"$:3 2::&; a paper co"a!thored
with 'athalie M!yllaert Marieke 5!ysmans and 0harlyn Byers. Section $.2 has its origins in
a paper co"a!thored with Tope *moniyi and called H8mail %ra!d ang!age technology and
the inde+icals o% globalisation( 9#ocial #emiotics 1I$ &/3":& 2::;. Section /.2 %inally is
an adapted #ersion o% HSit!ating lang!age rights 8nglish and Swahili in Tanzania re#isited(
9 Journal of #ociolinguistics I3 3:"$1/ 2::&;. 4 am grate%!l to Mo!ton de Gr!yter
Eo!tledge 0ontin!!m 8lse#ier and iley"?lackwell %or permission to !se these materials
%or incl!sion in the book.
<
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1. A critical sociolinguistics of globalization
1.1. The challenge
Socioling!istically the world hasn(t become a #illage. That well"mat!red metaphor o%
globalization doesn(t work and that is a pity %or socioling!istics = a science traditionally more
at ease while st!dying a #illage than while st!dying the world. Globalization is the catch"word
%or a partic!lar historical phase 9the capitalist present so to speak; and e#en i% the processes
we call globalization are not new in s!bstance they are new in intensity scope and scale. The
no#elty transpires in the labels we !se %or them one o% the main %eat!res o% globalization is
that it has spawned its own disco!rses"on"globalization th!s making it into a sel%"conscio!s
and seemingly a!tonomo!s political economic c!lt!ral and intellect!al pro>ect. 4 will ha#e a
word or two to say abo!t the sel%"conscio!sness and a!tonomy b!t %or now 4 can restrict
mysel% to accepting the challenge o% globalization #iz. to rethink o!r concept!al and analytic
apparat!s. The world has not become a #illage b!t rather a tremendo!sly comple+ web o%
#illages towns neighborhoods settlements connected by material and symbolic ties in o%ten
!npredictable ways. That comple+ity needs to be e+amined and !nderstood.
4 consider this state o% a%%airs a positi#e e%%ect o% globalization beca!se it %orces !s to
think abo!t phenomena as located in and distrib!ted across di%%erent scales %rom the global to
the local and to e+amine the connections between these #ario!s le#els in ways that do not
red!ce phenomena and e#ents to their strict conte+t"o%"occ!rrence. 4n other words
globalization %orces socioling!istics to !nthink its classic distinctions and biases and to
rethink itsel% as a socioling!istics o% mobile reso!rces %ramed in terms o% trans"conte+t!al
networks %lows and mo#ements. This !nthinking and rethinking is long o#erd!e 9allerstein
2::1 reminds !s o% that; and socioling!istics still bears so many marks o% its own pec!liar
history as it has %oc!sed on static #ariation on local distrib!tion o% #arieties on stati%ied
lang!age contact and so on. 4t shares this problem with many other branches o% the lang!age
sciences = a point 4 tried to make elsewhere with respect to disco!rse analysis and literacy
st!dies 9?lommaert 2::& 2::<;. hat is needed is a new #ocab!lary to describe e#ents
phenomena and processes new metaphors %or representing them new arg!ments to e+plain
them = those elements o% scienti%ic imagination we call theory. This book is theoretical in
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ambition %orm!lating proposals %or a di%%erent theoretical approach to socioling!istic iss!es
in globalization. More directly it describes globalization as a socioling!istic s!b>ect matter
and lang!age as something intrinsically connected to processes o% globalization. -t the same
time the book is empirically"gro!nded@ my hypotheses are based on e+tensi#e analyses o%
#ario!s kinds o% data that instantiate in my #iew processes o% globalization.
My own attempt >oins an emerging tradition in socioling!istics and related disciplines
in which scholars engage with globalization 9e.g. 5eller 1@ de Swaan 2::1@ ?lock and
0ameron 2::1@ 0o!pland 2::3@ ?lock 2::&@ Eampton 2::@ 5arris 2::@ 0al#et 2::@
Fairclo!gh 2::@ ,ennycook 2::/;. The engagement is not always s!ccess%!l as we shall see
shortly@ nor does it always res!lt in elegant pieces o% intellect!al work = the aspect o%
!nthinking is sometimes le%t aside and replaced by a 6!ick patch"!p o% c!rrent theoretical and
methodological comple+es. Many people still belie#e that the iss!e can be %orm!lated as
Hlang!age and globalization( in precisely the same way as one wo!ld speak o% Hlang!age and
c!lt!re( Hlang!age and society( and so on. That is with precisely the same problems
lang!age itsel% is seen as essentially !na%%ected by globalization 9c!lt!re society and so on;
and globalization is seen as >!st another conte+t in which lang!age is practiced a new one at
best. This o% co!rse precl!des the possibility that the modes o% occ!rrence o% lang!age
themsel#es change and that the traditional concept o% Hlang!age( is dislodged and destabilized
by globalization. 4n other words it red!ces the socioling!istic iss!es o% globalization to iss!es
o% method while a serio!s consideration o% them wo!ld re6!ire ontological epistemological
and methodological statements as well = it wo!ld see it as iss!es o% theory.
This theory constr!ction cannot be >!st another linguistic theory. 4t needs to be a
theory o% lang!age in society or more precisely o% changing lang!age in a changing society.
To some e+tent this is already an ontic decision the socioling!istics we need is one that
addresses not the traditional ob>ect o% ling!istics b!t something %ar more dynamic something
%!ndamentally c!lt!ral social political and historical. That ob>ect cannot be !nderstood as
a!tonomo!s b!t needs to be e+amined as part o% the larger package as the socioling!istic
side o% a larger social system. This obser#ation is not new@ in some meas!re it e#en de%ines
the socioling!istic approach
L it will not do to begin with lang!age or a standard ling!istic description and look
o!tward to social conte+t. - cr!cial characteristic o% the socioling!istic approach is
that it looks in toward lang!age as it were %rom its social matri+. To begin withlang!age or with an indi#id!al code is to in#ite the limitations o% a p!rely
1:
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correlational approach and to miss m!ch o% the organization o% ling!istic phenomena.
95ymes 1/$ /&;
The socioling!istic approach 5ymes contin!es in#ol#es a shi%t %rom %oc!s on str!ct!re to
%oc!s on %!nction = %rom %oc!s on ling!istic %orm in isolation to ling!istic %orm in h!man
conte+tN 9id. //;. -nd it is this socioling!istic approach that 4 shall try to !se in the chapters
o% this book an approach that looks at ling!istic phenomena %rom within the social c!lt!ral
political and historical conte+t o% which they are part@ one that considers lang!age as
organized not >!st in a ling!istic system b!t in a socioling!istic system the r!les and
dynamics o% which cannot be a!tomatically deri#ed %rom considering their ling!istic %eat!res@
and one that so e+amines lang!age in an attempt to !nderstand society. 9See 5anks 1@
-gha 2::/@ ?lommaert 2::& %or elaborate disc!ssions.; -n ethnographically %orm!lated
socioling!istics seen %rom that angle is a critical social science o% lang!age.
There is a need %or s!ch a critical social science o% lang!age. 8ric 5obsbawm recently
reminded !s o% the %act that
the c!rrently %ashionable %ree"market globalization has bro!ght abo!t a dramatic
growth in economic and social ine6!alities both within states and internationally.
There is no sign that this polarisation is not contin!ing within co!ntries in spite o% a
general dimin!tion o% e+treme po#erty 95obsbawm 2::/ 3;.
4n addition the impact o% this globalization is %elt most by those who bene%it %rom it leastN
9ibid; there is a globalized Hreser#e army o% labo!r( o% immigrants %rom the #illages o% the
great zones o% po#ertyN and while the act!al scale o% globalization remains modest 9L; its
political and c!lt!ral impact is disproportionately largeN 9id. $;. Most people in the world still
ha#e no access to the new comm!nication technologies that o%%er shortc!ts to globalization
they li#e so to speak %!ndamentally !n"globalized li#es@ b!t the elites in their co!ntries ha#e
s!ch access and !se it in the p!rs!it o% power and opport!nities = a p!rs!it which does a%%ect
the li#es o% the H!n"globalized( citizens. Migration %rom the Hzones o% po#erty( into 8!ropean
societies e#en i% statistically restricted is a ma>or political %actor in many 8!ropean co!ntries
has changed the %ace o% some o% its !rban centers has prompted or %!elled the rise o%
reactionary racist or %ascist right"wing gro!ps and has generated a heightened awareness o%
politicized identities o% ethnoling!istic nationalism and o% national cha!#inism. 4t has alsochanged the %ace o% m!ltiling!alism as we shall see below creating new and comple+
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markets %or ling!istic and comm!nicati#e reso!rces. S!ch markets nat!rally incl!de winners
and losers and many people nowadays %ind their ling!istic reso!rces to be o% #ery low #al!e
in globalized en#ironments. 4 ha#e described this problem elsewhere as one o% #oice and
mobility. That is people manage or %ail to make sense across conte+ts@ their ling!istic and
comm!nicati#e reso!rces are mobile or lack s!ch semiotic mobility and this is a problem not
>!st o% di%%erence b!t o% ine6!ality it is a problem acerbated by the intensi%ied processes o%
globalization 9?lommaert 2::& chapter $ 2::<;. Globalization th!s is like e#ery
de#elopment o% the system in which we li#e something that prod!ces opport!nities as well as
constraints new possibilities as well as new problems progress as well as regression. -
critical approach m!st at least pro#ide an acc!rate diagnostic o% these iss!es.
?e%ore we can mo#e on we need %irst to %ind some bearings %or this e+ercise.
Socioling!istics is changing and so is its ob>ect. 4 start by sketching the general lines o% this
change@ then 4 engage in its e%%ects on what we !nderstand by socioling!istic di#ersity. 4n so
doing 4 %irst pro#ide introd!ctions to some o% the key concepts o% this book.
1.2. Two paraigms
Modern socioling!istics drew an arte%act!alized image o% lang!age into time and space b!t it
didn(t necessarily destroy the old Sa!s!rean synchrony. The arte%act!al image is the image
de#eloped in modern ling!istics o% lang!age as a bo!nded nameable and co!ntable !nit
o%ten red!ced to grammatical str!ct!res and #ocab!lary and called by names s!ch as
H8nglish( HFrench( and so on 9?lommaert 2::@ also Sil#erstein 1<@ ?a!man and ?riggs
2::3@ Makoni and ,ennycook 2::;. Socioling!istic st!dies o% lang!age #ariation %oc!sed
strongly on di%%!sion = the spread o% ling!istic #ariables o#er a restricted horizontal space as
in the work o% Tr!dgill abo# and others 9see ?ritain and 0heshire 2::3;. The concept!al
de#elopment o% space and time in s!ch st!dies is s!per%icial and this is where we see that the
Sa!ss!rean synchrony s!r#i#ed in modern socioling!istics. There is attention %or generational
transmission 9time; and distrib!tion o% #ariables in one locality or across localities s!ch as
cities regions or co!ntries 9space;. abo#(s %amo!s st!dies o% 'ew Oork 0ity 91; and o%
Martha(s Dineyard 9abo# 1/2; are classics in this trend. 0ontact ling!istics in the
meantime %oc!sed on the socioling!istic and ling!istic patterns res!lting %rom migration
90lyne 2::3; and patterns o% m!ltiling!alism res!lting %rom migrations also drew the
attention o% scholars 98+tra and Derhoe#en 1<;. *ne widespread problem with s!ch st!diesis that the people whose lang!age repertoires are st!died e#en i% they are migrants are
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H%i+ed( so to speak in space and time. The Sa!ss!rean synchrony was o% co!rse also a syn"
topy. The phenomenology o% migration and diaspora became an ob>ect o% theoretical
elaboration in c!lt!ral st!dies sociology and anthropology. S!rely in the conte+t o% recent
globalization processes notions s!ch as transc!lt!ral %lows transidiomaticity and
deterritorialisation made their way into mainstream social science 9-ppad!rai 1@ see also
Aac6!emet 2::&;. e now see that the mobility o% people also in#ol#es the mobility o%
ling!istic and socioling!istic reso!rces that Hsedentary( or Hterritorialized( patterns o%
lang!age !se are complemented by Htranslocal( or Hdeterritorialized( %orms o% lang!age !se
and that the combination o% both o%ten acco!nts %or !ne+pected socioling!istic e%%ects. The
possibility o% %re6!ent electronic contact with the co!ntry o% origin %or instance can generate
new %orms o% lang!age inno#ation 9and th!s contrib!te to lang!age maintenance; in diasporic
comm!nities@ small and marginal lang!ages can in the conte+t o% to!rism ac6!ire new and
!ne+pected %orms o% prestige 95eller 2::3;@ pop!lar c!lt!re s!ch as 5iphop or Eeggae can be
a #ehicle %or the worldwide dissemination o% partic!lar lang!age %orms 9,ennycook 2::/@
Eichardson 2::/; incl!ding new %orms o% literacy and message design 9Kress and #an
ee!wen 1;. -ll o% these dimensions o% mobility still collapse in concrete spaces where
act!al people li#e and interact with one another@ the str!ct!re o% people(s repertoires and the
patterns o% m!ltiling!al lang!age !se howe#er become less predictable and signi%icantly
more comple+ as we shall see below.
The !pshot o% these de#elopments is that we see two paradigms de#elop one
established and one emerging. The established paradigm is the sociolinguistics of distribution
as sketched abo#e in which mo#ement o% lang!age reso!rces is seen as mo#ement in a
horizontal and stable space and in chronological time@ within s!ch spaces #ertical
strati%ication can occ!r along lines o% class gender age social stat!s etc. The ob>ect o% st!dy
howe#er remains a Hsnapshot( in which things are in place so to speak. The second paradigm
can be called a sociolinguistics of mobility and it %oc!ses not on lang!age"in"place b!t on
lang!age"in"motion with #ario!s spatiotemporal %rames interacting with one another. S!ch
spatiotemporal %rames can be described as Hscales( and the ass!mption is that in an age o%
globalization lang!age patterns m!st be !nderstood as patterns that are organized on
di%%erent layered 9i.e. #ertical rather than horizontal; scale"le#els. -nd while a
socioling!istics o% distrib!tion is by and large concerned with Hlang!age( = ling!istically
de%ined ob>ects = a socioling!istics o% mobility is concerned with concrete resources. ,!t
more concisely it is a socioling!istics o% Hspeech( o% act!al lang!age reso!rces deployed inreal socioc!lt!ral historical and political conte+ts 95ymes 1 chapter 3;. 4 disc!ss this
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topic more %!lly in the ne+t chapter. -ccess to and control o#er scales is !ne#enly distrib!ted
it is a matter o% power and ine6!ality as becomes clear when we consider typical reso!rces
%or access to higher 9i.e. non"local and non"sit!ationally speci%ic; scales s!ch as a
sophisticated standard lang!age #ariety or ad#anced m!ltimodal and m!ltiling!al literacy
skills.
This second paradigm o% co!rse %aces the challenge o% incorporating a more pro%o!nd
theoretical !nderstanding o% space. Space here is metaphorically seen as !ertical space as
layered and strati%ied space. 8#ery horizontal space 9e.g. a neighborhood a region or a
co!ntry; is also a #ertical space in which all sorts o% socially c!lt!rally and politically salient
distinctions occ!r. S!ch distinctions are inde$ical distinctions which pro>ect min!te ling!istic
di%%erences onto strati%ied patterns o% social c!lt!ral and political #al!e"attrib!tion. They
con#ert ling!istic and semiotic di%%erences into social ine6!alities and th!s represent the
Hnormati#e( dimensions o% sit!ated lang!age !se 9Sil#erstein 2::a@ -gha 2::/@ ?lommaert
2::&;. The strati%ied and ordered nat!re o% s!ch inde+ical processes 4 ha#e called by analogy
to Fo!ca!lt(s Horder o% disco!rse( orders of inde$icality 9?lommaert 2::& ; and e#ery
9horizontal; space is %illed with s!ch orders o% inde+icality = with strati%ied normati#e
comple+es that organize distinctions between on the one hand Hgood( Hnormal(
Happropriate( and Hacceptable( lang!age !se and on the other Hde#iant( Habnormal( etc.
lang!age !se. *rders o% inde+icality de%ine the dominant lines %or senses o% belonging %or
identities and roles in society and th!s !nderlie what Go%%man called the Hinteraction order( =
which is an inde$ical order 9Sil#erstein 2::3a@ -gha 2::/;. 4 ret!rn to this in the ne+t chapter.
Mo#ement o% people across space is there%ore ne#er a mo#e across empty spaces. The
spaces are always someone(s space and they are %illed with norms e+pectations conceptions
o% what co!nts as proper and normal 9inde+ical; lang!age !se and what does not co!nt as
s!ch. Mobility socioling!istically speaking is there%ore a tra>ectory thro!gh di%%erent
strati%ied controlled and monitored spaces in which lang!age Hgi#es yo! away(. ?ig and small
di%%erences in lang!age !se locate the speaker in partic!lar inde+ical and ascripti#e categories
9related to identity and role;. -s we learned %rom Aohn G!mperz( work 9e.g. 1<2; this is
rarely inconse6!ential. ?elow 4 introd!ce s!ch patterns o% mobility and their e%%ects on what
we !nderstand by socioling!istic di#ersity.
1.3. -lobalization, superi/ersity an multilingualism
Super-diversity
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The H#illages( traditionally addressed by socioling!ists ha#e changed. -s mentioned abo#e
the c!rrent globalization processes are best seen as part o% longer wider and deeper
globalization processes in which they represent a partic!lar stage o% de#elopment. That
de#elopment is real howe#er and changes in economic and technological in%rastr!ct!re ha#e
especially a%%ected whate#er we c!rrently !nderstand by mobility. Migration was long seen as
people emigrating and immigrating = that is a change in the spatial organization o% one(s li%e
in an end!ring way. ,eople le%t their co!ntry and settled in another. 4n that new co!ntry they
li#ed separated %rom their co!ntry o% origin perhaps 9b!t not necessarily; in ethnic
comm!nities. They took their lang!ages and other c!lt!ral belongings with them b!t the
separation %rom the land o% origin and the permanent nat!re o% migration was likely to bring
press!re to accommodate to the host society. - tradition o% st!dy emerged in estern host
societies on s!ch relati#ely isolated stable and residential immigrant gro!ps o%ten also
consisting o% large comm!nities %rom the same co!ntry or e#en region o% origin T!rks in
Germany -lgerians and est"-%ricans in France 0aribbeans and 8ast" or So!th"-sians in
?ritain.
The 1:s bro!ght a change in the nat!re and pro%ile o% migration to estern host
societies and Ste#en Derto#ec 92:: 1; s!mmarizes that process with respect to Great ?ritain
as %ollows
*#er the past ten years the nat!re o% immigration to ?ritain has bro!ght with it a
trans%ormati#e Hdi#ersi%ication o% di#ersity( not >!st in terms o% ethnicities and
co!ntries o% origin b!t also with respect to a #ariety o% signi%icant #ariables that a%%ect
where how and with whom people li#e.
These #ariables Derto#ec e+plains
incl!de a di%%erentiation in immigration stat!ses and their concomitant entitlements
and restrictions o% rights labo!r market e+periences gender and age pro%iles spatial
%actors and local area responses by ser#ice pro#iders and residents. 9L; The interplay
o% these %actors is what is meant here in s!mmary %ashion by the notion o% Hs!per"
di#ersity(.
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The new migrants typically settle in older immigrant neighborhoods which th!s de#elop into
a layered immigrant space where resident 9Hold(; immigrants o%ten rent spaces to newer more
temporary or transient gro!ps and where new segments o% the labor market are de#eloped.
Many o% the new immigrants li#e in economically and legally precario!s conditions and
many o% them are strongly dependent !pon in%ormal employment and solidarity networks
s!ch as ch!rches 9?lommaert et al 2::&@ ?lommaert 0ollins and Slembro!ck 2::&a 2::&b;.
The e+treme ling!istic di#ersity in s!ch neighborhoods generates comple+ m!ltiling!al
repertoires in which o%ten se#eral 9%ragments o%; Hmigrant( lang!ages and ling!a %rancae are
combined. -nd s!ch neighborhoods o%ten display a density o% mediating instit!tions s!ch as
wel%are and employment o%%ices as well as night shops money trans%er b!rea!s s!ch as
estern Cnion and = signi%icantly = telephone and 4nternet shops where international phone
calls and internet access are o%%ered at bargain prices.
S!per"di#ersity poses descripti#e as well as theoretical challenges. Bescripti#ely these
globalized neighborhoods appear chaotic and common ass!mptions abo!t the national
regional ethnic c!lt!ral or ling!istic stat!s o% the inhabitants o%ten pro#e to be !seless. The
pres!ppositions o% common integration policies = that we knew who the immigrants were and
that they wo!ld ha#e a shared lang!age and c!lt!re = can no longer be !pheld. 4n addition the
dense presence o% telephone and 4nternet shops show that e#en i% new migrants reside in one
partic!lar place they are capable o% maintaining intensi#e contacts with networks elsewhere
incl!ding o%ten their co!ntries o% origin. - b!rgeoning network o% satellite and 4nternet
pro#iders also allows them to %ollow 9and be in#ol#ed in; e#ents in their co!ntry o% origin and
to cons!me its media and c!lt!ral prod!cts. Their spatial organization conse6!ently is local
as well as translocal real as well as #irt!al = and all o% this has e%%ects on the str!ct!re and
de#elopment o% lang!age repertoires and patterns o% lang!age !se. Theoretically this stretches
the limits o% e+isting %rameworks %or analyzing and !nderstanding m!ltiling!alism and the
dynamics o% lang!age change. e can ill!strate the comple+ity o% these phenomena and
theoretical iss!es by looking at my own globalized neighborhood in ?erchem an inner"city
part o% -ntwerp ?elgi!m.
Multilingual repertoires and super-diversity
The repertoires o% new migrants o%ten appear to be Htr!ncated( 9?lommaert 0ollins and
Slembro!ck 2::&a@ see also section $.1 below; highly speci%ic Hbits( o% lang!age and literacy#arieties combine in a repertoire that re%lects the %ragmented and highly di#erse li%e"
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tra>ectories and en#ironments o% s!ch people. Th!s recent est"-%rican 9e.g. 'igerian;
immigrants in ?erchem can combine one or more -%rican lang!ages with a est"-%rican
indigenized 8nglish which can be !sed with some interloc!tors in the neighborhood and
wo!ld be the medi!m o% comm!nication d!ring weekly worship sessions in a new e#angelical
ch!rch in the neighborhood. 8nglish howe#er is not part o% the repertoire o% most other
immigrants in the neighborhood. Most o% the shops %or instance wo!ld be owned by T!rkish
or Moroccan people who wo!ld o%ten !se #ernac!lar %orms o% German or French as
Hemergency( ling!a %ranca. Th!s when a 'igerian woman goes to b!y bread in a T!rkish"
owned bakery the code %or cond!cting the transaction wo!ld %or both be a clearly non"nati#e
and #ery limited #ariety o% local #ernac!lar B!tch mi+ed with some 8nglish respecti#ely
German words. 4n the phone shops #ernac!lar 8nglish wo!ld ha#e slightly more c!rrency
beca!se the phone shops wo!ld typically be r!n by people %rom 4ndia or ,akistan. 'ote
howe#er that the partic!lar #arieties o% 8nglish spoken in s!ch transactions wo!ld be #ery
di%%erent none wo!ld be Hstandard( each #ariety wo!ld re%lect in%ormal patterns o%
ac6!isition and an !neasiness in !se.
The B!tch !sed in the bakery is a minimal in%ormally ac6!ired small Hbit( o%
lang!age a specialized lang!age skill limited to speci%ic domains o% interactions and shows
signi%icant limitations compared to %l!ent speakers. 4t is ins!%%icient %or s!ccess%!l
comm!nication in instit!tional enco!nters b!rea!cratic proced!res are in standard and
literate #arieties o% B!tch typically #arieties that are associated with %ormal ac6!isition
e%%orts. Th!s when a 'igerian woman goes to her da!ghter(s school %or cons!ltation on the
child(s progress she wo!ld ha#e to re#ert to her non"nati#e 8nglish. This wo!ld then be met
by a ?elgian"Flemish #ariety o% 8nglish %rom the teachers and the interaction is typically less
than smooth. The medi!m o% comm!nication between mother and child wo!ld be a mi+ed
code o%ten blending !ne#enly distrib!ted ch!nks o% B!tch and 8nglish. 'at!rally the child
d!e to its immersion in a %ormal lang!age learning en#ironment wo!ld ha#e access to more
elaborate #arieties o% standard and local #ernac!lar B!tch and wo!ld o%ten ha#e to assist the
mother and the teacher in comm!nication attempts. This importantly points towards another
pec!liarity o% lang!age in s!ch neighborhoods the %act that lang!age tasks o%ten in#ol#e
collaborati!e %or& . ,eople wo!ld call on others or others wo!ld #ol!nteer to translate and
assist in comm!nication. This is not only the case %or tasks that in#ol#e literacy@ it can also be
noticed in %ace"to"%ace enco!nters. ,eople #ery o%ten pool their competences and skills in
partic!lar lang!ages when they ha#e to accomplish demanding comm!nication tasks.
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-t home the 'igerian %amily wo!ld ha#e access to tele#ision and the choice wo!ld
go to 8nglish"medi!m channels s!ch as ??0 orld or MTD with an occasional %oray o%ten
initiated by the children into B!tch"medi!m children(s programs. There wo!ld be a #ery low
le#el o% cons!mption o% local printed mass"media and access to printed so!rces %rom 'igeria
wo!ld be restricted. -t the same time telephone contacts in the nati#e lang!ages wo!ld be
maintained with people back home and %ellow migrants %rom the same region o% origin now
li#ing in ?r!ssels ondon or ,aris. *ccasionally there wo!ld be m!t!al #isits d!ring which
the -%rican regional lang!age can be the medi!m o% comm!nication among ad!lts while the
children re#ert to #ernac!lar %orms o% 8nglish to interact with each other. Their e+pos!re to
ed!cation en#ironments in which di%%erent lang!ages are the medi!m o% instr!ction = B!tch
and French %or instance = constrains the !se o% any other lang!age.
Th!s we see #ery %ragmented and Hincomplete( = Htr!ncated( = lang!age repertoires
most o% which consists o% spoken #ernac!lar and non"nati#e #arieties o% di%%erent lang!ages
with an o#erlay o% di%%erentially de#eloped literacy skills in one or some lang!ages
9depending on the le#el o% literacy at the time o% migration;. e also see how many
comm!nication tasks are accomplished collaborati#ely by combining the reso!rces and skills
o% se#eral people. The partic!lar patterns o% s!ch repertoires are di%%ic!lt to establish in detail
= here is the descripti#e challenge. Eepertoires s!ch as those re6!ire close inspection@ chapter
$ below addresses this iss!e more %!lly. The socioling!istic world o% these people is strictly
local 9the neighborhood; as well as widely translocal 9in#ol#ing the network o% %ellow
migrants elsewhere comm!nication with people back home and the media;. -nd internally
we see #ariation in lang!age repertoires in which ad!lts ha#e di%%erent repertoires than
children@ %ellow migrants %rom the same region now li#ing elsewhere ha#e di%%erent
repertoires as well.
The local en#ironment o% these migrants is ab!ndantly m!ltiling!al. Since 'igerians
are a #ery small minority their lang!ages are in#isible in the p!blic space. The older resident
comm!nities = T!rks and Moroccans = do p!blicly display the %ormal literate aspects o% their
m!ltiling!alism. e see -rabic and T!rkish displayed in shops and on posters anno!ncing
c!lt!ral or political e#ents. S!ch p!blic lang!age displays can inde+ the size and the degree o%
solidi%ication o% partic!lar immigrant comm!nities. Th!s -lbanian posters ha#e recently
beg!n to appear indicating the e+istence o% a well"organized and resident -lbanian migrant
comm!nity in ?elgi!m. Gro!ps that ha#e not yet achie#ed that le#el o% stability and #isibility
re#ert to highly !nstable %orms o% written lang!age mi+ing 8nglish and B!tch and betrayingnon"nati#e pron!nciation o% words as the display o% rates in phone shops ill!strates 9%ig!re 1;.
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They are also addressed by %!lly globalized signs in 9near"; Standard 8nglish ad#ertising
ser#ices s!ch as money trans%er 9%ig!re 2; that cater to speci%ic needs o% recent and
economically #!lnerable immigrants.
9F4GCE8 1 58E8@ 0-,T4*' H-BD8EST4S8M8'T *F T58 E-T8S 4' - ,5*'8
S5*,(;
9F4GCE8 2 58E8@ 0-,T4*' HM*'8O TE-'SF8E -BD8ET4S8M8'T(;
9F4GCE8 3 58E8@ 0-,T4*' H4-E 05-''8(;
The !ne#en distrib!tion o% lang!age reso!rces #iz. degrees o% p!blic legitimacy o%
lang!ages and o% patterns o% access to lang!age reso!rces becomes clear when we e+amine
%ig!re 3 %or e+ample where we see how someone changed the name o% a large transnational
ad#ertisement b!rea! called H0lear 0hannel( to Hiar 0hannel( on a billboard. This is a play%!l
lang!age act a case o% Hl!dic( 8nglish 9,ennycook 2::/ 3:%%; re#ealing ad#anced
competence in 8nglish and in literacy as well as a partic!lar critical political stance. hen we
compare %ig!re 3 with %ig!re 1 we see how strongly the le#els o% literacy and command o%
lang!age #arieties di%%er within one topographically delineated comm!nity. The reason is
historical and has to do with the partic!lar social and c!lt!ral mi+ o% the neighborhood which
has o% late also seen an in%l!+ o% ed!cated middle"class nati#e ?elgians attracted by
a%%ordable ho!sing prices. These latter people ha#e typically had access to prestige #arieties o%
lang!age and prestige %orms o% m!ltiling!alism = Standard B!tch and Standard literate
8nglish. Th!s highly ad#anced m!ltiling!al repertoires can be displayed alongside #ery
incomplete ones and the general pict!re is one o% e+treme mi+edness. 4t is conse6!ently
hard to identi%y the Hdominant( lang!age in the neighborhood. Dernac!lar %orms o% B!tch
wo!ld probably ha#e the widest local c!rrency@ at the same time #ario!s lang!ages point
inwards as well as o!twards to local comm!nities and small networks in the neighborhood as
well as to translocal and transnational networks that ha#e their Hh!b( in the neighborhood.
ang!ages and lang!age #arieties operate and ha#e #alidity at partic!lar scale le#els %rom the
strictly local to the strictly global with all sorts o% intermediate scale"le#els in between. 4n o!r
e+ample the weekly worship session in the 8#angelical ch!rch gathers se#eral h!ndreds o%
people and so creates a translocal b!t locally anchored scale"le#el. -nd the occasional #isits
%rom and to %ellow immigrants also creates a local"translocal scale le#el. 8ach time elementso% the repertoires will ha#e to be mobilized beca!se the di%%erent criss"crossing scales answer
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to di%%erent norms and e+pectations. - lang!age #ariety that is good eno!gh to per%orm
ade6!ately d!ring the worship session is not necessarily good eno!gh %or b!ying bread in the
bakery or %or talking to the schoolteacher.
Stratified distribution
4% we now try to s!mmarize some o% the elements disc!ssed so %ar we see that a
socioling!istic analysis o% s!ch globalization phenomena cannot proceed on the basis o%
common notions o% distrib!tion. First %hat is distrib!ted is not easily de%ined %or we are
ne#er >!st talking abo!t lang!ages b!t always abo!t highly speci%ic lang!age reso!rces 9the
Hlittle bits( o% lang!age 4 re%erred to earlier;. Second ho% these reso!rces are distrib!ted also
re6!ires a le+icon and imagery o% considerable comple+ity %or there is no H%lat( distrib!tion
no >!+taposition o% partic!lar reso!rces. e see a range o% densely layered stratified
distribution patterns in which the partic!lar speci%ic lang!age reso!rces are deployed 9and
deployable; on partic!lar scale"le#els and not on others@ what is #alid in one sit!ation is not
#alid in another. 4 ret!rn to the iss!e o% scales in greater detail in the ne+t chapter. The point
here is some reso!rces will allow mobility across sit!ations and scale"le#els. ,restige
#arieties o% lang!age s!ch as Standard B!tch %or instance wo!ld ha#e c!rrency across a wide
range o% sit!ations@ the same goes %or prestige and literate #arieties o% 8nglish. These are
high"mobility reso!rces. *thers = think o% the -%rican lang!ages spoken by o!r 'igerian
s!b>ects = ha#e #ery little in the way o% mobility potential. Their range is largely con%ined to
the ad!lts in the %amily and the wider network and to some restricted !se with the children.
*!tside these sit!ations these lang!ages ha#e no potential %or !se. 4nstit!tionally they are
o%ten not e#en recognized as lang!ages.
The key to !nderstanding this comple+ pattern is %hat counts as language in partic!lar
conte+ts what is rati%ied and recognized as a #alid code %or making onesel% !nderstood. The
key is in other words the inde$ical !alue that particular linguistic resources ha!e in certain
spaces and sit!ations. 4n highly comple+ neighborhoods s!ch as the one 4 disc!ssed here
comple+ and tr!ncated repertoires can ha#e s!ch #alidity at least to the e+tent that partic!lar
ingredients o% the repertoires are mapped onto partic!lar micro"en#ironments networks or
sit!ations. 0onse6!ently migrants are o%ten con%ronted with sit!ations in which the
socioling!istic and comm!nicati#e re6!irements stretch their repertoires and comple+ patterns
o% shi%ting and mi+ing occ!r. -s we shall see in the %ollowing chapters con#entional
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treatments o% s!ch patterns o% shi%ting and mi+ing 9%or instance code"switching( where
Hcodes( are !nderstood as arte%act!alized lang!ages; %ail to do >!stice to their comple+ity.
The main parameters %or the e+ercise ha#e now been sketched and 4 am almost ready
to engage the challenge 4 described earlier. Since as noted abo#e 4 am >oining an emerging
tradition o% work on lang!age and globalization and it is good to take stock o% part o% the
rele#ant scholarship.
1.!. The start of a traition
The term globalization is most commonly !sed as shorthand %or the intensi%ied %lows o%
capital goods people images and disco!rses aro!nd the globe dri#en by technological
inno#ations mainly in the %ield o% media and in%ormation and comm!nication technology and
res!lting in new patterns o% global acti#ity comm!nity organization and c!lt!re 90astells
1@ -ppad!rai 1;. ?eing shorthand %or highly comple+ %orms o% mobility the term th!s
obsc!res important distinctions. 5owe#er %ailing to note them may res!lt in con%!sion o#er
what e+actly o!r ob>ect is.
4n the opening chapter o% his Age of "mpire 5obsbawm asks how the world o% the
1<<:s co!ld be compared with that o% the 1/:s@ his answer is PiQn the %irst place it was
now gen!inely globalN 95obsbawm 1</ 13;. 4n e%%ect the 1th cent!ry was the era o%
globalization and 5obsbawm act!ally !ses the term globalization %or the process o% capitalist
e+pansion and deepening described in his Age of Capital 91</ 1$n;. This period coincides
with what allerstein co#ers in his analysis o% the de#elopment o% the modern world"system
characterized by a geoc!lt!reN drawing on 8nlightenment and capitalist #al!es and mass
politics 9allerstein 2::$ especially chapter $;. -ccording to allerstein this modern world"
system has been in crisis since the late 1:s and the phenomena we c!rrently call
Hglobalization( 9with economic delocalization the destabilization o% old social str!ct!res new
migrations growing gaps between rich and poor and Hterrorism(; are %eat!res o% that crisis.
The point is that globalization cannot e%%ecti#ely be !nderstood when it is de"historicized or
in allerstein(s own terms
4% we look at globalization and terrorism as phenomena that are de%ined in limited time
and scope we tend to arri#e at concl!sions that are as ephemeral as the newspapers.
?y and large we are not then able to !nderstand the meaning o% these phenomena
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their origins their tra>ectory and most importantly where they %it in the larger scheme
o% things. 9allerstein 2::$ i+;
This slow and deep process o% globalization can be called geopolitical globalization. 4t a%%ects
the deep social political and economic %abric o% societies and it is an old process. There is o%
co!rse another sense in which we c!rrently !se the term globalization. This latter sense can
be called geocultural globalization. 4t re%ers to more recent de#elopments %ithin
globalization largely an e%%ect o% the emergence o% new comm!nication technologies
increasing and intensi%ied global capitalist processes o% acc!m!lation and di#ision o% labor
increased and intensi%ied global ine6!alities res!lting in new migration %lows 9in t!rn
res!lting in s!per"di#ersity in metropolitan areas;. These geoc!lt!ral globalization processes
de#elop within a narrower time"%rame and as 5obsbawm(s earlier obser#ation tells !s their
scope speed and intensity do not correlate those o% geopolitical globalization. S!ch
geoc!lt!ral globalization processes ha#e been impressi#ely doc!mented by e.g. 0astells
91; and -ppad!rai 91;@ b!t while they do a%%ect the str!ct!re and %abric o% social
systems there is #ery little fundamentally new to them. Be#elopments in mass
comm!nication systems %or instance ha#e their precedents. ,eople in earlier ages had similar
%eelings o% re#ol!tionary newness when the telegraph telephone radio or tele#ision became
part o% their world and the in#ention o% book printing may ha#e been the biggest re#ol!tion o%
that kind. 8ach time s!ch de#elopments a%%ected the way people comm!nicated tho!ght
organized themsel#es and acted. The c!rrent globalization phase is there%ore another stage o%
de#elopment %ithin globalization = e#en i% this is perhaps the %irst stage that has recei#ed the
name o% Hglobalization( 9-rrighi 1/;. This stage is interesting eno!gh partic!larly in the
%ield o% lang!age where we see how these new geoc!lt!ral processes a%%ect socioling!istic
patterns o% lang!age in society the emergence o% new m!ltimodal %orms o% comm!nication
9Kress and Dan ee!wen 1; and s!per"di#erse patterns o% !rban m!ltiling!alism. ?!t it is
good to !nderstand that s!ch processes and the time"%rame in which they occ!r can only be
!nderstood as part o% larger slower and more pro%o!nd changes in society.
4n the %ield o% lang!age we are witnessing the modest beginnings o% a tradition o%
scholarship that addresses globalization. 4 will brie%ly re#iew three recent books that address
each in their own way aspects o% lang!age in globalization. This re#iew will 4 hope
demonstrate some o% the concept!al iss!es and di%%ic!lties in#ol#ed in this e+ercise as well as
allow me to sketch my own agenda in this book. 4 will disc!ss 'orman Fairclo!gh(s Language and Globalization 9Fairclo!gh 2::; %ollowed by o!is"Aean 0al#et(s 'o%ards an
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"cology of (orld Languages 90al#et 2::; and -lastair ,ennycook(s Global "nglishes and
'ranscultural )lo%s 9,ennycook 2::/;. 8ach o% these books e+plicitly addresses
globalization as a topic and %ramework o% analysis b!t each o% them addresses it %rom a
di%%erent angle and perspecti#e.
Fairclo!gh(s Language and Globalization is an ambitio!s attempt to bring critical
disco!rse analysis to bear on globalization. The problem howe#er is that it addresses
geopolitical globalization within the time"%rame o% geoc!lt!ral globalization. The
globalization Fairclo!gh e+amines starts apparently in 11 when the 0old ar ended. 8#en
i% in his concl!sion he warns his readers that globalization is not 9L; a phenomenon which
de#eloped in the last decades o% the twentieth cent!ryN adding that we now witness >!st a
distincti#e contemporary s!rge in globalization associated especially with inno#ations in
comm!nications and in%ormation technologyN 9Fairclo!gh 2::13; this wider horizon is
ne#er addressed in the book. hat is addressed and gi#en %oc!s is H globalizm* the neo"
liberal #ersion o% post"0old ar globalization propagated by Eeagan Thatcher and their
%ollowers. 4t is a highly speci%ic and #ery restricted de#elopment within globalization. This
neo"liberal globalizm takes the shape o% widely disseminated disco!rses s!ch as those o%
9Hestern(; management techni6!es re"scaling processes an intensi%ied e%%ect o% mass
mediated comm!nication and a global ar on Terror. Fairclo!gh analyzes these distinctly
recent phenomena mainly in relation to the c!rrent sit!ation in Eomania a co!ntry awaiting
membership o% the 8C and there%ore ca!ght in a process o% transition to neoliberal globalizm.
The line he %ollows is %amiliar to those ac6!ainted with Fairclo!gh(s oe!#re.
Fairclo!gh acc!rately locates the processes to be considered at the le#el o% disco!rse not
lang!age. There are new te+ts and genres@ these te+ts and genres point towards new
disco!rses and relations between disco!rses and these in t!rn point towards social change.
Th!s Hnew( managerial genres s!ggest historical breaks and discontin!ities and the te+ts he
analyzes s!ggest a historical discontin!ity which he calls globalization. There is a serio!s
theoretical %law in this line o% arg!ment beca!se it leads to a Hsnapshot( approach to history
all o% this looks or so!nds Hnew( so it m!st be new. -nd the disc!rsi#e no#elty is then
pro>ected onto social systems as if a fundamental discursi!e change necessarily presupposes
a fundamental social change. *bser#able interte+t!ality becomes a s!bstit!te %or history here
a cr!cial methodological %law in m!ch critical disco!rse analysis. This %law becomes clear
when Fairclo!gh e+amines Hre"scaling( processes in Eomania 9chapter $;. 4n Fairclo!gh(s
interpretation Hscale( is essentially spatial scope and the Hre"scaling( o% Eomania meansro!ghly that Eomania now becomes part o% a larger comple+ the 8C. The arg!ment here is
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social systems within Eomania now !ndergo in%l!ences %rom the 8C. This can be seen in the
appearance o% new Hmanagerial( disco!rses and in the implementation o% the ?ologna
Beclaration in 8!ropean higher ed!cation. For Fairclo!gh this is a new process@ he pre%aces
his analysis with the statement that PcQontemporary globalization is also associated with the
constr!ction o% other scales than the global scaleN s!ch as the macro"regionalN scale o% the
8C 9id. $;. H0ontemporary( here stands %or the post"11 world order and Eomania is re"
scaled %rom a nation"state scale le#el to a Hmacro"regional( one.
Eomania o% co!rse has been re"scaled be%ore in the sense o% being made part o%
larger spatial !nits. The 0old ar had its own global str!ct!res in which the arsaw ,act
was as m!ch a Hmacro"regional( scale le#el as the 8!ropean Cnion 98C; and the 0omintern
was as globalized an instit!tion as the *rganzation %or 8conomic 0o"operation and
Be#elopment 9*80B;. Th!s the re"scaling trans%ormations in Eomanian higher ed!cation
cannot possibly be new or !ni6!e@ the higher scale"le#el has always e+isted beca!se 9as
5obsbawm and allerstein ne#er %ail to remind !s; in the modern world"system no nation"
state has been completely isolated. Th!s the c!rrent re"scaling process is not abo!t the
introduction o% a new scale"le#el b!t a change in the operational structure o% that same scale
le#el. The appearance o% the term Hinternational conte+t( in a man!al %rom the Cni#ersity o%
?!charest is not there%ore the te+t!ring o% ne% scalar relationsN 9id.//;@ it is nothing more
than a change in what Hinternational conte+t( means a reorientation o% that scale"le#el away
%rom the pre#io!s 0omm!nist international conte+t to the 8C. 4n other words there is #ery
little real %!ndamental re"scaling going on@ there is a trans%ormation o% the %ace o% the scales
and o% the practices and disco!rses they in#ol#e. ,ro%o!nd disc!rsi#e trans%ormation does not
%lag pro%o!nd social"str!ct!ral trans%ormation here. 4t %lags relati#ely s!per%icial c!lt!ral
political and ideological trans%ormations part o% the geoc!lt!ral globalization processes
mentioned earlier. The conse6!ence o% this con%!sion is that Fairclo!gh claims to say
something abo!t geopolitical globalization while in act!al %act he is talking abo!t geoc!lt!ral
globalization. 5e does this by committing a #ery common error to merge the real processes
o% economic globalizationN with the ways in which they are represented disc!rsi#ely 9id.&;.
The real processes to be s!re are longit!dinal while the patterns o% representation 9incl!ding
the !se o% the #ery term globalization; are recent inno#ations and there is a con%!sion o% long
and short histories here.
The Hsnapshot( approach has two #ery negati#e e%%ects apart %rom descripti#e and
interpreti#e distortions s!ch as those abo!t re"scaling Eomania. *ne is the stereotyping o%contemporary globalization processes as %!ndamentally and shockingly new things = as i% the
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world we now li#e in is a totally new one. 4t isn(t. The second e%%ect is related to that the de"
historization o% the contemporary 9Hglobalized(; world is part o% globalizm as an ideology as
%amo!sly proclaimed in F!k!yama(s 912; 'he "nd of +istory. F!k!yama(s arg!ment was
that the end o% the 0old war marked the end o% modern history characterized by ideological
and economic competition between systems. The end o% the 0old ar marked the beginning
o% a new world order in which 9neo"liberal; capitalism and 9-merican style; democracy were
uni!ersal 9also in the sense o% Hnat!ral(;. The message was %orget abo!t history prior to 11
do not look %or histories o% systemic de#elopment they are pointless. Th!s whene#er we let
the history o% globalization begin with the ad#ent o% the 4nternet or with Eeagan and Thatcher
we b!y into this end"o%"history claim th!s into globalizm. 0onse6!ently we tend to arri#e at
concl!sions that are as ephemeral as the newspapersN as allerstein predicted.
- lesson to be learned %rom this is that when disc!ssing globalization one has to be
precise with respect to the historical %raming o% the phenomena one e+amines. -s noted
earlier globalization is not one process b!t a comple+ o% processes e#ol#ing and de#eloping
at di%%erent scale"le#els with di%%erences in scope speed and intensity. Fairclo!gh %oc!ses
strongly on relati#ely recent and s!per%icial processes which he then con%!ses with the larger
and deeper processes. 'ot so with o!is"Aean 0al#et whose "cology of (orld Languages
takes !s to the other e+treme = to a timeless and macroscopic world a gala+y o% globalized
lang!ages.
Cnlike Fairclo!gh 0al#et does not attempt to analyze concrete instances o% globalized
lang!age !se. 4nstead he %oc!ses on the way lang!ages operate in today(s world a pattern
which he describes as an Hecosystem( or e#en a worldwide Hgra#itational system( with
di%%erent lang!ages being Hconstellations( de%ined by their relations with other lang!ages and
by their %!nctions in the Hmilie!(. Th!s certain lang!ages may be more central others more
peripheral in the gala+y the gra#itational %orce o% which is instantiated by the e+istence o%
biling!al speakers. 8ach lang!age possesses a H#alency( a capacity to pop!late a larger or
smaller n!mber o% milie!s and to transport itsel% into other milie!s. -nd th!s we get
Hperipheral lang!ages( Hcentral lang!ages( 9within one constellation; Hs!per"central
lang!ages( and Hhyper"central lang!ages( 9between constellations and gala+ies;. 8cosystems
prod!ce the materials they need to retain a balance = the principle o% homeostasis. ing!istic
ecosystems are in constant %l!+ as creoles and dialect contin!a e+empli%y and changes in the
ecosystem will trigger changes in lang!ages and in their relati#e position #is"R"#is one
another. These dynamics are the point where lang!age practices and representations o%lang!ages come into the pict!re the di%%erent ecological and gra#itational %orces also operate
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at the le#el o% lang!age"in"practice and there is a politics o% !se and representation that
in%orms the process.
0al#et to be s!re contrib!tes a whole set o% new metaphors to the %ield o% lang!age
and globalization. 5is book is replete with an appealing imagery o% lang!ages in orbit aro!nd
one another adapting to changing circ!mstances grad!ally changing position and so on. The
basic metaphors = those o% ecosystems and o% gala+ies = ha#e been employed elsewhere with
#arying s!ccess 9we can think o% Mhlh!sler 1 and de Swaan 2::1; and while they help
!s imagine large macroscopic comple+es o% ob>ects their de%inition o% the ob>ects itsel% is
!s!ally shallow. 0al#et(s attempt rarely transcends the le#el o% Hlang!age( = o% nameable and
co!ntable things like HFrench( H5indi( or H8nglish(. The point we took %rom Fairclo!gh that
globalization processes are discursi!e and conse6!ently operate at s!b"lang!age le#els s!ch as
register genre or style is absent %rom 0al#et(s disc!ssion. -lso absent is any consideration o%
real histories o% real social %ormations in time and space = there is to stretch 0al#et(s own
metaphors no theory o% the ?ig ?ang in his description o% socioling!istic gala+ies. ang!ages
appear here as completely isolated items as ob>ects circling aro!nd one another in a galactic
#oid not in real social c!lt!ral political and economic spaces. The notion o% homeostasis
does not o%%er m!ch analytic p!rchase either. ike so many ecological metaphors it restricts
itsel% to claiming that there is perpet!al and ine#itable change. The engines and agents o% s!ch
change and changes in s!ch engines and agents are not disc!ssed. There are cases %or
instance where the H9s!per";central lang!age( changed witho!t m!ch e%%ect on the smaller
lang!ages think o% the change %rom German to 8nglish as lang!age o% colonization in
Tanzania a%ter orld ar 4 or o% the more recent change %rom French to 8nglish in Ma!riti!s
9M!%wene 2::& 2::<;. 0al#et(s book th!s instantiates a partic!lar genre o% writing on
globalization one that tries to generalize a"historically abo!t the %orces that go#ern this
globalized world and prod!ces elo6!ent and appealing imageries to that e%%ect. 4 disting!ished
between geopolitical and geoc!lt!ral globalization processes abo#e@ 0al#et let !s say
disc!sses globalization in geological terms. The imagery is not a description howe#er b!t a
generalizing metaphor and th!s necessarily something that e+cl!des detail contradiction and
comple+ity. *ne can borrow the metaphors to achie#e partic!lar aesthetic and rhetorical aims
b!t the analysis still remains to be done.
So 0al#et o%%ers !s a theory o% the in%initely big and timeless aspects o% lang!age in
globalization one can say. -ltho!gh one co!ld e6!ally say it does not tell m!ch abo!t
globalization %or lang!ages are abstracted and e+tracted %rom their real Hecological( habitat%rom the real socioc!lt!ral political and economic globalized world o% which they are part
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and in which they operate. 4t does howe#er emphasize the need to keep an eye on the bigger
pict!re in which socioling!istic globalization e#ol#es = a point 4 take on board = and he also
stresses the need to see s!ch processes as inherently political as a global politics o% lang!age
= a point 4 also take on board.
-lastair(s ,ennycook(s Global "nglishes and 'ranscultural )lo%s does a %ar better
>ob. hile we saw con%!sion abo!t what e+actly was !nderstood by globalization in
Fairclo!gh(s work and a #ac!!m s!rro!nding lang!age in 0al#et(s ,ennycook artic!lates
6!ite sharply what he !nderstands by socioling!istic globalization and he ade6!ately %ills the
space in which his Hhyper"central( lang!age 98nglish; mo#es. ,ennycook opens by acc!rately
obser#ing that an analysis o% contemporary socioling!istic globalization processes re6!ires a
di%%erent set o% theoretical and methodological tools and he opts %or a series o% Htrans("
approaches 9Htransc!lt!ral( Htransidiomatic( Htranslocal( Htransdisciplinary( Htransling!al(
Htranste+t!al(; rather than %or Hpost(" Hinter(" or Hm!lti(" approaches in an attempt to do away
with the legacies o% modernist tho!ght on lang!age 9and th!s constr!cting a post"modern or
sho!ld we say Htrans"modern( theoretical %ramework;. 8stablished notions s!ch as
Hlang!age( Hc!lt!re( or Hplace( are not !se%!l in an analysis o% ob>ects that are necessarily
mi+ed hybrid local as well as delocalized 9or delocalizable; dynamic and !nstable. These
ob>ects are moreo#er not >!st Hling!istic(. The bits o% lang!age that are globalized are e6!ally
bits o% c!lt!re and society. That means that they always become part o% the local while they
are part o% the global and at the end o% global processes o% semiotic rearrangement we ha#e
local !sage and ab!se o% socioling!istic reso!rces.
This is where we see how in ,ennycook(s attempt the space o% globalization is %illed
not empty like in 0al#et(s treatment in order to !nderstand lang!age globalization we need
to look at larger semiotic and c!lt!ral packages and a p!rely synchronic analysis will not do.
The packages need to be looked at historically in their histories o% becoming partic!lar signs
and dynamically in their !se !ptake and re"!se se6!ences. ike Fairclo!gh and to a lesser
e+tent 0al#et ,ennycook emphasises the political and critical nat!re o% s!ch work
thro!gho!t. 0onsidering globalization phenomena in#ol#es an engagement with power
misrecognition and recognition social >!stice and empowerment.
5iphop 9,ennycook(s main target o% analysis; is a case in point. 4t is a m!ltimodal 9or
better transmodal; semiotics o% m!sic lyrics mo#ements and dress that artic!lates political
and s!b"c!lt!ral anti"hegemonic rebellion as well as aesthetics a philosophy o% li%e and a
partic!lar range o% identities@ that has its origins in the CS inner cities among -%rican"-merican yo!ths b!t has spread all o#er the world and appears e#erywhere in a recognizable
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%orm in spite o% #ery signi%icant local di%%erences. 5iphop artists all o#er the world !se
similar patterns o% semiotic cond!ct 9incl!ding the !se o% 8nglish stock terms and
e+pressions; b!t where#er it occ!rs 5iphop o%%ers new potential %or local identity %ormation
9see also Eichardson 2::/;. hat happens with 5iphop is there%ore the global spread o%
a!thenticityN 9,ennycook 2::/ %%; not >!st a %lat distrib!tion o% c!lt!ral %orms b!t a
layered distrib!tion in which local %orces are as important as global ones. There is always a
comp!lsion not only to make hip"hop locally rele#ant b!t also to de%ine locally what
a!thenticity meansN 9id. <; and while many Hglobal( 9incl!ding 8nglish; %eat!res o% 5iphop
are adopted in this search %or a!thenticity many others are re>ected as well and alongside the
globalized -%rican"-merican 8nglish 5iphop register we o%ten see the emergence o% similar
registers in the local lang!ages as well sometimes 9like in Tanzania; leading to a new
localized %!lly"%ledged #ernac!lar 5iphop tradition.
This is o% co!rse a strong criti6!e o% pop!lar theses abo!t 8nglish ling!istic
imperialism 9,hillipson 12@ Sk!tnabb"Kangas 2:::; and 4 ret!rn to this topic in the ne+t
chapter and elsewhere in the book. Eather than disc!ssing the s!b>ect matter in terms o%
totalizing dominance replacement and !prooting ,ennycook arg!es that global c!lt!re needs
to be seen in terms o% circles o% %lowN 92::/ 122; large networks in which highly di#erse
%orms circ!late and are e+changed and which can o#erlap and blend together. There is th!s
not one Hcentre( %or 5iphop e#en i% its !rban -%rican"-merican origins strongly s!ggest one
b!t m!ltiple o#erlapping circles in which >oint %orms and modes o% cond!ct can %low and be
meaning%!l. This point needs to be taken on board and 4 de#elop it %!rther in the ne+t chapter
in the %orm o% polycentricity 9c%. also ?lommaert 0ollins and Slembro!ck 2::&b;. 4t is o%
signi%icance beca!se it helps to p!ll !s away %rom !ni%ied and !ni%ying #isions o%
globalization noticeable in Fairclo!gh(s book as well as in 0al#et(s and to %oc!s instead on
socioling!istic globalization as a che6!ered layered comple+ o% processes e#ol#ing
sim!ltaneo!sly at a #ariety o% scales and in re%erence to a #ariety o% centers. -t the same time
9and this is where ,ennycook remains silent; the interplay o% scales and centers re6!ires a
historical perspecti#e. The origins o% 5iphop are in%l!ences o% a di%%erent order than those
coming %rom the local en#ironments in which it is prod!ced the %ormer are more end!ring
and static than the latter " elements o% stability e+changeability and recognizability in a wildly
di#erse set o% %orms. Ee%erences in the lyrics to race or gender are also o% a di%%erent order
than re%erences to local politicians or radio stations. These orders 4 arg!e are historical orders
that prod!ce scale"le#els in semiotic cond!ct.
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The three books re#iewed here all ha#e their merits. Fairclo!gh !se%!lly draws o!r
attention to the %act that we sho!ld not look at lang!age b!t at disco!rse when we consider
socioling!istic globalization processes. e will ha#e to %oc!s on genres registers styles
rather than on lang!ages. This to some e+tent will deny !s the com%ort o% the clarity o% names
s!ch as "nglish or )rench b!t so be it. 0al#et emphasizes the global politics o% lang!age the
%act that lang!ages operate in relation to one another and occ!py di%%erent 9political; positions
to one another. ,ennycook stresses the inade6!acy o% established concept!al tools in
addressing the comple+ities o% socioling!istic globalization. 5e also stresses 9like Fairclo!gh;
the critical importance o% care%!l attention to these phenomena and he demolished the image
o% globalization as a !ni%ied and !ni%ying process. -ll o% these insights in%orm my disc!ssion
here. -t the same time we also saw rec!rrent concept!al problems in all three notably in
relation to the historical dimension o% globalization processes. This has led to con%!sion o#er
Hglobalization( itsel% in Fairclo!gh(s work to a less than !se%!l abstraction o% lang!age in
0al#et(s work and to silence on the historicity o% the processes o% globalization in
,ennycook(s work.
1.#. The challenge again
This book proposes a socioling!istics o% globalization not the socioling!istics o%
globalization. 4t is a modest attempt at bringing together materials and b!ilding blocks %or a
paradigmatically di%%erent approach to lang!age in society in the present age and it b!ilds on
the sho!lders o% others some o% whose work 4 ha#e >!st gi#en attention. 4 cannot promise that
4 will o%%er sol!tions to all the problems 4 enco!ntered in the work o% others b!t 4(ll gi#e it my
best shot. Some o% the main lines o% my attempt ha#e been sketched already. 4 categorically
opt %or a socioling!istics o% reso!rces not o% lang!ages and mobility is a central theoretical
concern in this socioling!istics o% reso!rces.
Mobility is the great challenge the dislocation o% lang!age and lang!age e#ents %rom
the %i+ed position in time and space attrib!ted to them by a more traditional ling!istics and
socioling!istics 9the Sa!ss!rean synchrony; that is what will ca!se the paradigm shi%t we are
c!rrently witnessing to achie#e s!ccess. 4t is the insertion o% lang!age in a specter o% h!man
action which is not de%ined p!rely in relation to temporal and spatial location b!t in terms o%
temporal and spatial tra>ectories that is the main ob>ecti#e here. 4n order to get there the
notion o% Hmobility( itsel% m!st be e+amined and an impro#ed notion o% Hlocality( needs to bede#eloped as well. This approach will o% co!rse raise 6!estions abo!t the nat!re o% resources
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in this kind o% socioling!istics = the st!%% that is mobile and tra#els across di%%erent localities =
and it will also raise the 6!estion o% Hhistory(. -nd a critical historical 6!estioning o% iss!es o%
reso!rces and competence will compel !s to consider the act!al %orms o% ine,uality that
characterize lang!age in the era o% globalization. The patterns o% mobility will show #ario!s
problematic aspects that are d!e to the partic!lar str!ct!re o% the localities between which
reso!rces tra#el. -ll o% this will %!rthermore ha#e to be demonstrated not as an e%%ort o%
theory b!t as one o% analysis that is as a practical research problem %or which partic!lar types
o% research design and data can be !sed. 4 try to be #ery genero!s with e+amples and analyses
and many i% not most o% the theoretical points are based on e+tended case st!dies. 5owe#er
gi#en the #ast panorama o% iss!es and phenomena that go !nder the !mbrella o% globalization
4 cannot possibly aspire to o%%er a comprehensi#e analytical tour de table. My treatment will
necessarily be selecti#e and eclectic. 4 hope the reader will show tolerance %or mani%est gaps
in my approach = 4 see this book as an in#itation o%%ered to others to participate in this
e+ercise and 4 hope others will %ill the gaps.
hile 4 sketched the phenomenology o% lang!age in the era o% globalization in the
most general terms here introd!cing the notion o% s!per"di#ersity to describe the conditions
!nder which lang!age occ!rs in contemporary !rban centers in the est 9and elsewhere; 4 try
to del#e deeper into this 6!estion in the chapter 2. Starting %rom a n!mber o% obser#ations
%rom Aapan 4 show that mobility a%%ects the nat!re and %!nction o% the con#entional
conception o% Hlang!age( in ling!istics calling %or a di%%erent #ocab!lary to describe the way
in which it is li#ed and practiced presently. 4 o%%er three theoretical concepts %or consideration
Hsocioling!istic scales( Horders o% inde+icality( and Hpolycentricity(. Together they pro#ide a
descripti#e %rame lang!age 9here seen as the mobile reso!rces mentioned earlier; needs to be
seen as a phenomenon that occ!rs 9or has the potential to occ!r; at di%%erent scale le#els.
Mobility across these di%%erent scales in#ol#es important shi%ts in %!nction str!ct!re and
meaning@ and since globalization introd!ces the global as a rele#ant le#el o% conte+t we can
e+pect s!ch shi%ts to occ!r generally. The shi%ts are shi%ts that in#ol#e the reordering o%
normati#ity ling!istic reso!rces mo#e thro!gh di%%erent orders o% inde+icality and e#ery
mo#e in#ol#es a di%%erent set o% inde+ical potential %or the reso!rces. hat works well in one
conte+t may not work at all in another. The reason is that s!ch orders o% inde+icality need to
be seen as organized in polycentric systems in which di%%erent centers = ?akhtinian Hs!per"
addressees( %rom which real or percei#ed norms emanate = co"occ!r in comple+ 9and o%ten
opa6!e; sim!ltaneo!s relationships.
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This is a di%%erent %rame %or !nderstanding lang!age and globalization than the more
common ones s!ch as that o% Hling!istic imperialism(. The localism that is central to m!ch
disco!rse on ling!istic rights and ling!istic imperialism will be e+amined and opposed to a
socioling!istics o% mobile reso!rces. The %rame 4 o%%er is based on mobility and on act!al
Hbits( o% lang!age and 4 will ill!strate some o% its p!rchase by means o% a small st!dy o%
4nternet lang!age co!rses in -merican accent. S!ch co!rses make !se o% the de%ining
technology o% globalization 9the 4nternet; and they constr!ct s!rprisingly strict and p!niti#e
orders o% inde+icality that co"occ!r alongside those o% 9state"sponsored; ed!cation systems.
,eople in 4ndia learn 8nglish at school and that 8nglish is per%ectly ade6!ate %or most o% their
b!siness. ?!t i% they want to >!mp %rom the localInational scale to the transnational one %or
instance by applying %or work in the international call centers that are a booming ind!stry in
4ndia they need to Hgo pri#ate( and learn an -merican accent %rom an 4nternet company. The
r!les %or learning 8nglish at school and those o% learning -merican accent are di%%erent and
both now co"occ!r in a polycentric en#ironment %or H8nglish(.
Selling -merican accent means selling an image o% -merica the world and one(s own
position therein and chapter 3 elaborates this iss!e %oc!sing on iss!es o% locality and taking
the perspecti#e o% the periphery. The world is di%%erent when seen %rom the periphery rather
than %rom the center and two pieces o% analysis attempt to demonstrate this. 4 %irst e+amine
the way in which in a Hglobalized( Tanzanian no#el characters and elements o% the plot are
de#eloped on the basis o% a local topography o% places and associati#e 6!ali%ications. The
characters o% the region mo#e thro!gh Tanzanian physical and social space and the a!thor
skil%!lly e+ploits the inde+ical nat!re o% place names and geographical locations in his no#el.
The a!thor himsel% prod!ces a strongly local no#el written in Swahili altho!gh his writing is
%!lly globalized. 5e himsel% is a pro%essor at an -merican !ni#ersity and his no#el
instantiates m!ch o% what globalization is abo!t the mobility o% signs across time and space
combined with a strong sense o% the local. Mobility is the r!le b!t that does not precl!de
locality %rom being a power%!l %rame %or the organization o% meanings. ocality and mobility
coe+ist and whene#er we obser#e patterns o% mobility we ha#e to e+amine the local
en#ironments in which they occ!r.
e see this clearly in the second analysis 4 o%%er in this chapter. *n the basis o%
material gathered in a secondary school in a peripheral township in So!th -%rica 4 arg!e that
the teaching o% 8nglish there needs to be !nderstood as proceeding within a strongly local
economy o% lang!age and literacy not in terms o% !ni#ersal standards o% 8nglish. Teachersand learners all commit gra#e and %re6!ent errors in their writings i% these are assessed %rom a
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strictly normati#e and absol!tist #iewpoint o% 'orth -merica or the Cnited Kingdom. The co"
occ!rrence o% the same de#iations howe#er shows that they are systemic and belong to a
system o% Hperipheral normati#ity( which has its historical roots in the deep class and ethnic
di#isions that dominated So!th -%rica !ntil recently and these are played o!t now against the
backdrop o% pro%o!nd %orms o% social ine6!ality in contemporary society. This analysis shows
the power o% locality. The world has not become a #illage b!t a network o% #illages and the
#illages are organized #ery m!ch like indi#id!al #illages with their own relati#ely
a!tonomo!s and sel%"regenerating r!les and codes. 4 see this obser#ation as ca!tionary %or
o#er"enth!siastic people %or whom globalization means %irst and %oremost Hglocalization( the
making o% global localities with connotations o% !ni%ormization 9so"called McBonaldization;.
There is an in%l!ence %rom the global and to be s!re places do change b!t the local is 6!ite
resilient as well and local criteria and norms de%ine the processes o% change. Global in%l!ences
become part o% the conte+t"generati#e aspect o% the prod!ction o% locality they become part
o% the ways in which local comm!nities constr!ct a social c!lt!ral political and economic
en#ironment %or themsel#es 9-ppad!rai 1 1</;.
The act!al materials with which s!ch conte+t"generati#e dimensions o% locality
operate change howe#er and chapter $ del#es into 6!estions o% reso!rces and competence.
Ee%erring back to the disc!ssion o% 8nglish literacy reso!rces in the township we can see that
m!ch o% the comm!nication in 8nglish there had an H!n%inished( character to the comple+ity
o% which traditional approaches to m!ltiling!alism 9which ass!me the possibility o%
coordinated co"e+istence o% Hlang!ages(; cannot do >!stice. 4 there%ore propose a #iew o%
Htr!ncated( m!ltiling!alism repertoires composed o% o% specialized b!t partially and !ne#enly
de#eloped reso!rces. e ne#er know Hall( o% a lang!age we always know speci%ic bits and
pieces o% it. This co!nts %or o!r Hmother tong!e( as well as %or the lang!ages we pick !p in the
co!rse o% a li%etime and this is per%ectly normal. 4 contend that s!ch Htr!ncated( repertoires
are a better diagnostic o% what real m!ltiling!al competence means in an age o% globalization
as they e+plain the !n%inished character o% comm!nication as well as the n!mero!s problems
that can occ!r in processes o% mobility. The tr!ncated repertoires are gro!nded in people(s
biographies and in the wider histories o% the place where they were composed. They are
Hplaced( reso!rces some o% which will allow mobility while others won(t and repertoire
analysis can e+plain what goes on when people carrying their lang!age l!ggage so to speak
mo#e aro!nd or when their messages mo#e aro!nd.
4 ill!strate s!ch processes with an e+tended analysis o% a globalized genre with whichmany o% !s are %amiliar email messages in%orming !s that we are abo!t to recei#e #ery large
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s!ms o% money. S!ch messages are sent %rom the periphery o% the world system %rom places
s!ch as 'igeria to addressees in the center o% the world system people s!ch as me. Their
act!al constr!ction and composition raise a n!mber o% %!ndamental 6!estions with regard to
competence in the age o% globalization and it is clear that statements abo!t how Hwell( one
Hknows a lang!age( are !nin%ormati#e in this respect. The people prod!cing s!ch messages
display #ario!s %orms o% competence and these competences are !ne#enly de#eloped = they
are tr!ncated so to speak. The a!thors display a pro%o!nd and amazingly sophisticated
!nderstanding o% the comp!ter hardware and the techni6!es %or s!r%ing the 4nternet h!nting
%or %ree and anonymo!s email pro#iders and email addresses o% addressees. -n analysis o% the
genre %eat!res shows that they also display a degree o% what we co!ld call c!lt!ral
competence they ha#e a clear i% incomplete awareness o% the genre %eat!res that are
e+pected by their addressees in messages s!ch as these. The messages display a canonical
genre str!ct!re which mirrors that o% b!siness letters personal narrati#es and so %orth = genres
that ha#e a recognizable place in the repertoires o% their addressees. ?!t the act!al
implementation o% s!ch genres in %l!ent 8nglish te+t is 6!ite problematic. hile we saw a
#ery highly de#eloped technological competence and a moderately de#eloped c!lt!ral
competence we see a weakly de#eloped ling!istic competence artic!lated in many o% these
messages. These di%%erences between speci%ic %orms o% competence seem to re#eal di%%erent
degrees o% accessibility o% comm!nicati#e reso!rces technical reso!rces being more
democratically accessible than c!lt!ral ones and certainly than ling!istic ones. The di%%erences
in the messages may there%ore re#eal ine6!alities and 4 ret!rn to this later on.
,rior to that howe#er the iss!e o% history needs to be more %!lly de#eloped. Mobility
is something that has spatial as well as temporal %eat!res and mobile te+t is te+t that has the
capacity to tra#el thro!gh time and space. 4n chapter & 4 emphasize and ill!strate some o% the
points made at se#eral places thro!gho!t the pre#io!s chapters. hen 4 disc!ssed the iss!e o%
locality and arg!ed that we need to see the world as a system o% relati#ely a!tonomo!s local
systems we sho!ld also realize that s!ch systems ha#e their own historicity. This idea is
cr!cial %or !nderstanding contemporary globalization beca!se o% the s!per%icial !ni%ormity
that is sometimes discerned 9and emphasized; in c!lt!ral globalization phenomena = the so"
called HMcBonaldization( o% the world. 8#en i% similar %eat!res occ!r all o#er the globe the
local histories which they enter can be %!ndamentally di%%erent and so create #ery di%%erent
e%%ects meanings and %!nctions. This is an instance o% what 5ymes 91@ also ?lommaert
2::& /:; called Hsecond ling!istic relati#ity( e#en when ling!istic str!ct!res are identicaltheir %!nctions can di%%er depending on the place o% the ling!istic reso!rces in the repertoires.
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4 gi#e an e+ample o% two similar images o% gol% disc!ssing the way we sho!ld !nderstand
both images in terms o% local historical conditions and en#ironments. This leads to some
re%lections on di%%erences between long and short histories = ?ra!del(s 91$ 1;
distinction between slow intermediate and %ast time is not too %ar away = and on
synchronization. 4 arg!e there that socioling!istic reality is ne#er synchronic b!t always made
synchronic. 4n act!al %act what we see in a Hsynchronic( socioling!istic obser#ation is a
patchwork o% composite parts that ha#e #ery di%%erent origins and %ollowed #ery di%%erent
tra>ectories into people(s repertoires. Cnderstanding socioling!istic reality as s!ch a
che6!ered pattern helps !s pro#ide better descriptions o% change and the chapter concl!des
with an e+ample o% how mass to!rism a%%ects the socioling!istic en#ironment in a small town
in 'orthern Finland.
ith the iss!e o% history most o% the theoretical points in the book ha#e been
addressed. hat is missing is a perspecti#e something that gi#es direction to socioling!istic
work and determines why we sho!ld do a partic!lar kind o% socioling!istics. 4ne6!ality is the
theme o% chapter and m!ch o% what has been said in the %irst %i#e chapters needs to be
reread thro!gh the specter o% ine6!ality. e already saw how 5obsbawm warned !s against
the ways in which globalization has deepened ine6!ality both within and across di%%erent
societies and we also know that allerstein de%ined the contemporary world"system as dri#en
by ine6!ality. There is as we know a widespread pop!lar disco!rse that sees globalization as
the spread o% prosperity aro!nd the globe@ the price to pay %or this prosperity is allegedly
c!lt!ral !ni%ormization. hile chapters 3 and & pro#ide conditions %or the aspect o% c!lt!ral
!ni%ormization arg!ing that processes o% change need to be !nderstood primarily %rom the
#iewpoint o% locality this chapter now responds to the claims abo!t the prosperity" and
opport!nity"generating %eat!res o% globalization. 4t also responds to another widespread image
o% globalization that it !nderc!ts the power o% the nation"state. 4n the two analyses 4 o%%er in
this chapter we will see that globalization is a problem and a threat %or many people and that
these problems are #ery o%ten generated or acerbated by the workings o% modern states.
The two analyses both %all within the domain o% immigration. 4 open with an analysis
o% an asyl!m application case in the CK by a man %rom Ewanda. The man(s application was
t!rned down beca!se his socioling!istic pro%ile did not match the one the CK 5ome *%%ice
deemed Hnormal( %or a Ewandan. My analysis shows that the applicant(s socioling!istic
pro%ile was %!lly realistic at least i% one abandons pristine images o% a national order and
accepts the chaos o% ci#il war displacement and destroyed li#es in regions s!ch as Ewanda.The analysis shows how the applicant = by de%inition a transnational deterritorialized s!b>ect
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= was cast in a #ery modernist imagery o% the nation"state by the 5ome *%%ice. 5e was
s!pposed to speak the Hnational( lang!ages o% Ewanda 9i.e. Kinyarwanda and French; and to
know the things a Hnormal( citizen o% any co!ntry is s!pposed to know abo!t hisIher co!ntry
the %lag the landmarks and so on. Th!s we see how this re%!gee is s!pposed to answer as a
national s!b>ect %rom within a s!pposedly stable and !ntro!bled national order. The state =
the 5ome *%%ice in this case = %orm!lated a #ery Hmodern( response to the #ery Hpostmodern(
phenomenon o% s!per"di#ersity.
The persistent !se o% %rames deri#ed %rom the modern nation"state to address
transnational displaced migrants is a %eat!re o% ine6!ality which de%ines many o% the
common responses to migration in central states o% the world"system. -ss!mptions o%
!ni%ormity categorizability transparency %i+edness and so on 9the machinery o% modernist
b!rea!cracy in short; !nderlie meas!res to accept or re>ect and to Hintegrate( migrants in their
host societies 9?lommaert and Dersch!eren 1<;. e see this in the second analytical
#ignette in this chapter where data %rom a B!tch immersion class in ?elgi!m are being
disc!ssed. Migrant children enter s!ch classes with tr!ncated m!ltiling!al repertoires which
o%ten re#eal important traces o% pre#io!s learning processes they speak 9o%ten standard;
#arieties o% se#eral lang!ages and are o%ten literate. These reso!rces howe#er are dis6!ali%ied
on the basis o% a #ery modernist ideal o% the monoling!al state i% they don(t know B!tch they
don(t know any lang!age beca!se no lang!age other than B!tch will allow them to Hintegrate(
in their host society. e already saw abo#e that the s!per"di#erse neighborhoods in which
s!ch children as a r!le reside o%%er p!rchase %or a whole range o% lang!ages b!t the modernist
imagination o% monoling!alism and social !ni%ormity dominates the ed!cation system.
0onse6!ently the learning process is slowed down beca!se lang!age learning is seen as a
condition %or any other learning and the act!al ways in which children !se lang!age9s; to
comm!nicate their 9migrant; e+periences are not !sed in the learning process.
?oth analyses show that globalization is a process which apart %rom people who
bene%it massi#ely %rom it also co!nts losers and #ictims people %or whom globalization is
one more obstacle in li%e. They also show how the state is a critical %actor in creating s!ch
problems. The state imagines itsel% in #ery modernist terms and increasingly !ses the
modernist image o% lang!age as a tool to di#ide and discriminate migrants 9c%. ?a!man and
?riggs 2::3;.
The storyline o% the book has so %ar taken !s %rom mobility and locality to reso!rces
and competence and thence to history and ine6!ality. e can see how mobility starts tore%orm!late classical socioling!istic topics locality reso!rces competence ine6!ality all
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belong to the stock themes o% socioling!istics. hen we see these themes %rom the
perspecti#e o% mobility howe#er they are trans%ormed into theoretical territory %or which we
ha#e as yet no so!nd and detailed map. 4 try to pro#ide a sketch o% s!ch a map in chapter /
taking stock o% the preceding disc!ssions and s!mmarizing what co!ld be !se%!l %or a
socioling!istics o% globalization and pointing towards some e%%ects and implications %or
scholarship. The p!rchase o% my own proposals will be tested by applying them to the
de%initional topic o% globalization 8nglish in the world. Taking the way in which this iss!e is
c!rrently %ramed in socioling!istic work within the ling!istic rights paradigm 9in which
indigeno!s lang!ages are Hthreatened( when 8nglish enters their space; 4 disc!ss the case o%
8nglish in Tanzania again a co!ntry in the periphery o% the world"system. 4 %irst highlight the
comple+ position o% the Tanzanian state as one scale le#el ca!ght between others and then 4
e+amine some o% the di%%erent %orms in which 8nglish occ!rs in Bar es Salaam. e will see
that rather than an oppressi#e %orce 8nglish enables people to constr!ct meanings and
%!nctions that are new and creati#e. -nd at the same time their 8nglish is local and it
operates within a local scale"le#el as part o% the prod!ction o% locality. This %inal e+ample
sho!ld ill!strate the potential o% a new socioling!istics to o%%er new perhaps better answers to
iss!es that hitherto were addressed !nder the banners o% oppression and imperialism s!ch as
the relati#e position o% Hsmall( lang!ages #is"R"#is Hbig( ones lang!age loss and lang!age
re#italization. 4t is essential especially in light o% what is co#ered in chapter that
socioling!istics gi#es pla!sible and precise answers to lang!age iss!es that can endanger
indi#id!als. 4 s!bmit that only a partic!lar kind o% socioling!istics can do that the
socioling!istics o% reso!rces7.
4 ha#e now described how 4 will take on the challenge 4 ha#e set %or mysel% and 4 am
ready to go. 4 will ha#e to start by de%ining the socioling!istic world in which we li#e and this
world = alas = is messy comple+ and rather !npredictable.
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2. A messy new marketplace
Socioling!istics is the st!dy o% lang!age as a comple+ o% reso!rces o% their #al!e
distrib!tion rights o% ownership and e%%ects. 4t is not the st!dy o% an abstract lang!age b!t
the st!dy o% concrete lang!age reso!rces in which people make di%%erent in#estments and to
which they attrib!te di%%erent #al!es and degrees o% !se%!lness. 4n the conte+t o% globalization
where lang!age %orms are perhaps more mobile than be%ore s!ch patterns o% #al!e and !se
become less predictable and pres!pposable. 8conomic metaphors s!ch as those de#eloped by
?o!rdie! 911; are partic!larly !se%!l %or a socioling!istics o% globalization. Eecall that
?o!rdie! saw lang!age as a market o% symbolic capital and power with people >!ggling %or
pro%it and with some people str!ct!rally ha#ing less capital than others. ?o!rdie! and his
contemporaries ?ernstein 91/1; and 5ymes 91<: 1; all drew o!r attention to the same
phenomenon that the world o% lang!age is not >!st one o% di%%erence b!t one o% ine6!ality@
that some o% that ine6!ality is temporal and contingent on sit!ations while another part o% it is
str!ct!ral and end!ring@ and that s!ch patterns o% ine6!ality a%%ect and artic!late aro!nd
act!al concrete lang!age %orms s!ch as accents dialects registers and partic!lar stylistic
9e.g. narrati#e; skills.
The symbolic marketplace described by ?o!rdie! and others was a local and relati#ely
closed one. 4ts patterns o% #al!e attrib!tion and the logic o% the economic game were clear to
most o% the people in#ol#ed in the transactions = the speaker %rom la pro!ince knew 6!ite well
that his speech was Hin%erior( to that o% the ,arisian and this awareness acco!nted %or his
tendency towards hypercorrection. hen we address globalization howe#er we address
translocal mobile markets whose bo!ndaries are %le+ible and changeable. -nd this is the
theoretical challenge now to imagine ways o% capt!ring mobile reso!rces mobile speakers
and mobile markets. - socioling!istics o% globalization is per%orce a socioling!istics o%
mobility and the new marketplace we m!st seek to !nderstand is conse6!ently a less clear
and transparent and a messier one. So let !s engage with this iss!e now and see where it
brings !s theoretically.
2.1. (ina0s errire
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- %ew years ago 4 was #isiting an !p"market department store in 0entral Tokyo and in the
#ery e+cl!si#e and e+pensi#e %ood section o% that store 4 noticed a chocolate shop which bore
the name -ina*s Derriere.
9F4GCE8 1 58E8. 0aption H'ina(s derri)re(;
The stylized lettering and the choice o% French betray an aspiration to considerable chic and
the prices o% the chocolate on sale materialized that aspiration. ?!t the name o% the shop was
let(s say a rather !nhappy choice and 4 hoped that not too many Aapanese c!stomers wo!ld
know eno!gh French to !nderstand the meaning o% the name. 4 con%ess that 4 mysel% %o!nd the
tho!ght o% o%%ering someone a chocolate obtained %rom 'ina(s b!m intensely entertaining. 4t
was also intensely !se%!l in bringing an important point home to me. 'his %as not )rench. -t
least while the origins o% HBerriere( are clearly French and while its !se in the shop(s name
drew on inde+icals o% French chic the word did not %!nction as a ling!istic sign.
ing!istically it was only French in a minimal sense as a word whose origins lie in the stock
#ocab!lary o% the lang!age we con#entionally call French. 4ts Frenchness was semiotic rather
than ling!istic important was not its ling!istic %!nction as a denotational sign b!t the
emblematic %!nction it had in signaling a comple+ o% associati#e meanings the things 4
capt!red !nder the term French chic. This is why the chocolate shop was still in b!siness in
spite o% its dramatically inappropriate name the sign did not %!nction ling!istically in the
conte+t o% a Tokyo department store = ling!istic knowledge o% French being a #ery rare
commodity in Tokyo = b!t it %!nctioned and %!nctioned well emblematically. The sign
s!ddenly becomes a linguistic sign only when someone like me who has ling!istic
competence in French sees it and reads it as an instance of .linguistic/ )rench. ,rior to that
the sign is not HFrench( b!t HFrenchness(. -t least as long as the sign remains in its partic!lar
en#ironment. hen it is He+ported( so to speak to the en#ironment that someone like me
brings along it changes.
The world is %!ll o% e+amples o% signs that shi%t %!nctions depending on who !ses
them where and %or what p!rpose. e see the same phenomenon in %ig!re 2 a phone card
%rom Tokyo that ad#ertises the Keiky! %ast rail connection between 5aneda -irport and
0entral Tokyo.
9F4GCE8 2 58E8. 0aption HKeiky! phone card(;
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This simple and m!ndane ob>ect 9a typical instance o% the m!ltit!de o% H!nimportant(
lang!age ob>ects that litter o!r world; is amazingly comple+ both ling!istically and
semiotically. e see three writing systems = Kan>i characters Katakana script and Eoman
alphabet = and three Hlang!ages( = Aapanese 8nglish and French. The French Le'rain is
accompanied by a Katakana transliteration that instr!cts Aapanese c!stomers to read it as
rutoren 9PUVtorWnQ;. 4nterestingly the French here is meant to be spoken and spoken correctly.
The 8nglish is con%ined to one word %ith. 4t connects two Kan>i words and i% we translate the
whole phrase it reads 5aneda %ith Keiky!N. The 8nglish here is strange. There are per%ectly
ade6!ate Aapanese e6!i#alents %or s!ch a %!nction word as %ith and e#en icons s!ch as
arrows co!ld ha#e worked. The choice howe#er was %or 8nglish and there it stands %ith.
The problem howe#er is that !nless yo! know the two Kan>i words on either side o% it %ith
has no meaning or %!nction. 4t is not 8nglish ling!istically beca!se 8nglish competence
doesn(t allow yo! to !nderstand what %ith stands %or there. Oo! need to know Aapanese in
order to make sense o% %ith in this phrase and so somewhat pro#ocati#ely one co!ld say that
%ith is ling!istically not 8nglish b!t Aapanese. 4t is 8nglish emblematically like -ina*s
derri0re was French emblematically and 9one wo!ld certainly hope; not ling!istically.
4n both e+amples we see how lang!age material shi%ts meanings and %!nctions when it
is mobile. The French and 8nglish elements considered here were mobile semiotic rather than
linguistic reso!rces. 4n mo#ing %rom a space where people ha#e s!%%icient ling!istic
competence to pro>ect ling!istic %!nctions onto the signs 9e.g. France in the case o% French; to
a space where s!ch competences cannot be pres!pposed 9e.g. Aapan; the sign changes %rom a
ling!istic sign to an emblematic one. 4t ceases to be something that prod!ces ling!istic
meanings beca!se the ones cons!ming it cannot e+tract s!ch meanings %rom the sign. hen
someone like me then in Aapan comes across s!ch signs they re"become ling!istic signs.
*r the sign can tra#el. Globalization in#ol#es delocalized prod!ction in ma>or
ind!stries incl!ding printing and %ig!re 3 shows !s an instance o% delocalized printing work.
The pict!re was taken in ondon 0hinatown. e see a biling!al poster ad#ertising in
0hinese and 8nglish a range o% cold drinks.
9F4GCE8 3 58E8. 0aption Hced 0o%%ce(;
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hereas the 0hinese is correctly written the 8nglish contains 6!ite spectac!lar typos Lced
Hiced( dlrin& Hdrink( coffce Hco%%ee( and so %orth. Since written signs are always traces o%
h!man acti#ity one can spec!late abo!t the processes that generated this poster. 4magine a
print shop in 0hina where a handwritten te+t is handed down to a typesetter. The typesetter
does not know 8nglish and so while the handwritten 0hinese characters do not present any
di%%ic!lties the 8nglish handwritten te+t is not language but a meaningless design a set o%
%orms to be copied in print. ,oor handwriting s!ch as not closing the %irst e in coffee can
res!lt in it being read as c instead o% e and th!s emerges the printed %orm coffce. 'he te$t only
becomes "nglish %hen it is transferred to London and posted there against the window o% a
grocery store in 0hinatown. 4t is in ondon that people can detect the de#iations in spelling
6!estion them or %ind them am!sing. S!ch #al!e >!dgments were impossible in the printing
shop in 0hina. -t the same time o% co!rse %or many c!stomers in 0hinatown the 0hinese in
the poster is >!st a meaningless design. 4n its trans%er to ondon it ceased to be a ling!istic
representation and it became a set o% %orms signaling 0hineseness and th!s %itting in
0hinatown.
4 am deliberately o#erstating my case here beca!se 4 wish to emphasize a point that
semiotic mobility has all sorts o% e%%ects on the signs that are in#ol#ed in s!ch mobility. S!ch
processes need to be !nderstood beca!se they are at the heart o% globalization as a
socioling!istic phenomenon. 4n the conte+t o% globalization ling!istic reso!rces change #al!e
%!nction ownership and so on beca!se they can be inserted in patterns o% mobility. For this 4
wo!ld s!ggest we need a partic!lar set o% concept!al tools and in the remainder o% this
chapter 4 will introd!ce three central concepts scales orders o% inde+icality and
polycentricity.
2.2. +ociolinguistic scales
e ha#e seen in o!r disc!ssion o% Fairclo!gh 92::; how the notion o% Hscale( was !sed
essentially to denote spatial scope. e ha#e also seen how this raised se#eral problems the
most important o% which was that a p!rely spatial !se o% the term de"historicizes the processes
it is s!pposed to capt!re. So let !s see what better !se we can %ind %or a notion s!ch as Hscale(.
e said abo#e that when people or messages mo#e they mo#e thro!gh a space which is %illed
with codes norms and e+pectations. Scale is a metaphor we can !se to imagine s!ch mo#es.
The metaphor o% scale is borrowed %rom %ields s!ch as history and social geography9Swyngedo!w 1@ Citermark 2::2;. Scales and scaling processes are an important part o%
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the theoretical toolkit o% orld"Systems -nalysis 9allerstein 1<3 2:::;. -ccording to
orld"Systems -nalysis social e#ents and processes mo#e and de#elop on a contin!!m o%
layered scales with the strictly local 9micro; and the global 9macro; as its e+tremes and
se#eral intermediary scales 9e.g. the le#el o% the state; in between 9e%eb#re 2::3@ also Geertz
2::$;. 8#ents and processes in globalization occ!r at di%%erent scale"le#els and we see
interactions between the di%%erent scales as a core %eat!re o% !nderstanding s!ch e#ents and
processes. -ppad!rai(s 91; notion o% H#ernac!lar globalization( is a case in point %orms o%
globalization that contrib!te to new %orms o% locality. This locality howe#er is destabilized =
the immigrant neighborhood no longer looks like the Htraditional( neighborhood = beca!se o%
in%l!ences %rom higher"le#el scales migration and diaspora neighborhood m!ltiling!alism
the presence o% the homeland in economies o% cons!mption and in p!blic identity display
9Mankekar 2::2;.
The point of departure: horizontal and vertical metaphors
The point o% depart!re %or what %ollows is the non"!ni%ied nat!re o% socioling!istic
phenomena. The point has o%ten been noted acts o% comm!nication are all !ni6!ely
conte+t!alized one"time phenomena@ yet we !nderstand them beca!se o% their mani%est lack
o% a!tonomy their constistence with pre#io!s traditions o% making sense their connection to
shared perd!ring 9i.e. historical; patterns o% !nderstanding s!ch as %rames. This d!al nat!re o%
lang!age practices both as an indi#id!al one"time and !ni6!e phenomenon and
sim!ltaneo!sly as a collecti#e and relati#ely stable phenomenon has o%ten been capt!red
!nder labels s!ch as Hmicro( and Hmacro(. The connection between s!ch le#els has o%ten been
described as comple+ di%%ic!lt !n%athomable. Oet se#eral #ery !se%!l theoretical tools ha#e
been de#eloped e+plicitly identi%ying the instantaneo!s transition %rom one le#el to another in
comm!nication G!mperz( 91<2; notion o% Hconte+t!alization( Go%%man(s 91/$; H%rames(
the ?akhtinian concept o% Hinterte+t!ality( 9as %!rther de#eloped e.g. by Fairclo!gh 12;
and ?o!rdie!(s 91:; Hhabit!s( = to name >!st the most widely recognized ones.
4n all cases the concepts identi%y the 1ump from one scale to another %rom the
indi#id!al to the collecti#e the temporally sit!ated to the trans"temporal the !ni6!e to the
common the token to the type the speci%ic to the general. -nd the connection bet%een such
scales is inde$ical it resides in the ways in which !ni6!e instances o% comm!nication can be
capt!red inde+ically as H%ramed( !nderstandable comm!nication as pointing towards sociallyand c!lt!rally ordered norms genres traditions e+pectations = phenomena o% a higher scale"
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le#el. The capacity to achie#e !nderstanding in comm!nication is the capacity to li%t
momentary instances o% interaction to the le#el o% common meanings and the two directions
o% inde+icality 9pres!pposing = the retrie#al o% a#ailable meanings = and entailing = the
prod!ction o% new meanings@ Sil#erstein 2::a 1$; are at the heart o% s!ch processes.
Ee#iewing c!rrent theorizing abo!t s!ch scalar phenomena we see that a lot o%
thinking has gone into the connections and mo#ements = sophisticated concepts s!ch as
Hinterte+t!ality( and Hente+t!alization( are res!lts o% that. hat e+actly it is that is connected
and mo#ed between howe#er has by and large been neglected as an area o% theorizing. *ne
e%%ect has been that notions o% Hconte+t!alization( 9the process o% con#ersion; ha#e been better
de#eloped than notions o% Hconte+t( the spaces in and between which conte+t!alization
happens. 9See 5anks 2:: %or a recent s!r#ey.; 4 ha#e been !sing the term scale here as an
attempt to at least pro#ide a metaphor that s!ggests that we ha#e to imagine things that are o%
a different order that are hierarchically ranked and strati%ied. The metaphor s!ggests spatial
images@ howe#er these images are !ertical metaphors of space rather than horizontal ones
which are implicit in terms s!ch as distribution spread and e#en community and culture
among others. Scales o%%er !s a #ertical image o% space o% space as stratified and there%ore
power"in#ested@ b!t they also s!ggest deep connections between spatial and temporal %eat!res.
4n that sense scale may be a concept that allows !s to see socioling!istic phenomena as non"
!ni%ied in relation to a stratified2 non3unified image of social structure4 'ote that the
introd!ction o% Hscale( does not re>ect horizontal images o% space@ it complements them with a
#ertical dimension o% hierarchical ordering and power di%%erentiation. et !s look at these
aspects o% scales in some detail.
Scales as semiotized space and time
To be s!re a notion s!ch as Hscale( is the constr!ction o% an analytic image = something o%
which allerstein warns !s is an in#ention o% social"scienti%ic traditional tho!ght
9allerstein 1/ 2::1 chapter 1:;. 4n partic!lar o!r c!rrent attempt at Hspatializing(
socioling!istic theory risks being %lawed by that instit!tional problem inscribed in the di#ision
o% labor between the social sciences the separation o% time and space as di%%erent aspects o%
social li%e and social phenomena. -gainst this separation allerstein pits the notion o%
TimeSpace = a single dimensionN which locks together time and space 9allerstein 1/ 1@
also Fals ?orda 2:::;. 8#ery social e#ent de#elops sim!ltaneo!sly in space and in time o%tenin m!ltiply imagined spaces and time %rames. So here is one critical 6!ali%ication a notion
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s!ch as scale re%ers to phenomena that de#elop in TimeSpace. Scale is not >!st a spatial
metaphor.
Talk abo!t Htime( and Hspace( howe#er is slippery and we m!st add a second
necessary 6!ali%ication. The phenomena that de#elop in TimeSpace are social phenomena
and the TimeSpace in which they de#elop is conse6!ently an Hob>ecti#e( 9physical; conte+t
made social . 4t is an o%ten repeated assertion people make physical space and time into
controlled regimented ob>ects and instr!ments and they do so thro!gh semiotic practices@
semiotized TimeSpace is social c!lt!ral political historical ideological TimeSpace
9e%eb#re 2::3@ also 5a#iland 2::3@ Goodwin 2::2;. - third necessary 6!ali%ication to be
added %ollows %rom the pre#io!s one. The semiotization o% TimeSpace as social conte+ts
always in#ol#es more than >!st images o% space and time. -s we shall see a mo#e %rom one
scale"le#el to another in#okes or inde+es images of society thro!gh socially and c!lt!rally
constr!cted 9semiotized; metaphors and images o% time and space. The general direction o%
s!ch mo#es can be %orm!lated as %ollows
Lower scale igher scale
Time Momentary Timeless
+pace ocal sit!ated Translocal widespread
4n social interaction s!ch TimeSpace mo#es = Hscale">!mping( as they are called by
Citermark 92::2 /&:; = are con#erted into interactional patterns that inde+ norms
e+pectations and degrees o% generalness o% positions. They are con#erted in other words into
statements that inde$ social order and the TimeSpace imagery pro#ides rich inde+icals
9sometimes iconically; %or aspects o% a real or imagined social order. 0onsider by way o%
ill!stration the %ollowing bit o% 9imagined; interaction between a t!tor 9T; and a ,hB st!dent
9S;
S 4(ll start my dissertation with a chapter reporting on my %ieldwork
T e start o!r dissertations with a literat!re re#iew chapter here.
The t!tor per%orms a scale">!mp here in which he mo#es %rom the local and sit!ated to the
translocal and Hgeneral( in#oking practices that ha#e #alidity beyond the here"and"now =
normati!e !alidity. This H!pscaling( is artic!lated thro!gh a change %rom personal and sit!ated
to impersonal and general = compare S(s !se o% I and my as well as his !se o% the %!t!re tense
with T(s %e and our T(s !se o% the timeless present and his in#ocation o% here a comm!nity
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larger than >!st the st!dent and the t!tor. The st!dent(s !tterance was centered on his own
work and plans@ the t!tor(s response re"centers it on a higher scale"le#el that o% the larger
academic comm!nity and instit!tional en#ironment o% which both are part. The indi#id!al
plan o% the st!dent is co!ntered by an in#ocation o% general r!les and norms #alid Hhere( 9i.e.
#alid %or the partic!lar st!dent as well;. The t!tor(s mo#e is a #ertical mo#e per%ormed in a
strati%ied hierarchically layered system in which higher scale"le#els 9instit!tional and
comm!nity norms and r!les; pre#ail o#er lower scale"le#els 9the indi#id!al concerns o% the
st!dent;. 4t is o% co!rse a power mo#e in which a higher le#el o% rele#ance tr!th #alidity or
#al!e is called in to cancel the s!ggestion made by the st!dent in which indi#id!als ha#e been
replaced by instit!tionally circ!mscribed roles and in which the specific case is meas!red
against categories o% cases %rom token to type %rom conte+t!alized to deconte+t!alized. The
scale">!mp th!s made is a comple+ one in which #ario!s kinds o% semiotic trans%ormations
occ!r
Lower scale igher scale
Momentary Timeless
ocal sit!ated Translocal widespread
,ersonal indi#id!al 4mpersonal collecti#e
0onte+t!alized deconte+t!alized
S!b>ecti#e ob>ecti#e
Speci%ic General categorial
Token type
4ndi#id!al role
Bi#ersity #ariation Cni%ormity homogeneity
-nd all o% this is prod!ced thro!gh simple grammatical stylistic and generic operations in the
!tterance small %ormal c!es that release dense inde+ical meanings.
The %act that these operations are per%ormed here by the t!tor and not by the st!dent is
o% co!rse not accidental. -s Citermark 92::2; notes some people or gro!ps can >!mp scales
while others cannot and Ho!tscaling( is a %re6!ent power tactic li%ting a partic!lar iss!e to a
scale"le#el which is inaccessible to the other aswhen a lawyer shi%ts into legalese or a doctor
into medical >argon. A!mping scales depends on access to disc!rsi#e reso!rces that inde+ and
iconicize partic!lar scale"le#els and s!ch access is to be s!re an ob>ect o% ine6!ality. -s
0onley and *(?arr(s 91:; work on small claims co!rts demonstrated some time ago
disc!rsi#e reso!rces that are empowering at one scale"le#el 9e.g. iss!e"centered emoti#e
disco!rses; can be disempowering at higher scale le#els 9where a law"centered rational
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disco!rse dominates;. ,ower and ine6!ality are %eat!res o% scaling o% the asymmetrical
capacity to in#oke partic!lar scale"le#els in the interpretation o% an act@ scales pro#ide
conte+ts with possible reg!lations o% access.
The simple le+ical and grammatical operations per%ormed by the t!tor th!s trigger a
whole range o% inde+ical shi%ts rede%ining the sit!ation the participants the topic the scope
o% Hacceptable( statements on the topic and so %orth@ they also %irmly set the e#ent in a
normati#e general norm"oriented %rame. This comple+ inde+ical shi%t can now be described
not as a series o% indi#id!al operations b!t as one !ertical mo!e %ithin a stratified social
meaning system enabling and mobilizing the #ario!s %orms o% inde+ical re"ordering o% the
statement. 4ntrod!cing a notion s!ch as Hscale( %or describing c!rrent phenomena in
comm!nicati#e action has the ad#antage o% introd!cing a layered strati%ied model o% society
as a %rame %or the interpretation o% s!ch phenomena. ,ower and ine6!ality th!s become
incorporated into o!r ways o% imagining s!ch phenomena and rather than seeing them as an
e+ceptional aberration in social li%e 9as in many analyses %oc!sed on power; they can be seen
as an integral %eat!re o% e#ery social e#ent. 4t is the new image o% society introd!ced by the
t!tor(s statement that organizes the new inde+ical order he introd!ces a rigid norm"oriented
trans"personal social space = a di%%erent power regime %or the interaction which reorganizes
the H%ooting( 9Go%%man 1<1; on which the participants can interact with one another.
4n s!m scales need to be !nderstood as Hle#els( or Hdimensions( 9e#eb#re 2::3 13"
1&:; at which partic!lar %orms o% normati#ity patterns o% lang!age !se and e+pectations
thereo% are organized. Scalar processes are processes o% shi%ts between s!ch scales and we
sho!ld recall that s!ch shi%ts in#ol#e comple+ re"semiotizations o% TimeSpace new images o%
time and space new patterns o% acting !pon them. 4n this more comple+ !nderstanding the
notion o% Hscale( may allow !s to !nderstand the dynamics between local and translocal %orces
disc!ssed in chapter 1 as well as in the e+amples gi#en earlier in this chapter. Bi%%erent scales
can interact collaborate and o#erlap or be in con%lict with one another beca!se each time
there are iss!es o% normati#ity at play. To these iss!es we now need to t!rn.
2.3. %rers of )ne*icality
Bi%%erent scales organize di%%erent patterns o% normati#ity o% what co!nts as lang!age. This
may 6!ickly be t!rned into an image o% chaos and o% %ragmentation 9and 6!ite a lot o%
postmodernist literat!re wo!ld make this interpretation; b!t %or reasons that are disc!ssedlater in this book s!ch interpretations are not help%!l. The processes we see are not chaotic
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b!t ordered altho!gh they are o% considerable comple+ity. 'ormati#ity is by its #ery essence
a %orm o% organization and order. So we need to look %or concept!al tools that help !s imagine
this comple+ %orm o% organization and order and 4 will t!rn to the notion o% Horders o%
inde+icality( %or that 9c%. ?lommaert 2::& %%;.
The point o% depart!re is 6!ite simple inde+icality e#en tho!gh largely operating at
the implicit le#el o% ling!isticIsemiotic str!ct!ring is not !nstr!ct!red b!t ordered . 4t is
ordered in two ways and these %orms o% inde+ical order acco!nt %or Hnormati#ity( in semiosis.
The %irst kind o% order is what Sil#erstein 92::3a; called Hinde+ical order( the %act that
inde+ical meanings occ!r in patterns o%%ering perceptions o% similarity and stability that can
be percei#ed as Htypes( o% semiotic practice with predictable 9pres!pposableIentailing;
directions 9c%. also -gha 2::3 2::&;. HEegister( is a case in point cl!stered and patterned
lang!age %orms that inde+ speci%ic social personae and roles can be in#oked to organize
interactional practices 9e.g. t!rns at talk narrati#e; and ha#e a prima facie stability that can
sometimes be !sed %or typi%ying or stereotyping 9e.g. Hposh( accents = see Eampton 2::3;.
Speaking or writing thro!gh s!ch registers in#ol#es insertion in recognizable 9normati#e;
repertoires o% H#oices( one then speaks as a man a lawyer a middle"aged 8!ropean and
asyl!m seeker and so %orth and i% done appropriately one will be percei#ed as speaking as
such 9-gha 2::&;. Th!s inde+ical order is the metapragmatic organizing principle behind
what is widely !nderstood as the Hpragmatics( o% lang!age.
S!ch %orms o% inde+ical order sometimes ha#e long and comple+ histories o%
becoming 9Sil#erstein 2::3a and -gha 2::3 o%%er e+cellent ill!strations;. These histories are
o%ten connected to the histories o% becoming o% nation"states and to their c!lt!ral and
socioling!istic paraphernalia = the notion o% a Hstandard lang!age( and its deri#ati#e a
partic!lar Hnational( ethnoling!istic identity 9Sil#erstein 1 1<@ 8rrington 2::1;. Oet
they also display a signi%icant degree o% #ariability and change they can er!pt and %ade !nder
press!re o% macro"de#elopments s!ch as capitalist cons!mer %ashions as is e#ident %rom
Sil#erstein(s 92::3a 2::b; oenologia = the register o% contemporary wine connoisse!rs 9see
also -gha 2::& 2::/;. 4nde+ical order o% this sort is a positi#e %orce it prod!ces social
categories recognizable semiotic emblems %or gro!ps and indi#id!als a more or less coherent
semiotic habitat.
4t does so howe#er within the con%ines o% a strati%ied general repertoire in which
partic!lar inde+ical orders relate to others in relations o% m!t!al #al!ation = higherIlower
betterIworse. This is where we meet another kind o% order to inde+icalities one that operateson a higher plane o% social str!ct!ring an order in the general systems o% meaning%!l semiosis
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#alid in gro!ps at any gi#en time. This kind o% ordering res!lts in what 4 call orders o%
inde+icality = a term ob#io!sly inspired by Fo!ca!lt(s Horder o% disco!rse(. Eecall that
Fo!ca!lt was interested in the general r!les %or the prod!ction o% disco!rses their positi#e
emergence as well as their eras!re and e+cl!sion. 5e started %rom the hypothesis
that in e#ery society the prod!ction o% disco!rse is at once controlled selected
organized and redistrib!ted by a certain n!mber o% proced!res whose role is to ward
o%% its powers and dangers to gain mastery o#er its chance e#ents to e#ade its
pondero!s %ormidable materiality. 9Fo!ca!lt 1<$ P1/1] 1:@ see also his notion o%
Harchi#e( Fo!ca!lt 2::2 P1] chapter &;
4% we now paraphrase Fo!ca!lt(s hypothesis we see that ordered inde+icalities operate within
large strati%ied comple+es in which some %orms o% semiosis are systemically percei#ed as
#al!able others as less #al!able and some are not taken into acco!nt at all while all are
s!b>ect to r!les o% access and reg!lations as to circ!lation. That means that s!ch systemic
patterns o% inde+icality are also systemic patterns o% a!thority o% control and e#al!ation and
hence o% incl!sion and e+cl!sion by real or percei!ed others. That also means that e#ery
register is s!sceptible to a politics o% access. -nd it also means that there is an economy o%
e+change in which the #al!es attached by some to one %orm o% semiosis may not be granted
by others the 8nglish spoken by a middle"class person in 'airobi may not be 9and is !nlikely
to be; percei#ed as a middle"class attrib!te in ondon or 'ew Oork.
H*rder o% inde+icality( is a sensitizing concept that sho!ld inde+ 9Hpoint a %inger to(;
important aspects o% power and ine6!ality in the %ield o% semiosis. 4% %orms o% semiosis are
socially and c!lt!rally #al!ed these #al!ation processes sho!ld display traces o% power and
a!thority o% str!ggles in which there were winners as well as losers and in which in general
the gro!p o% winners is smaller than the gro!p o% losers. The concept in#ites di%%erent
6!estions = socioling!istic 6!estions on inde+icality = and sho!ld open empirical analyses o%
inde+icality to higher"le#el considerations abo!t relations within socioling!istic repertoires
the 9non";e+changeability o% partic!lar ling!istic or semiotic reso!rces across places
sit!ations and gro!ps and so %orth. 4t in#ites in s!m di%%erent 6!estions o% a!thority access
and power in this %ield.
2.!. Polycentricity
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*ne s!ch 6!estion is how do we imagine these patterns o% a!thority and power7 *ne way o%
answering that 6!estion is to s!ggest that a!thority emanates %rom real or percei#ed Hcenters(
to which people orient when they prod!ce an inde+ical tra>ectory in semiosis. That is at
whene#er we comm!nicate apart %rom o!r real and immediate addressees we orient towards
what ?akhtin 91<; called a Hs!per"addressee( comple+es o% norms and percei#ed
appropriateness criteria in e%%ect the larger social and c!lt!ral body o% a!thority into which
we insert o!r immediate practices #is"R"#is o!r immediate addressees. -nd #ery o%ten s!ch
a!thorities ha#e names %aces a reality o% their own@ they can be indi#id!als 9teachers
parents role models the coolest g!y in class; collecti#es 9peer gro!ps s!bc!lt!ral gro!ps
gro!p images s!ch as Hp!nk( Hgothic( etc.; abstract entities or ideals 9ch!rch the nation"state
the middle"class cons!mer c!lt!re and its many %ashions %reedom democracy; and so on
the macro" and micro"str!ct!res o% o!r e#eryday world. The point is we o%ten pro>ect the
presence o% an e#al!ating a!thority thro!gh o!r interactions with immediate addressees we
beha#e %ith reference to s!ch an e#al!ati#e a!thority and 4 s!bmit we call s!ch an e#al!ating
a!thority a Hcenter(.
The a!thority o% centers is e#al!ati#e and it o%ten occ!rs as an a!thority o#er cl!sters
o% semiotic %eat!res incl!ding thematic domains2 places people 9roles identities
relationships; and semiotic styles 9incl!ding ling!istic #arieties modes o% per%ormance etc.;.
Th!s broaching a partic!lar topic will trigger a partic!lar semiotic style and s!ggest
partic!lar roles and relationships between participants and certain types o% comm!nicati#e
e#ents re6!ire appropriate places and occasions = not here5 -ot no%5 -ot %hile the children
are listening5 9Scollon and Scollon 2::3 ?lommaert 0ollins and Slembro!ck 2::&a;. *ne
speaks di%%erently and as a di%%erent person abo!t cars or m!sic than abo!t the economy or
abo!t se+. 4n one instance one can speak as an e+pert !sing a partic!lar register inde+ing
membership o% e+pert gro!ps in other instances one can speak as a no#ice@ one can shi%t %rom
a #ery masc!line #oice on a partic!lar topic 9e.g. se+ or cars; to a gender"ne!tral #oice 9e.g.
when disc!ssing the war in 4ra6; each time also shi%ting registers o%ten e#en accents pace
tone and rhythm 9a declarati#e tone on one topic a hesitant one on another;. -nd topics styles
and identities belong to speci%ic places and are e+cl!ded %rom other places 9a thing that
becomes apparent d!ring a%ter"ho!rs escapades at scienti%ic con%erences;. 8ach time one
orients towards other centers o% a!thority o%%ering ideal"types o% norms or appropriateness
criteria as it is called in pragmatics the places where Hgood( disco!rse abo!t these topics is
made.
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4t is the packaging o% topic place style and people that makes !p the inde+ical
direction o% comm!nication the %act that certain topics re6!ire speci%ic semiotic modes and
en#ironments and so organize identities and roles 9-gha 2::&;. Go%%man 91<1; as we
already saw called s!ch patterns Hshi%ts in %ooting( delicate changes in speaker position that
were accompanied by shi%ts in ling!istic and semiotic modes and rede%ined the participant
roles in the interaction. e are now in a position to empirically Hdissect( %ooting and bring it
in line with larger organizational %eat!res o% li%e in society.
4t is ob#io!s that e#en tho!gh places impose r!les and restrictions on what can happen
in comm!nication there e#ery en#ironment in which h!mans con#ene and comm!nicate is
almost by de%inition polycentric in the sense that more than one possible center can be
disting!ished. *ne can %ollow norms or #iolate them at any step o% the process and
sometimes this is will%!lly done while at other occasions it comes abo!t by accident or
beca!se o% the impossibility to beha#e in a partic!lar way. -gain Go%%man(s descriptions o%
the m!ltiple layers that characterize m!ndane interaction scenes are in%ormati#e. For instance
Go%%man disting!ishes between H%ocal( and Hnon"%ocal( acti#ities occ!rring in the same e#ent =
as when a p!pil in class prod!ces an o%%ensi#e reaction to a teacher(s 6!estion gi#ing o%%
negati#e impressions 9%ocal %or the teacher; as well as positi#e ones 9non"%ocal towards his
peer gro!p who st!dio!sly try to a#oid being 6!ali%ied as Hnerds(;. 4n o!r own research on
asyl!m seekers( narrati#es we o%ten %o!nd that Htr!th%!l( acco!nts by the applicant were
interpreted as Himpla!sible( 9i.e. !ntr!th%!l; by the inter#iewers beca!se describing the
chaotic and o%ten parado+ical realities tr!th%!lly o%ten iconically res!lted in a chaotic and
parado+ical story. 4nter#iewees oriented towards Hthe tr!th( as de%ined by sit!ated densely
conte+t!alized realities in e.g. -%rica while inter#iewers oriented towards a partic!lar te+t!al
9b!rea!cratic; ideal o% deconte+t!alizable coherence linearity and %act!ality 9?lommaert
2::1a@ chapter below;. ?oth centers were always present in s!ch a polycentric inter#iew
sit!ation altho!gh the inter#iewers( center was o%ten Hnon"%ocal( kept in the backgro!nd
d!ring the inter#iew itsel%. Th!s in telling Hthe tr!th( the applicants were o%ten Hwrong"
%ooted( by the inter#iewers@ in the real world the dominant order o% inde+icality is that o% the
inter#iewer and hisIher b!rea!cratic apparat!s.
,olycentricity is a key %eat!re o% interactional regimes in h!man en#ironments e#en
tho!gh many interaction e#ents look Hstable( and monocentric 9e.g. e+ams wedding
ceremonies; there are as a r!le m!ltiple = tho!gh ne#er !nlimited = batteries o% norms to
which one can orient and according to which one can beha#e 9as when the bride winks at thegroom when she says H4 do(;. This m!ltiplicity has been pre#io!sly capt!red !nder terms s!ch
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as Hpolyphony( or Hm!lti#ocality(. - term s!ch as Hpolycentricity( mo#es the iss!e %rom the
descripti#e to the interpreti#e le#el. -gain my attempt here is towards sensitizing others to
the %act that behind terms s!ch as Hpolyphony( social str!ct!res o% power and ine6!ality are at
work. S!ch str!ct!res = orders o% inde+icality = acco!nt %or the %act that certain %orms o%
polyphony ne#er occ!r while other %orms o% polyphony mirac!lo!sly seem to ass!me similar
shapes and directions. The bride can wink to her groom b!t baring her breasts wo!ld be
highly !n!s!al. 0ertain #oices like the b!rea!cratic one in the asyl!m system systemically
pre#ail o#er others beca!se the impact o% certain centers o% a!thority is bigger than that o%
others. The m!ltiplicity o% a#ailable batteries o% norms does not mean that these batteries are
e6!i#alent e6!ally accessible or e6!ally open to negotiation. *rders o% inde+icality are
strati%ied and impose di%%erences in #al!e onto the di%%erent modes o% semiosis systematically
gi#e pre%erence to some o#er others and e+cl!de or dis6!ali%y partic!lar modes.
?oth concepts Horder o% inde+icality( and Hpolycentricity( th!s s!ggest a less innocent
world o% ling!istic social and c!lt!ral #ariation and di#ersity one in which di%%erence is
6!ickly t!rned into ine6!ality and in which comple+ patterns o% potential"#ers!s"act!al
beha#ior occ!r. They also enable !s to mo#e beyond the !s!al socioling!istic !nits =
homogeneo!s speech comm!nities = and to consider sit!ations in which #ario!s Hbig(
socioling!istic systems enter the pict!re as when people migrate in the conte+t o%
globalization or when in the same conte+t messages start mo#ing across large spaces. 4n both
cases people do not >!st mo#e across space@ gi#en what has been said abo#e we also realize
that they mo#e across di%%erent orders o% inde+icality. 0onse6!ently what happens to them in
comm!nication becomes less predictable than what wo!ld happen in Htheir own( en#ironment.
Socioling!istics in the age o% globalization needs to look way beyond the speech comm!nity
to socioling!istic systems and how they connect and relate to one another. ?ig things matter i%
we want to !nderstand the small things o% disco!rse.
2.!. A sociolinguistics of mobile resources
Power and mobility
Scales orders o% inde+icality polycentricity we now ha#e the basis %or a little #ocab!lary that
will enable !s to talk abo!t lang!age in globalization in a di%%erent way. The three concepts 4
introd!ced had se#eral things in common. *ne s!ch thing was their emphasis on power all o%the concepts s!ggest layering and strati%ication in hierarchical systems o% #al!e %or semiotic
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reso!rces. 4n any and e#ery social interaction specific ling!istic %orms will be e+pected and
be #al!ed as the Hbest possible( reso!rces. 4n pragmatics s!ch phenomena o% selection %or
pre%erence ha#e been described %or decades in terms ranging %rom H%elicity conditions( to
Happropriateness criteria( 9see e.g. e#inson 1<3; and let !s not %orget Hpoliteness( research
as a c!lmination point in s!ch st!dies 9c%. 8elen 2:::;. ikewise the 5ymesian notion o%
Hcomm!nicati#e competence( has o%ten been described as the capacity %or Hade6!ate(
ling!istic per%ormance in a gi#en social sit!ation. Cnderstanding what s!ch %orms o%
ade6!acy and appropriateness can be in a conte+t which we are now compelled to imagine as
comple+ and mobile re6!ires a new #ocab!lary. The three terms 4 propose here can be
assessed with regard to !se%!lness.
- second %eat!re shared by the three concepts is their spatiotemporal sensiti#ity. They
need to be read in se6!ence to be clearly !nderstood like that. 4n other words socioling!istic
phenomena in a globalization conte+t need to be !nderstood as de#eloping at se#eral di%%erent
scale le#els where di%%erent orders o% inde+icality dominate res!lting in a polycentric
Hconte+t( where comm!nicati#e beha#ior is sim!ltaneo!sly p!shed and p!lled in #ario!s
directions. The French on the Keiky! phone card was both strictly local 9a Tokyo sign; as well
as translocal 9a French sign;@ the translocal scale"le#el howe#er was not e6!ally accessible to
e#ery cons!mer o% the sign. For local people operating within a local order o% inde+icality the
French made good sense as an emblem o% HFrenchness( with its connotations o% chic. For
people s!ch as me who bro!ght along a practical ling!istic competence in French it made
sense in a #ery di%%erent way it became a Htypically Aapanese( way o% !sing French that is a
%orm that is detached %rom its con#entional HFrench( 9i.e. translocal and ling!istic; %!nctions
and is relocated in a local Tokyo semiotic economy. 4t became in short an e$otic French
%orm and note that the 6!ali%ication o% He+otic( is an assessment made at one partic!lar scale"
le#el and within one partic!lar order o% inde+icality = that o% the translocal scale. Ee"setting
this Keiky! phone card %rom its local Tokyo conte+t to its translocal HFrench( conte+t
in#ol#ed an operation in which the sign was resemiotized s!b>ect to #ery di%%erent proced!res
o% meaning attrib!tion. The sign was made to tra#el it was mobilised by a %eat!re o%
globalization a to!rist 9me; picking it !p in its place o% origin 9Tokyo; and s!b>ecting it to my
own 9Francophone; proced!res o% Hreading( and Hdecoding(. ?y doing so 4 li%ted the sign o!t
o% its TimeSpace %rame and bro!ght it into 6!ite a di%%erent TimeSpace %rame one %or which it
was not intended and one in which it co!ld conse6!ently ac6!ire He+otic( meanings.
4t sho!ld be clear that we are relati#ely %ar remo#ed %rom a traditional socioling!isticdisco!rse o% lang!age mi+ing and shi%ting here. 0on#entional approaches to code"switching
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wo!ld not be able to tell !s m!ch on signs s!ch as the H5aneda %ith Keiky!( or the HeTrain(
e+amples gi#en here. For one thing there is %ar more than Hlang!age( 9in the sense o%
HAapanese( H8nglish( and HFrench(; at play here. -s 4 noted in the beginning the Keiky!
phone card contains three s!ch Hlang!ages( 9e#en i% in minimal one"word %orms; as well as
three scripts and a compo!nd image o% a plane and a train. 4t is o% co!rse a m!ltimodal sign
and shi%ts occ!r here in a #astly more comple+ %ield than that o% Hlang!age( alone. 4n addition
what we obser#e is clearly not >!st a linguistic problem it is a semiotic one. 0onse6!ently we
need to look at reso!rces act!al sit!ated reso!rces as deployed by real people in real conte+ts
and reconte+t!alized by other real people s!ch as mysel%. e are witnessing repertoires here
constr!cted o!t o% bits and pieces o% con#entionally de%ined Hlang!ages( and concretely
ass!ming the shape o% registers and genres o% specific patterns o% lang!age in comm!nicati#e
shapes s!ch as a phone card a poster or a shop sign. The target o% o!r analysis is reso!rces
and e#en i% s!ch reso!rces can be con#entionally tagged as Hbelonging( to lang!age X or O it
is good to remember that the whole point is abo!t the dislodging o% s!ch reso!rces %rom their
con#entional origins. The French on the Keiky! phone card becomes a problem not beca!se
o% its ling!istic %eat!res = not beca!se it is HFrench( = b!t beca!se o% the partic!lar ways in
which it has penetrated the semiotic repertoire o% people in Tokyo and has ac6!ired meanings
and %!nctions there. This 4 wo!ld say is a socioling!istics o% mobile reso!rces no longer a
socioling!istics o% immobile lang!ages.
Locked in space: on linguistic rights
'at!rally this theoretical stance comes at a price. S!ch %orms o% inter"lang!age penetration
ha#e o%ten been capt!red in a totalizing b!t com%ortable disco!rse o% lang!age9s; with which
we now ha#e to disagree. There is by now a well"entrenched and #ery respectable branch o%
socioling!istics which is concerned with describing the world o% globalization %rom the
perspecti#e o% ling!istic imperialism and Hling!icide( 9,hillipson 12@ Sk!tnabb"Kangas
2:::; o%ten based on partic!lar ecological metaphors. These approaches start %rom a
socioling!istics o% distrib!tion and oddly ass!me that where#er a Hbig( and(power%!l(
lang!age s!ch as 8nglish Happears( in a %oreign territory small indigeno!s lang!ages will
Hdie(. There is in this image o% socioling!istic space place %or >!st one lang!age at a time. 4n
general there seems to be a serio!s problem with the ways in which space is imagined in s!ch
work. 4n addition the act!al socioling!istic details o% s!ch processes are rarely spelled o!t =lang!ages can be !sed in #ernac!lar or in ling!a %ranca #arieties and so create di%%erent
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socioling!istic conditions %or m!t!al in%l!encing@ 8nglish sometimes Hthreatens( other %ormer
colonial lang!ages s!ch as French Spanish or ,ort!g!ese rather than the indigeno!s
lang!ages 9a phenomenon noted primarily in %ormer e+ploitation colonies and less prominent
in %ormer settlement colonies@ see M!%wene 2::& 2::<;@ or sometimes the Hthreat( to
indigeno!s lang!ages can come %rom dominant local 9Hindigeno!s(; lang!ages rather than
8nglish as we shall see %!rther in this book. So there are se#eral ma>or problems with the
literat!re on ling!istic rights.
*ne ma>or problem is the way in which a!thors appear to ass!me the spatial
H%i+edness( o% people lang!ages and places. The disco!rse o% minority rights is in general a
disco!rse o% strict locality and the %irst lines o% the C' Beclaration on the Eights o% ,ersons
?elonging to 'ational or 8thnic Eeligio!s and ing!istic Minorities read States shall
protect the e+istence and the national or ethnic c!lt!ral religio!s and ling!istic minorities
%ithin their respecti!e territories and shall enco!rage conditions %or the promotion o% that
identityN 96!oted in Sk!tnabb"Kangas and ,hillipson 1;. This Beclaration is an agreement
between states which are here presented as territorially bo!nded entities in the space o% which
a partic!lar regime can and sho!ld be de#eloped with respect to Hminorities( de%ined in the
same mo#e as minorities within that partic!lar 9Hstate(; territory. The rights granted by this
Beclaration are territorially bo!nded and organized rights and distinctions between gro!ps
e#ol#e along the classic 5erderian triad o% territory"c!lt!re"lang!age 9?lommaert and
Dersch!eren 1<;.
This disco!rse o% locality is !s!ally co!ched in en#ironmental"ecological metaphors a
partic!lar place is characterized by speci%ic %eat!res ranging %rom climate thro!gh biodi#ersity
to people c!lt!res and lang!ages. The relationship between these di%%erent components is
seen as a %orm o% synergy it is thro!gh h!man #ariability that di#ersity in the en#ironment is
s!stained %or the lang!ages and c!lt!res o% local people pro#ide !ni6!e #iews on this
en#ironment and help s!stain it. See %or e+ample the point o% #iew artic!lated by one o% the
most #ocal ad#ocates o% ling!istic rights 'erralingua 91 %rom their website
httpIIco!gar.!cda#is.ed!InasIterralinIlearn.html;
e know that a di#ersity o% species lends stability and resilience to the world(s
ecosystems. Terraling!a thinks that a di#ersity o% lang!ages does the same %or the
world(s c!lt!res " and that these mani%estations o% the di#ersity o% li%e are interrelated.
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This di#ersity is in#ariably seen as something that needs to be preser#ed conse6!ently. 4t
literally needs to be Hkept in place(. To go by the words o% Sk!tnabb"Kangas and ,hillipson
91& <$; PtQhe perpet!ation o% ling!istic di#ersity can 9...; be seen as a recognition that all
indi#id!als and gro!ps ha#e basic h!man rights and as a necessity %or the s!r#i#al o% the
planet in a similar way to biodi#ersityN 9see also Sk!tnabb"Kangas and ,hillipson 1@
'ettle and Eomaine 2:::@ see May 2::1 ?lommaert 2::1b and M!%wene 2::2 %or a
criti6!e;.
There is a ling!istic"ideological dimension to this in which it is ass!med that lang!age
%!nctions in a comm!nity beca!se it pro#ides local meanings meanings that pro#ide %rames
%or !nderstanding the local en#ironment to categorize and analyse the 9strictly; local world.
Ee%erences to the !ni6!e world#iews enshrined in these lang!ages o%ten re#ol#e aro!nd local
%!nctionality as well the world#iews are e+pressed in terms and grammatical relations that
address or artic!late a local decoding o% the world. et !s ret!rn to Sk!tnabb"Kangas and
,hillipson 1& <;
ing!istic di#ersity at local le#els is a necessary co!nterweight to the hegemony o% a
%ew Hinternational( lang!ages. The Horld ang!ages( sho!ld >!st as roads and
bridges be seen as tools %or comm!nication o% ideas and matter b!t the creation o%
a!thentic ideas and prod!cts 9instead o% mass"prod!cts; is in most cases necessarily
best done locally.
The world#iews are in#ariably local 9or territorialized; world#iews linked to partic!lar
regional s!rro!ndings. - people(s lang!age localizes these people it sets them within a
partic!lar spatially demarcated ecology.
4t is this #iew o% local %!nctionality that !nderpins the strong claims cited abo#e that
the s!r#i#al o% minority lang!ages is cr!cial %or the s!r#i#al o% the planet %or with e#ery
lang!age that disappears a !ni6!ely %!nctional local set o% meanings abo!t the en#ironment is
lost. ang!ages are seen as local repositories o% knowledge and s!ch local %orms o%
knowledge are essential %or !nderstanding the 9local; world. 0onse6!ently when people are
mo#ed into a di%%erent en#ironment the lang!age may lose 9part o%; its %!nctions. 0on#ersely
when another lang!age is introd!ced in a partic!lar en#ironment it may as well be
dys%!nctional %or it does not artic!late the partic!lar local meanings re6!ired %or the
s!stenance o% this en#ironment. This idea in t!rn !nderpins the idea o% ling!istic imperialismin#ariably concei#ed as a non"local lang!age 9!s!ally the e+"colonial lang!age and !s!ally
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8nglish; penetrating or in#ading local spaces and dist!rbing the ecological balance that
e+isted between people their lang!age and c!lt!re and their en#ironment 9Sk!tnabb"Kangas
2:::@ Sk!tnabb"Kangas and ,hillipson 1& 1 and 5e!gh 1 pro#ide e+amples;.
4n s!m what we see here is how lang!age %!nctions are territorialized tied to
partic!lar local en#ironments apparently constr!cted as static. ang!age apparently works
e+cellently in its own original place and it loses %!nctions as soon as the stable original
Ha!tochtono!s( 9or Hnati#e( Haboriginal(; link between lang!age and place is broken.
0onse6!ently a program aimed at stim!lating or promoting these local lang!ages 9in#ariably
mother tong!es o% apparently inherently monoling!al and monoc!lt!ral people; ties the
speakers o% these lang!ages to a place and rein%orces the pres!med %i+ed connection between
people and their en#ironment = a clear re%le+ o% the Sa!ss!rean synchrony.
-ll o% this so!nds more or less acceptable at least when some aspects o% reality are
con#eniently o#erlooked. - rather dist!rbing aspect o% contemporary reality as we know is
mobility. 4n contemporary social str!ct!res people tend to mo#e aro!nd both in real
geographical space and in symbolic social space. -nd all o% these processes o% mobility
appear to display comple+ connections with lang!age 9Eampton 1& 1; incl!ding
lang!age attit!des and lang!age planning.
ang!age as a social thing i.e. something in which people ha#e made in#estments and
to which they ha#e attrib!ted #al!es seems to ha#e awkward relations to space the main a+es
o% which are those o% territorialization and deterritorialization. Territorialization stands %or the
perception and attrib!tion o% #al!es to lang!age as a local phenomenon something which ties
people to local comm!nities and spaces. 0!stomarily people(s mother tong!e 91; is
percei#ed as Hterritorialized lang!age( alongside orality and the !se o% dialects. -ll o% these
%orms o% lang!age emanate locality. 0on#ersely deterritorialization stands %or the perception
and attrib!tion o% #al!es to lang!age as something which does not belong to one locality b!t
which organizes translocal tra>ectories and wider spaces 9Hscale >!mps( in the terminology
de#eloped earlier in this chapter;. Second or other lang!ages 92; as well as ling!a %rancae
and diaspora #arieties standardized #arieties and literacy are seen as Hdeterritorialized
lang!age( lang!age that does not e+cl!si#ely belong to one place 9Aac6!emet 2::: 2::&@
Maryns and ?lommaert 2::1;.
ang!age #ariation allows de%ines and organizes spatial tra>ectories. iteracy allows a
te+t to be mo#ed both physically across spaces in the world as well as symbolically across
social spheres and scales. - standard #ariety o% a lang!age allows mo#ing to ad>acent placeswhere people speak similar dialects as well as across social spaces into the elite.
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4nternational lang!ages s!ch as French or 8nglish allow insertion in large transnational spaces
and networks as well as access to the elites. The di%%erent Htypes( o% lang!ages in short allow
access to di%%erent scales. -ll o% these scalar patterns o% mobility are real they re#ol#e o%ten
aro!nd li%e"chances and opport!nities and conse6!ently people o%ten artic!late relations
between lang!age or code choices and spaces. The choice %or 8nglish or French rather than
indigeno!s lang!ages in ed!cation is at the grassroots le#el o%ten moti#ated by means o%
disco!rses o% Hgetting o!t o% here( and towards partic!lar centers = metropolitan areas = where
!pward social mobility at least looks possible.
Mo#ing thro!gh the #ario!s le#els o% ed!cation o%ten in#ol#es mo#ing thro!gh
layered scaled regimes o% lang!age each time seen as enabling deterritorialization and hence
social as well as geographical mobility. Senses o% belonging into a partic!lar comm!nity
con#ersely o%ten go hand in hand with the creation 9or re"creation; o% partic!lar #arieties that
tie people to that comm!nity while at the same time inde+ing displacement and
deterritorialization. HGangsta( 8nglish %or instance is widespread in -%rican !rban centers as
a lang!age o% the townships and the sl!ms where partic!lar o%ten imaginarily #iolent yo!th
c!lt!res de#elop 9see chapter / below %or a more e+tensi#e disc!ssion;. S!ch ling!istic
ideologies connecting lang!age #arieties to dynamics o% locality and mobility acti#e both at
the %olk and at instit!tional le#els o%ten %oster resistance to the promotion o% indigeno!s
minority lang!ages = a point o%ten reported by %ieldworkers b!t rarely written down in
p!blications.
Tho!gh one might deplore this the reasons are !s!ally so!nd eno!gh. Symbolic
marginalization is o%ten >!st one correlate o% real material marginalization 9Fraser 1&
Stro!d 2::1;@ 1 promotion is a %orm o% symbolic !pgrading o% marginalized reso!rces and
resistance is o%ten based on an ac!te awareness o% the persistence o% real marginalization. 4%
per%ormed within a monoglot strategy 9i.e. a strategy aimed at constr!cting H%!ll
monoling!alism( and re>ecting biling!alism as a road to lang!age attrition or lang!age death;
1 promotion is th!s seen as an instr!ment pre!enting a way o!t o% real marginalization and
amo!nting to keeping people in their marginalized places and locked into one scale"le#el the
local. 4magine a %amily in the #ery marginalized and poor 'orth"8astern parts o% So!th
-%rica speaking Denda. 8d!cation in Denda is likely to be percei#ed as keeping people in the
marginalized region as long as good white"collar >obs and higher ed!cation are in e%%ect
concentrated in places like Aohannesb!rg = and re6!ire access to 8nglish andIor -%rikaans. 4%
the %amily wants to o%%er its children !pward social mobility then it needs to o%%er themgeographical mobility and conse6!ently ling!istic mobility as well. ang!age shi%t !nder
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s!ch conditions is a strategy %or s!r#i#al. 4n the eyes o% the speakers the !pgrading o%
marginalized symbolic goods may still be seen as less empowering than the creation o% access
to the real prestige goods. M!%wene 92::2 3//; capt!res the core o% this wicked problemN
well PiQt sometimes boils down to a choice between sa#ing speakers %rom their economic
predicament and sa#ing a lang!age.N
The cr!+ o% the matter is that we need to think o% iss!es s!ch as ling!istic ine6!ality as
being organized aro!nd concrete reso!rces not aro!nd lang!ages in general b!t speci%ic
registers #arieties genres. -nd s!ch concrete reso!rces %ollow the predicament o% their !sers
when the latter are socially mobile their reso!rces will %ollow this tra>ectory@ when they are
socially marginal their reso!rces will also be dis6!ali%ied. 4n both cases the challenge is to
think o% lang!age as a mobile comple+ o% concrete reso!rces. 4% we %ail to do that we risk
drawing a caricat!re o% social realities and becoming #ery !pset abo!t that caricat!re rather
than abo!t an acc!rate replica o% social processes. This needless to say is a pointless
e+ercise. The matter is o% %!ndamental importance and is easily mis!nderstood and this is
why 4 am emphatic abo!t it. 4n what %ollows 4 will try to pro#ide a clear ill!stration o% what
we are talking abo!t the mobility o% concrete semiotic reso!rces 9not Hlang!ages(; in a
globalized conte+t. There is always a tension between an ideologically percei#ed Hlang!age(
and socioling!istically percei#ed Hreso!rces( as we shall see presently@ globalized economic
%orces acerbate and e+ploit s!ch tensions.
2.#. +elling accent
ang!age policy re#ol#es aro!nd the prod!ction and en%orcement o% norms %or lang!age !se
and its s!ccess is meas!red by the degree to which policy"pre%erred norms are accepted and
spread. Traditionally the state is the ma>or player in the %ield o% lang!age policy. 4t reg!lates
which lang!age9s; and %orms o% literacy are Ho%%icial( and Hnational( and it imposes r!les and
constraints on the !se o% lang!ages and scripts in its realm. Cs!ally the state was and is
concerned with standardized Hlang!ages( that is with one layer o% ling!istic #ariation. The
state howe#er always had to share the space o% norm de%inition and normati#e cond!ct with
other actors = the %amily is one #ery important s!ch actor while ci#il society actors s!ch as
ch!rches are others. Media traditionally by and large s!pported the Ho%%icial( norms imposed
by the state. 4ntralang!age #ariation = dialects accents = was and is within the p!r#iew o% the
indi#id!al citizens or o% gro!ps !sing them to %lag partic!lar identities. -t the national le#el
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they are #ery o%ten seen as the %abric o% national identity and local 9s!b"state; a!thenticity and
o%ten cherished as s!ch 9see e.g. 8lmes 2::&;.
4 ha#e to c!t 6!ite a %ew corners here b!t the point 4 wish to make is that 91; the state
is traditionally a #ery power%!l actor in the %ield o% lang!age norms and traditionally has the
monopoly o% %ormal policy making@ b!t 92; the state has ne#er been the only player in the
%ield o% lang!age norms. 4t has always been a ma>or player b!t ne#er a completely hegemonic
player@ there is always a %orm o% polycentricity a di#ision o% labor between the state and other
actors in this %ield and %ormal lang!age policies compete with the lang!age politics o% other
actors in comple+ webs o% lang!age policing acti#ities. 93; The lang!age policies o% the state
are traditionally aimed at Hlang!ages( only@ the state is !s!ally tolerant when it comes to the
coe+istence o% a m!ltit!de o% dialects and accents in the national lang!age9s; on its territory.
4n ?elgi!m %or instance the state makes no e%%ort to combat regional #ariation in the national
lang!ages French B!tch and German e#en i% the ed!cation system %orce%!lly promotes
standard #arieties o% these lang!ages and e#en i% a modest complaints c!lt!re e+ists abo!t the
!se regionalisms and dialects in the media.
4 will !se these general introd!ctory remarks as the backdrop %or an arg!ment that r!ns
as %ollows. The traditional tolerance o% state policies towards intralang!age #ariation s!ch as
dialects and accents is not matched by the politics o% lang!age o% globalized pri#ate
enterprise actors. hile the state %oc!ses on lang!age new actors o% lang!age
commodi%ication %oc!s on accent and disco!rse th!s creating a market in which sharp
distinctions between speaking right and speaking wrong are artic!lated. S!ch distinctions
draw on globalized orders o% inde+icality normati#e comple+es in which imageries o% global
s!ccess and %ail!re are !sed and 8nglish = the lang!age that de%ines globalization = is o%
co!rse the core o% s!ch orders. The o!tcome o% this is a competiti#e market not >!st o% 8nglish
b!t o% 8nglish accents which de%ies the traditional tolerance o% the state policies as well as
pop!lar 9and academic; perceptions o% accent as prod!cing a!thenticity. 4t creates a new
commodi%ied dialectology and raises 6!ite comple+ iss!es on normati#ity and identity as well
as on the shi%ting balance between %ormal lang!age policies and e6!ally %ormalized lang!age
politics in an age o% globalization. 4t is an instance o% Fo!ca!ltian Hpolicing( = the rational
prod!ction o% order = and it works thro!gh an in%initely detailed attention to cond!ct 9what
Fo!ca!lt P2::& 2::/Q called Hthe care o% the sel%( the perpet!al micro"practices o%
s!b>ecti#ity;. -ccent co!rses prod!ce a regimented s!b>ect that is s!b>ected to r!les o%
Hnormal( speech = speech that is in#isible beca!se it is !ni%orm and homogeneo!s. et !s nowe+amine the proced!res by means o% which this s!b>ecti%ication is e%%ected.
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The internet and the commodification of accent
Eeplacing to some e+tent the older ind!stry o% correspondence co!rses the 4nternet o%%ers a
wide and #irt!ally !ncontrolled space %or lang!age learning packages. They come in all
shapes and sizes and 4 will %oc!s on websites o%%ering co!rses in -merican accent. 4 do this
beca!se they mani%estly bank on two di%%erent things 91; the worldwide Hstampede towards
8nglish( 9de Swaan 2::1; inspired by the global perception o% 8nglish as the lang!age that
de%ines !pwardly mobile tra>ectories@ 92; a partic!lar imagery o% the CS and -merican
c!lt!ral symbols as being in the %ore%ront o% globalization and o% !pward global mobility. 4n
other words we get the so"called HMcBonaldization( o% the world ca!ght metonymically in
packages %or ac6!iring an -merican"so!nding #ariety o% 8nglish. hat is spread is o% co!rse
not >!st the prod!ct b!t also the ad>ecti#es !sed to 6!ali%y it not >!st the lang!age as ling!istic
str!ct!re b!t the lang!age as a densely loaded ideological %ormat something that is %ar more
than a lang!age b!t also an ac6!irable imagery o% the Sel% as being Hin the world(.
et me note %rom the o!tset that altho!gh -merican accent websites may o%%er !s the
most o!tspoken e+amples o% s!ch dense ideological packaging websites o%%ering packages in
other lang!ages and #arieties do the same be it slightly less e+plicitly. They all o%%er lang!age
and the social tra>ectories it is s!pposed to pro#ide or open. -merican accent websites are not
!ni6!e b!t ill!strati#e o% a broader pattern o% ideological packaging o% commodi%ied
lang!ages and #arieties. e sho!ld also obser#e right %rom the start that these websites ne#er
o%%er Ha( lang!age in its totality. hat they o%%er is a register = a speci%ic bit o% lang!age
tailored to the immediate needs or desires o% the c!stomers. hat is o%%ered is something that
gi#es the impression o% lang!age a pragmatic and metapragmatic component to lang!age
competence that inde+ically emanates the right ideological package. The point is not to learn
-merican 8nglish b!t to sound like an -merican. The lang!age policing here operates on
s!b"lang!age ob>ects.
'ote that the real CS society is o% co!rse #ery m!ch a Hm!lti"accent( society. -part
%rom the well"known regional #arieties 9e.g. Te+an -ppalachian; a #isit to any big hotel in the
CS teaches !s that atino 8astern"8!ropean and -sian accents are #ery m!ch accepted as
working #arieties o% -merican 8nglish. The H-merican accent( sold by the 4nternet companies
we consider here is o%ten based on the 8ast"Midwest 9Michigan 4llinois; accent presented
here as the ne!tral Haccent"less( -merican accent. That in itsel% deser#es more disc!ssionspace than what 4 can spend on it here. The point is 4nternet pro#iders sell a Hstandard9ized;
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accent( a regional accent 9H-merican(; that carries all the ideological %eat!res o% a
standard9ized; lang!age. ith these two ca#eats in mind let !s now t!rn to the websites
themsel#es.
0onsider %ig!re $ taken %rom a website called H-merican -ccent 'ow(
9www.-merican"accent"now.com;1
9F4GCE8 $ 58E8. 0aption H-merican -ccent 'ow(;
e see se#eral things here. First o% co!rse we see two %ig!res a mani%estly happy yo!ng
white man and a mani%estly %r!strated -sian woman. e can ass!me that the man has
ac6!ired an -merican accent 9or had one right %rom the start; and that the -sian woman
hasn(t. The reason why she is %r!strated can be read %rom the bo+es one can check to
demonstrate the ways in which a non"-merican accent pre#ents yo! %rom achie#ing yo!r
pro%essional and personal goals.N Eespondents = prospecti#e c!stomers = are re6!ested to
identi%y the single biggest problem with yo!r accent.N The two categories can be di#ided as
%ollows
,ro%essional
"4 ha#e been denied a >ob promotion
"My clients 9or patients or colleag!es; o%ten mis!nderstand me
" 4 %ailed to get a >ob 4 was 6!ali%ied %or
"My boss 9or teacher; doesn(t gi#e me the respect 4 deser#e
"4 make less money than less e+perienced people who ha#e a better pron!nciation
,ersonal
",eople think 4(m less smart than 4 am
"4 %ind it #ery hard to socialize with -mericans in personal and b!siness settings
",eople sometimes la!gh at the way 4 talk
e now begin to disco#er the strange world we ha#e entered. 4t is a world in which inde+ical
#al!es and social e%%ects o% lang!age = !s!ally tacit ideological %eat!res o% lang!age !se = are
made #ery e+plicit both in te+t and in images. The key to getting the >obs one deser#es and to
earning the money one is entitled to is pron!nciation. -n image o% personality is in#oked thatmakes this red!ction possible the prospecti#e c!stomer is already smart entitled to better
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>obs and a s!perior income and entitled to respect %rom one(s s!periors. So ac6!iring the
accent will so to speak release all o% these 6!alities to be seen %or e#eryone. -c6!iring an
-merican accent will in the eyes o% the interloc!tors t!rn yo! into the person yo! really are.
'ot e#eryone is a prospecti#e c!stomer o% co!rse. -s we co!ld see in the images !sed
by -merican -ccent 'ow the %r!strated s!b>ect was -sian and the happy one was what is
known in the CS as a H0a!casian(. ebsites make general targeted statements abo!t Hstrong
%oreign accents(
- strong %oreign accent can pre#ent yo! %rom achie#ing yo!r pro%essional or personal
goals and reaching yo!r %!ll potential. ,eople sho!ldn(t ha#e to ask yo! to repeat what
yo! said. 4n today(s competiti#e corporate en#ironment clear pron!nciation and
correct grammar are a m!st. 9-cc!rate 8nglish www.acc!rateenglish.com;
-nd what is meant by Hstrong %oreign( accent is o%ten doc!mented in the F-Y or Testimonials
pages o% s!ch websites and almost in#ariably this is done by re%erence to Hnational( accents.
Some 8!ropean accents s!ch as French German and e#en ?ritish accents are seen as
partic!larly prone to mis!nderstanding -sian accents s!ch as 4ndian 0hinese and Aapanese
accents nat!rally mo#e in the danger zone o% globalized comprehensibility and Middle
8astern accents are problematic thro!gho!t. They are problematic in contacts with Hnati#e
speakers(
*!r accent red!ction and -merican pron!nciation co!rses will teach yo! to create the
so!nds o% Standard -merican 8nglish and gi#e yo! greater con%idence in yo!r
comm!nication skills with nati#e speakers o% 8nglish. 9-cc!rate 8nglish;
PTestimonial %rom an H4ranian dental st!dent(Q 5i my name is Sanaz. -bo!t a year ago
when 4 came to the C.S. 4 was #ery con%!sed. 4 was in c!lt!re shock. Thanks to God
it happened to me to meet #ery lo#ely people. They ga#e me co!rage to deal with all
new things as well as they helped me to impro#e my 8nglish and ga#e me con%idence
to speak 8nglish. -mong them two people were so special %or me" Sheri and Mark
Pthe -ccent orkshop trainersQ. 'ot only they were %ab!lo!s teachers they were #ery
help%!l %riends. Oo! can always tr!st their opinion. 4Zll ne#er %orget the great in%l!ence
that Sheri and Mark ha#e on my 8nglish. 4Zm really happy to meet them. 9The-merican -ccent orkshop www.accentworkshop.com;
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Sanaz e+perienced Hcon%!sion( and Hc!lt!re shock( !pon his arri#al in the CS and the
-merican accent co!rse ga#e him Hco!rage( and Hcon%idence( to speak -merican 8nglish and
this capacity clearly helped him o#ercome his initial %eelings. 'ote the %re6!ent re%erences to
H%eelgood( %actors s!ch as Hcon%idence(.2 Speaking in an -merican accent makes people more
con%ident in contacts with their -merican nati#e"speaker co!nterparts
PTestimonial %rom a Spanish male aboratory managerQ The -cc!rate 8nglish accent
red!ction co!rses sho!ld be a [m!st[ %or all pro%essionals whose %oreign accent gets in
the way o% clear comm!nication. Taking the co!rses has greatly impro#ed my
pron!nciation o% -merican 8nglish so!nds and made a big di%%erence in my speech.
My presentations at work are m!ch better. 4 speak with more con%idence and
a!thority. 9-cc!rate 8nglish;
PTestimonial %rom an 4sraeli male comp!ter cons!ltantQ ?e%ore 4 started taking the
classes 4 co!ldnZt prono!nce certain #owel so!nds correctly. isa Pthe trainerQ
identi%ied the iss!es and ta!ght me to listen and to e+press mysel% in a nati#e way. 5er
c!stomized method allowed me to 6!anti%y my weekly impro#ements. -%ter a
relati#ely short time 4 noticed ma>or progress in the way 4 speak. This lead PsicQ to an
!ne+pected increase in my con%idence when comm!nicating. 4 highly recommend the
-merican ,ron!nciation co!rse. 9-cc!rate 8nglish;
The bene%its o% accent modi%ication can be yo!rs
"0lear !nderstandable speech
"8%%icient e%%ecti#e comm!nication
"0areer opport!nities
"4mpro#ed >ob per%ormance
"S!ccess%!l p!blic speaking
"More con%idence 9-d#ance -merican -ccent Training www.ad#anceamericanaccent.com;
The Hcon%idence( promised or reported in these e+amples is a mi+t!re o% personal and
pro%essional %eat!res. ,eople are more con%ident in general they %eel better a%ter ha#ing taken
the co!rses and they also per%orm better in their >obs as well. The Spanish aboratory
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Manager reported signi%icant impro#ements in his presentations at work and -d#ance
-merican -ccent Training promises not >!st Hmore con%idence( b!t also Hcareer opport!nities(
as well as Himpro#ed >ob per%ormance(. The implicit image is that o% a Hpro%essional(
someone whose >ob is a central part o% hisIher li%e and %or whom pro%essional !nhappiness is
e6!al to personal !nhappiness. Most websites th!s wo!ld s!ggest mi+t!res o% pro%essional
and personal res!lts %or their accent co!rses and we see a sort o% contin!!m here with some
websites s!ggesting more pro%essional bene%its than personal ones. 0onsider the ne+t
e+ample %rom the -ccent Eed!ction 4nstit!te 9www.lessaccent.com; a website that sho!ts
ose yo!r accent in 2< daysN
The -ccent Eed!ction 4nstit!te 9-E4; is the ind!stry leader in -merican -ccent
Training pro#iding non"nati#e 8nglish speakers with pro#en techni6!es to 6!ickly
master 8nglish pron!nciation. -E4 pro#ides the tools to help people maintain their
!ni6!e c!lt!ral identity while
← 8liminating lang!age barriers and miscomm!nications
← 4ncreasing sales and pro%itability
← 0omm!nicating e+pertise to c!stomers
← ?!ilding strong teams
← 4ncreasing e%%iciencies
← Eaising sel%"con%idence
HSel%"con%idence( has been p!shed into a small corner here and the main ad#ertisement claims
are abo!t pro%essional aims. 'ote howe#er that c!stomers can maintain their !ni6!e
c!lt!ral identity.N 4 shall come back to that below. 0omm!nicaid 9www.comm!nicaid.com; in
the meantime is clear abo!t its b!siness"oriented e%%iciency
hy -merican -ccent Training7 ith the proli%eration o% o%%shore operations in
locations as di#erse as 4ndia the ,hilippines So!th -%rica and 0hina organizations
need to ens!re that their o%%shore employees are able to comm!nicate e%%ecti#ely with
c!stomers and colleag!es alike. - #ital ingredient o% s!ccess%!l comm!nication %or
yo!r o#erseas sta%% is their accent when speaking 8nglish.
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The impact o% First ang!age 4n%l!ence 9F4; on an o%%shore employee(s accent can
not be !nderestimated. -merican -ccent training %rom 0omm!nicaid will help yo!r
o#erseas sta%% to minimise the in%l!ence o% their %irst lang!age while ma+imising their
comm!nication with yo!r c!stomers thro!gh a ne!tral accent. hether thro!gh online
-merican -ccent Training co!rses #irt!al -merican -ccent training or %ace"to"%ace
accent instr!ction 0omm!nicaid o%%ers scaleable -merican accent training sol!tions
%or yo!r organization(s o%%shore operations.
- 0omm!nicaid -merican -ccent Training co!rse will pro#ide yo!r o%%shore
personnel with the ability to
" 0omm!nicate more e%%iciently and e%%ecti#ely with c!stomers and colleag!es by red!cing their %irst lang!age in%l!enced accent
" ?!ild rapport and empathy and strengthen relationships with c!stomers and
colleag!es thro!gh more s!ccess%!l comm!nication
" 8nhance yo!r c!stomer e+perience and satis%action
The target gro!ps are here clearly the e#er"increasing work%orce o% international call centers
and most o% the -merican accent websites wo!ld make e+plicit or implicit re%erence to call
centers as a target or a s!ccess story. Th!s the Testimonials page o% the ,ron!nciation
orkshop 9www.pron!nciationworkshop.com; reports
This is by %ar the M*ST 8FF80T4D8 8nglish ,ron!nciation program 4 ha#e e#er
seen. 4 am an -merican -ccent Trainer in 4ndia and ha#e trained 22::: agents. -%ter
taking this program 4 wish there was a way to go back and start all o#er again.
" %or/ak* oyce -merican -ccent Trainer = 4ndia
4 am the 5ead o% the Training Bepartment o% the orldZs Second argest 0all 0enter
0ompany in 4ndia. e ha#e %ootprints in o#er $: co!ntries aro!nd the world
incl!ding many centers in Cnited States as well. 4 ha#e been working in the 0all
0enter 4nd!stry in 4ndia %or the past < years. ?eca!se we cater to -merica %or years
we ha#e been searching %or a cost e%%ecti#e training method to learn the -merican
style o% 8nglish ,ron!nciation howe#er ha#e had no l!ck...that is !ntil we %o!nd the
,ron!nciationorkshop program. hile searching thro!gh Google one day 4 came
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across the ,ron!nciationorkshop website and watched the %ree demo LLe %o!nd
that demo to be S4M,O -M-\4'G STCFF 4nstead o% showing
diagrams #is!als combined with phonetics there was ,a!l.. - 4D8 TE-4'8ELL
S5*4'G 54S M*CT5 F*EM-T4*' and the T805'4YC8S to get a clearer
so!nd. 4 6!ickly showed it to my 08* and he was amazed as well. hatZs !ni6!e
abo!t ,a!lZs co!rse is how simple it is...as well as %!n to watch. My sta%% always looks
%orward to working on this program...e seem to learn something new e#ery time we
watch another #ideo and it has made remarkable changes in o!r speech and 8nglish
skills. e ha#e implemented this training appro+imately si+ months ago to impro#e
o!r c!stomer satis%action scores. 'ot only ha#e we seen signi%icant impro#ements
with o!r scores b!t o!r -#erage 0all 5andle Time per c!stomer has red!ced
appro+imately by 2] in the last $ months as the agents do not need to repeat
themsel#es. ooking into the s!ccess o% the program at o!r center we ha#e also asked
,a!l to de#elop a certi%ication program. 4 mysel% as well as members o% my sta%% ha#e
gone thro!gh telephonic training with ,a!l one"on"one. ,a!l makes learning so m!ch
FC' and has changed the way we speak 8nglish. Today 4 am pro!d to say that the
entire training department has become 0erti%ied by ,ron!nciation orkshop. 4 cannot
praise this co!rse eno!gh 9...; 4t is tr!ly 6!ite an achie#ement and 4 know yo! will be
e+tremely pleased as well." 4oy 5eb 6ukheree Birector o% Training = 4ndia
The tr!ly remarkable thing abo!t ,a!lZs Pthe trainerQ program is how simple and
e%%ecti#e it is...and his engaging persona really p!lls yo! in. 5ere in 4ndia !sing this
program we are able to take an indi#id!al who is C'8M,*O-?8 %or the o%%shore
booming call center ind!stry and make him 8M,*O-?8 with a good >ob which
pays well in less than two and hal% months... ThatZs the ,ower o% ,a!lZs program 5eis changing li#es on the opposite side o% the world " +anay 6ehta Managing
Birector Teleper%ormance 4ndia
-nd -merican -ccent 9www.americanaccent.com; sees a direct link between its online
teaching methodology and its prospecti#e c!stomers the call center workers
)t 7orks
8uick, 9asy an :ully Automate
Gi#en the power%!l combination o% high aptit!de and a pro#en methodology
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designated trainees easily and ,uic&ly pick !p on the accent.
,eople !sed to think that classroom training is the best method b!t %or the ideal call
center candidate yo! %ant someone who is completely com%ortable in the #irt!al
en#ironment "" %rom initial training thro!gh to long"term >ob satis%action.
-ll o% this is in a way s!mmarized and hyperbolically ill!strated by the start page o% the
,ron!nciation orkshop 9%ig!re &;.
9F4GCE8 & 58E8. 0aption H,ron!nciation orkshop(;
lobal inde!icals of success
-merican accent personal happiness and sel%"con%idence smooth and e%%icient
comm!nication with -mericans >ob satis%action b!siness opport!nities and money this is the
package sold by these dot"com b!sinesses. The package consists o% Hlang!age( itsel% 9or
register"bits thereo%; as well as representations o% it and o% what it has to o%%er its speakers
and at a #ery implicit le#el representations o% H-merica( o% what -merica is as a society and
o% the socioc!lt!ral pre%erences and e+pectations o% H-mericans(.3 Following Sil#erstein
92::b $<&; we can call this Hsemiotic cons!bstantiality( yo! are 9or become; what yo!
speak and speaking it 9mysterio!sly; trans%orms yo! into what is inde+ically s!ggested by the
speech. The pro#iders sell these cons!bstantialities to the people who are at the heart o%
globalization processes e+patriate 9i.e. deterritorialized or peripatetic; pro%essionals h!ngry
%or s!ccess opport!nity and money and call center operati#es in Hdelocalized( and inherently
mobile areas o% the b!siness world. -nd they sell them by means o% that de%ining technology
o% globalization the 4nternet. The target a!diences %or these websites are not the masses o%
poor migrants %rom the margins o% the world not the ,hilippine domestic workers who ha#e
become one o% their nation(s main e+port ind!stries and not the ho!sewi#es who >oin their
e+patriate h!sbands. The target a!diences are the scale">!mpers who embody globalization as
a s!ccess story = they are in other words a #ery small segment o% the %lows o% people that
characterize contemporary globalization. -nd one o% the ad#antages o% these materials is that
they begin to show !s a pict!re o% what Hs!ccess( means within this imagery o% globalization.
For what the websites do is to ab!ndantly %lag what Sil#erstein 92::b $<; calls 9with
respect to dictionary ca!tions s!ch as Hslang( or Hobscene(; register alertsN. S!ch alerts
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gi#e normati#e inde+ical properties o% a le+eme(s appropriateness"to and
e%%ecti#eness"in co9n;te+ts 9L; o% occ!rrence where to !se it and what socially
speaking will happen when yo! do.N
4% we replace Hle+eme( by Haccent( we ha#e 4 belie#e an acc!rate description o% what these
websites try to achie#e to o#ertly speci%y the rich inde+icals that come with the lang!age in
normati#e terms@ to e+plicitly describe in s!m an order o% inde+icality %or the !se o% s!ch an
accent yo! must !se this accent i% yo! want to become the person yo! intend to be. 'at!rally
there is a hierarchization in#ol#ed in this not e#ery kind o% speech is ade6!ate and only this
kind o% speech will do.
e see this clearly %rom the way in which the websites de%ine the e+ercise they e+pect%rom and o%%er to coach to their c!stomers. First it is not >!st abo!t ac,uiring a new accent
b!t e#en more abo!t getting rid of another accent 9ose yo!r accent in 2< daysN;. 5ence the
o%ten !sed label o% Haccent red!ction( as a descriptor o% the co!rses o%%ered. The e+isting
accents are wrong
e %oc!s on correcting yo!r biggest speaking errors %irst. -%ter the %irst lesson yo!
will already %eel more con%ident abo!t yo!r speechN 9-cc!rate 8nglish;
'obody had e#er been able to tell me what e+actly was wrong with my speech !ntil 4
took the -cc!rate 8nglish accent red!ction co!rse. There was a noticeable di%%erence
in my speech a%ter only a %ew lessons. 4 see this co!rse as an in#estment in my %!t!re.
4 learned how to strengthen my 0hinese tong!eN to create the so!nds o% good
-merican 8nglish. 9Testimonial page -cc!rate 8nglish;
They are also as we saw in se#eral o% the e+amples abo#e an obstacle to personal and
b!siness s!ccess a so!rce o% %r!stration 9recall the image o% the -sian woman; something
that can hamper indi#id!als and corporations in their ambition. So what is at stake is one
co!ld say ling!istic p!ri%ication as the %irst step to ling!istic readiness %or the globalized
world. -nd at the core o% this process o% p!ri%ication we see an image o% the regimented
s!b>ect someone who can %ace the challenges o% postmodern globalized e+istence pro#ided
heIshe s!bmits to the process o% p!ri%ication and conse6!ently sacri%ices hisIher indi#id!al
agency in a 6!est %or !ni%ormity and homogeneity.
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-t this point the locality and a!thenticity we enco!nter in pop!lar political and
academic disco!rses on dialects and accents is %ar away. There is little #al!e to the ling!istic
signs o% belonging and a!thenticity that !s!ally go !nder the label o% Haccent(. *r at least
there is clearly a differential #al!e to di%%erent accents. hile %oreign accents are remarkable
a!dible and problematic and hence need to be red!ced or eliminated -merican accent itsel%
is !nmarked !nremarkable !nnoticed. *nce yo! ac6!ire -merican accent yo!r speech
becomes Hnormal( in#isible !nremarkable and can so become a #ehicle %or He%%icient(
Hsmooth( Hclear( Hcon%ident( and Hcon#incing( comm!nication 9see -cc!rate 8nglish(s
website banner 5elping %oreign pro%essionals to comm!nicate with confidence clarity and
accuracyN;. -merican accent is not really an Haccent( like e.g. a German"8nglish or 4ndian"
8nglish accent = it is a ne!tral tool a p!rely ling!istic"comm!nicati#e instr!ment. Th!s in
the e+amples abo#e we saw how 0omm!nicaid pro>ected trained employees as ma+imising
their comm!nication with yo!r c!stomers thro!gh a neutral accentN while they minimize the
in%l!ence o% their %irst lang!ageN 9italics added;. -nd in their F-Y section -merican -ccent
reass!res its c!stomers as %ollows$
4s this slang7
'o o% co!rse not. Standard -merican 8nglish pron!nciation is di%%erent %rom spelling
b!t it is not slang.
-merican accent th!s is the He+nominated( accent to !se a term coined by ?arthes
91&/; to denote the bo!rgeoisie. The bo!rgeoisie ?arthes said was so hegemonic that they
ceased to be percei#ed and named as bo!rgeoisie@ they were >!st Hthe people(. -merican
accent then is the accent that is no longer an accent b!t >!st a #ehicle %or doing st!%%. 4t is >!st
a Hnormal( e+pected c!stomary and e%%icient language. 9This is where we see how -merican
accent is ideologically represented as a standard9ized; lang!age.; 4% yo! !se it well it helps
yo! achie#e the goals yo! ha#e set in li%e prosperity s!ccess happiness. -nd while as the
-ccent Eed!ction 4nstit!te claims c!stomers can maintain their !ni6!e c!lt!ral identityN
when they wish to be the globalized actors they aspire to be they need to change and become
socioling!istically in#isible. Their !ni6!e c!lt!ral identityN sho!ld not transpire %rom their
speech. -s %or -merican c!lt!ral identities they can also be st!died in co!rses pro#ided by
the websites
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The American Psyche
Typical c!lt!re pieces seek to in%orm a trainee o% %acts abo!t -merica. This
in%ormation howe#er is readily a#ailable #ia the media and the 4nternet and can be
easily ac6!ired once the st!dent has a standard accent. The --T c!lt!re piece on the
other hand deals with the -merican psyche. Trainees learn how -mericans think what
is important to them and how best to get them to respond in the desired way.
9-merican -ccent;
Th!s one remains H4ndian( while one can so!nd H-merican(. -nd to the e+tent that accents
betray the li%e"histories o% their !sers and in partic!lar the histories o% instit!tionalized and
m!ndane lang!age !sage and learning so!nding -merican means that all o% this has to be
backgro!nded. -n 4ndian accent in 8nglish is the res!lt o% lang!age learning processes in
4ndia and the accent displays all the socioling!istic diacritics we know age gender class
ed!cational backgro!nd and so on. -n -merican accent co!rse remo#es all o% this
identi%icatory !ni6!eness and replaces it by an e+nominated and translocal pres!med ne!tral
and !ni%orm accent.
The e%%ort that trainees sho!ld in#est in this process o% remo#al and replacement is
considerable. -part %rom a signi%icant %inancial di#estment in registering the co!rses they are
e+pected to b!y books 0Bs and BDBs ha#e telephone t!torials with their trainers record
their own speeches and listen to them seek in%ormal comm!nication opport!nities with
Hnati#e speakers( and e#en attenti#ely watch TD
hen yo! are watching TD look at the mo!th mo#ements o% the speakers. Eepeat
what they are saying imitating the intonation and rhythm o% their speech 9-cc!rate
8nglish;
?!t as we saw in an earlier e+ample the e%%ort pays o!r -#erage 0all 5andle Time per
c!stomer has red!ced appro+imately by 2] in the last $ months as the agents do not need to
repeat themsel#esN. e also saw in se#eral e+amples gi#en earlier that indi#id!als re%erred to
their e+perience with s!ch co!rses as e#ents that made them gain sel%"con%idence the respect
o% their peers or s!periors and !pward social mobility. 5ere is an ideologically rich and well"
mat!red sign the idea that hard work to change onesel% will res!lt in material as well as
symbolic rewards. The -merican dream is here pro>ected onto the symbolic c!rrencymarketed by these b!sinesses -merican accent.
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S!mmarizing we see the %ollowing pict!re. 0!stomers who s!bscribe to these co!rses
b!y a package consisting o% lang!age as well as o% representations o% lang!age society and
sel#es. They are e+pected to change themsel#es by Hred!cing( their nonnati#e accents in
8nglish and by adopting with great in#estments o% e%%ort an accent that makes them
socioling!istically inconspic!o!s and changes their speech %rom something that contains side"
tracking Hnoise( 9their H%oreign accent(; to a normal !ni%orm !npec!liar and th!s no longer
distracting tool o% comm!nication. This e%%ort is rewarding beca!se it will remo#e the
%r!stration res!lting %rom 9repeated; mis!nderstandings d!e to the Hnoise( in their speech it
will allow -mericans th!s to see them %or what they tr!ly are and this then will o%%er
socially !pward mobility. This 4 wo!ld #ent!re is the c!lt!ral semantics o% these co!rses the
ordered comple+ o% inde+icals s!ggested by -merican accent co!rses as a way to global
s!ccess.
"iscussion
This c!lt!ral semantics is a bit disconcerting o% co!rse. e li#e in a world in which lang!age
learning en#ironments especially %or 8nglish become highly di#ersi%ied and now incl!de
p!rely %ormal en#ironments 9state"controlled o%%icial c!rric!la and school programs; as well
as p!rely in%ormal ones 9the global media and pop!lar c!lt!re empires; with se#eral hybrid
%orms in between s!ch as the websites e+amined here. 4n this highly polycentric learning
en#ironment some actors are s!b>ect to %ormal and sometimes rather rigid state policies = the
%ormal learning en#ironments typically are = while others escape s!ch %orms o% imposed
normati#ity. The websites disc!ssed here 4 s!ggest contain a #ery clear and rather transparent
lang!age policing which while being in%ormal 9in the sense o% Hnot controlled by e+ternal
a!thorities(; is stable predictable and hegemonic. 4t taps into widespread and #ery power%!l
images o% globalization as centered on the CS and re#ol#ing aro!nd 8nglish corporate c!lt!re
and indi#id!al spatial and social mobility. These images show traces o% one o% -ppad!rai(s
91; Hidioscapes( = globally distrib!ted socioc!lt!ral and ideological scenarios = notably o%
what Fairclo!gh 92::; called Hglobalizm(. This is an e%%ect !ndo!btedly o% the partic!lar
composition o% their pro>ected a!diences prospecti#e c!stomers as said earlier do not belong
to the Hlosers( o% globalization b!t rather to its Hwinners( globally mobile pro%essionals who
ha#e the wherewithal to make the best o% the opport!nities o%%ered by globalization processes.
?!t its remarkable !ni%ormity betrays the sel%"e#idence o% a strong hegemony %or s!ch #iewsamong the comm!nity o% !sers o% these websites.
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This o% co!rse sho!ld warn !s against making 6!ick generalizations abo!t lang!age
in globalization. e are not %acing the emergence o% a wholesale new global order o%
disco!rse here b!t rather a highly niched phenomenon that a%%ects the li#es o% relati#ely
restricted gro!ps o% people and that is an effect o% larger and slower globalization processes =
the dereg!lation o% international b!siness acti#ity and labor the de#elopment o% #irt!al spaces
%or comm!nication commodi%ication and learning s!ch as the 4nternet and the power o% more
general ideologies and disco!rses s!ch as globalizm. Socioling!istic globalization is not the
engine behind globalization b!t an epiphenomenon o% larger processes that are o% a %ar more
%!ndamental nat!re and ha#e a %ar greater historical depth. Most people in the world do not
want to spend money to learn -merican accents. 4n e%%ect most people co!ldn(t care less.
5a#ing said that phenomena s!ch as the ones e+amined here still do teach !s a thing
or two abo!t lang!age in globalization. *ne thing we see here is that the ob>ect o% globalized
commodi%ication is accent and not language. This is a commodi%ied dialectology not >!st
lang!age learning. 4n#estigations s!ch as the ones reported here pro#ide !s with a more %ine"
grained #iew o% socioling!istic globalization processes. They are de%initely not !ni%orm nor
are they e+cl!si#ely !ni%ormizing they are layered processes de#eloping at se#eral #ery
di%%erent scale"le#els. The global p!rchase o% 8nglish = what de Swaan 92::1; called the
Hstampede towards 8nglish( = is a phenomenon at one scale"le#el a #ery general one and
conse6!ently one that in act!al socioling!istic practice wo!ld appear as a relati#ely
widespread b!t s!per%icial phenomenon. The marketing o% -merican accents on the contrary
re#ol#es aro!nd speci%ic socioling!istic registers targeted at speci%ic 9rather small; gro!ps.
These gro!ps we can ass!me already Hknow 8nglish( b!t they re6!ire a more speci%ic set o%
ling!istic pragmatic and metapragmatic skills = to so!nd like an -merican. The scale o% s!ch
processes is %ar smaller than that o% Hglobal 8nglishes( b!t the process appears a lot more
de#eloped and ha#ing a more pro%o!nd impact. Gi#en the homogenizing Hsemiotic
cons!bstantiality( we witnessed in these dot"com 8nglishes we co!ld say that this 9rather than
the Himperialist( spread o% 8nglish tout court ; is real HMcBonaldization( c!stomers are
e+pected not >!st to b!y the lang!age b!t also the whole inde+ical 9that is ideological;
package it contains and to do so %rom within a narrowly de%ined Hglobalizt( world#iew. These
are di%%erent processes to be s!re = perhaps complimentary b!t of a different order . -nd 4
wo!ld s!ggest that a so!nd socioling!istics o% globalization sho!ld not >!st look at the world
and its lang!ages b!t also to the world and its registers genres repertoires and styles i% it
wants to ha#e any empirical gro!nding. 4t is in small"scale niched phenomena s!ch as thoseconsidered here that we see real lang!age lang!age that is in#ested by real"world interests
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and lang!age that matters to real people. This nat!rally is no longer the Hling!istic( lang!age
neither is it the lang!age !sed in o%%icial lang!age policies b!t it is the socioling!istic
lang!age and the lang!age o% the e#eryday politics o% lang!age prod!ced and artic!lated in a
polycentric en#ironment by a m!ltit!de o% 9o%ten ephemeral; actors.
This leads !s to a second point abo!t globalization. Gi#en the intense polycentricity o%
learning en#ironments and the %act that globalization processes de#elop at se#eral di%%erent
scale"le#els the iss!e o% normati#ity becomes 6!ite comple+. hat is the stat!s o% lang!age
norms who prod!ces them and who en%orces them7 These are 6!estions that now re6!ire a
detailed e+amination o% actors instr!ments goals and reso!rces. -merican accent websites
cater %or a market that is not ser#iced by the national %ormal learning systems. 4ndians who
ha#e ac6!ired 8nglish at school and seek employment in global call centers need to be
retrained in -merican accent beca!se their school 8nglish bears too many traces o% what in
o!r e+amples was called Hstrong %oreign accent(. The state o%%ers H8nglish( 9with an accent;
the 4nternet companies o%%er another 9a better ; accent. Th!s we see how actors collaborate in
the prod!ction o% lang!age norms in an interdependent comple+ o% actors the school system
prod!ces H8nglish( !sing its own pedagogies and orders o% inde+icality@ b!t in order to
ac6!ire the speci%ic kind o% 8nglish that o%%ers >obs in the globalized economy people need to
t!rn to pri#ate pro#iders who impose yet another set o% norms and r!les o% proper speech.
These pri#ate pro#iders are not tied to the national order o% things their acti#ities are Hborder
b!sting( in nat!re and interestingly their c!lt!ral semantics re#ol#es aro!nd !ni%ormity
homogeneity and s!bmission = a #ery modernist response to globalized post"modern
press!res.
-n important %eat!re o% globalization processes is the %act that they blend the local and
the translocal in comple+ networks 90astells 1;. ocal socioling!istic systems
conse6!ently are shot thro!gh by traces and %ragments o% translocal ones witho!t howe#er
becoming less local 9as we shall see in chapter 3;. -nd the lang!age that is Hgood( in the local
socioling!istic system may not be good eno!gh in the translocal ones = which is why 4ndian
call center workers need to learn American 8nglish and sho!ld not !se their local accents. e
th!s see #ario!s orders o% inde+icality operate in the same polycentric en#ironment o%ten
witho!t mani%est o#erlap or con%!sion b!t Hniched( and con%ined to partic!lar sets o%
comm!nicati#e tasks. 5ighly skilled indi#id!als s!ch as the globalized pro%essionals targeted
by the -merican accent marketeers ac6!ire and m!st ac6!ire the reso!rces that allow them
to operate within and across these di%%erent orders o% inde+icality. ,redictably lang!age th!s becomes something that re6!ires contin!o!sly more in#estment %rom its !sers and lang!age
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learning 9more speci%ically the learning o% speci%ic registers tailored to partic!lar
comm!nicati#e tasks; will increasingly become a balancing act between %ormal and in%ormal
learning processes. 4t becomes in e%%ect a permanent Hcare o% the sel%( in Fo!ca!lt(s 92::&;
sense a permanent 6!est %or order by attending to the small details o% ling!istic cond!ct.
5ighly specialized pro#iders s!ch as the ones described here capable o% o%%ering these
microscopic de%initional registers o% s!b>ecti%ication as operational 9ling!istic; and ideological
9inde+ical; packages may thri#e in this bra#e new world o% lang!age.
2.$. ;onclusion
So how messy is this new globalized marketplace now7 4n this chapter we ha#e co#ered 6!ite
a bit o% space starting %rom some strange phenomena in which we saw how Hlang!age(
s!rrenders 9or at least dramatically changes; its c!stomary %!nctions d!e to patterns o%
mobility. Mobility does some things to lang!age to be s!re. 4n an attempt towards str!ct!ring
o!r !nderstanding o% s!ch patterns o% mobility 4 then o%%ered a small #ocab!lary consisting o%
the concepts o% scale orders o% inde+icality and polycentricity. 4 s!ggested that we sho!ld
!nderstand comm!nication phenomena as de#eloping at di%%erent scales on which di%%erent
orders o% inde+icality operate res!lting in a polycentric conte+t %or s!ch comm!nication
phenomena = that is a conte+t in which m!ltiple normati#e comple+es are sim!ltaneo!sly at
work b!t are o% a di%%erent order. e saw s!ch %orms o% polycentricity in the #ario!s
e+amples gi#en in this chapter notably in the ways in which 4nternet lang!age"learning
pro#iders sell -merican accent they create an order o% inde+icality that operates alongside
b!t not necessarily in con%lict with state"organized normati#e comple+es #alid in %ormal
ed!cation systems. The local and the translocal appear together as di%%erent %orces operating
on the same ob>ect = lang!age.
The res!lt was comple+ity b!t it was not chaos. 4t is too easy to see the ate"Modern
globalized world as one in which order is lost and replaced by disorder %ragmentation and
chaos as a place where no single instr!ment o% power can %!lly dominate and impose its r!les
on the %ield. S!re instr!ments o% power now co"occ!r in comple+ patterns o% power"sharing
9as we saw in the case o% the internet -merican accent pro#iders; and s!re the simplicity o%
modernist !nderstandings o% the world can no longer be maintained. ?!t there is still order = a
more comple+ kind o% order b!t a real one. The %act that the state now competes with
n!mero!s other actors in the %ield o% lang!age normati#ity doesn(t abolish the state as arele#ant le#el o% power@ it co!ches the state in a wider %ield o% power relations in which its
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orders o% inde+icality now co"e+ist alongside n!mero!s others in a layered scaled
polycentric en#ironment. e shall ret!rn to the power o% the state in chapter . The analytical
task now is to describe and interpret polycentricity not simple dominance. e ha#e to come
to terms with notions s!ch as micro"hegemonies restricted Hniched( hegemonies that co"e+ist
with others in polycentric en#ironments. S!ch a #iew can pro%itably replace older #iews o%
hegemony artic!lated e.g. in ling!istic rights disco!rses where a single hegemony 9that o%
8nglish; and a single actor 9the state; is seen as de%ining the patterns o% socioling!istic li%e.
There is not m!ch p!rchase in these #iews in an age o% globalization 4(m a%raid.
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3. Locality, the periphery an images of the worl
The world has become a comple+ place = that was the main line o% arg!ment in the pre#io!s
chapter. 4n order to !nderstand that place we need to in6!ire into the way in which that place
is imagined represented and enacted by its inhabitants. This chapter will e+plore the
concept!al comple+ that is central in globalization st!dies and hinges on notions s!ch as
center and periphery locality %lows scales networks global economy and so %orth. -ll o%
these notions re%er to space and mo#ements inIthro!gh space and in partic!lar the notion o%
H%low( has already been prod!cti#ely adopted in socioling!istics as we saw earlier
9,ennycook 2::/;. Theoretically as we ha#e seen the main challenge %or disciplines s!ch as
anthropology sociology or socioling!istics consists in loosening the connection between
c!lt!re and a partic!lar territory. hereas more traditional approaches appeared to tacitly
ass!me that societies and their %eat!res Hbelonged( to one partic!lar geographical area 9think
o% o!r disc!ssion o% the ling!istic rights paradigm in the pre#io!s chapter; and th!s attrib!ted
an absolute spatiality to c!lt!re the emphasis on sit!atedness emphasizes ^ows tra>ectories
mo#ements and th!s the relati!e spatiality o% c!lt!re. 5annerz 911 11"11/; s!mmarizes
this as %ollows
The connection between c!lt!ral process and territory we sho!ld remind o!rsel#es is
only contingent. -s socially organized meaning c!lt!re is primarily a phenomenon o%
interaction and only i% interactions are tied to partic!lar spaces is c!lt!re likewise so.
Th!s whereas according to 5annerz traditional anthropology was concerned with c!lt!re as
a matter o% ^ow o% meaning in %ace"to"%ace relationships between people who do not mo#e
aro!nd m!chN 911 11/; it is one o% the main ass!mptions o% globalization st!dies that
m!ltiple c!lt!res can e+ist in one space and that con#ersely one c!lt!re can be prod!ced in
di%%erent spaces. The thematization o% space and place 9the latter denoting a space made
social hence becoming a space in which h!mans make social c!lt!ral political and historical
in#estments; is th!s a cr!cial ingredient o% the process o% coming to terms with globalization
90rang 1; o% prod!cing globalized locality o% H#ernac!larizing( globalization 9-ppad!rai
1 1:;.
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This is an elementary c!lt!ral acti#ity which we see artic!lated = in #ery hor%ian ways =
in lang!age str!ct!re and disco!rse. 4 will arg!e that doing so in a partic!lar lang!age re#eals
H#itality( in that lang!age in the sense that the lang!age reso!rces are pro#ed to be !p to the
task o% globalized meaning prod!ction. This will open !p a range o% iss!es related to Hbig( and
Hsmall( lang!ages lang!age choice and other matters that deser#e o!r attention beca!se as
we saw in the pre#io!s chapters they are o%ten ca!ght in totalizing disco!rses o%
Himperialism( and Hling!icide(. 4 will make my arg!ment with respect to Swahili. This is
somewhat o%%"mark in the literat!re on globalization which is strongly %oc!sed on Hbig(
globalized lang!ages s!ch as 8nglish French and 9increasingly; 0hinese and on
comm!nicati#e channels s!ch as electronic mass media and pop!lar c!lt!re. e sho!ld not
%orget that many 9indeed #ery many; Hsmaller( lang!ages are e%%ecti#ely globalized and
Swahili is one o% them as we shall see at present.
3.1. 7riting locality< a globalize Tanzanian no/el
4 will consider one partic!lar c!lt!ral %orm written literat!re %rom the Hperiphery(. 4n
partic!lar 4 will try to show how a no#el Miradi 6ubu ya (azalendo 9HThe in#isible
enterprises o% the patriots(; by Gabriel E!h!mbika carries #ario!s kinds o% spatial
semiotizations that point towards locally salient centre=#s"periphery models and towards
^ows and translocal transactions. These models remind !s o% allerstein(s 91<3; orld"
Systems analysis which hinges on a #iew o% the world as di#ided in s!ch centers semi"
peripheries and peripheries between which an intricate di#ision o% labor e+ists 9which is in
allerstein(s analysis global capitalism;. -t the micro"le#el o% the no#el itsel% space is !sed
as a power%!l literary=stylistic de#ice. 4t attrib!tes identities to the characters@ it casts their
actions and their biographies in a recognizable local social semiotic@ and spatio"semiotic
%eat!res organize the meta"story o% Tanzanian postcolonial politics. 4t is a %orm o% c!lt!ral
#ernac!larization o% the prod!ction o% locality. -t a macro"le#el 9the le#el o% the c!lt!ral act
o% writing itsel%; the no#el ill!strates the deterritorialized network and translocal nat!re o%
contemporary c!lt!ral and political processes as well as the capacity o% contemporary literacy
to Hrepatriate( meanings 9-ppad!rai 1: 3:/;. This latter dimension challenges established
#iews o% -%rican literat!re = here Swahili literat!re = as necessarily prod!ced in -%rica and
tied to a partic!lar place. Tho!gh by now it may so!nd rather e#ident that -%rican literat!re
can be diasporic the theoretical implications o% this may be %ar"reaching. ,recisely this
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globalized dimension o% the no#el makes its strongly local %la#or pec!liar and demonstrates
the dynamics o% Swahili as a globalized #ital lang!age.
4 will start by pro#iding some backgro!nd in%ormation on the no#el. 'e+t we will mo#e
into an analysis o% spatial semiotics in the no#el itsel% showing how a partic!lar social and
political geography o% the co!ntry dominates the %raming o% characters and e#ents along a
centerIperiphery a+is. -%ter this 4 will ret!rn to the deterritorialized nat!re o% the act o%
writing itsel% and the e%%ect this has on the way in which we #iew Hlocal( literat!res and
literary actors.
The invisible enterprises of the patriots
Miradi 6ubu ya (azalendo was written in 12 and p!blished by Tanzania ,!blishing 5o!se
in Bar es Salaam Tanzania. 4t is written in the national lang!age o% Tanzania Swahili and it
adds to the impressi#e modern written literat!re in that lang!age 9see ?ertoncini 1< %or a
s!r#ey;. 8specially in the postcolonial era 9and notably !nder C>amaa socialism; writing in
Swahili was a densely symbolic act it carried meta"meanings that inde+ed patriotism loyalty
to the nation and its political doctrine and a democratic 9socialist; attit!de 9?lommaert 1b
chapter $;. riting a literary piece in the national lang!age was a political statement in its
own right and those doing it per%ormed a c!lt!ral politics as m!ch as prod!cing a c!lt!ral
prod!ct. This intense politics o% literary codes and %orms !ndo!btedly contrib!ted to the
#itality o% the lang!age a%ter 4ndependence it mobilized intellect!als and artists into
conscio!s ling!istic Hde#elopment( and it ga#e them a #oice o% their own as a national
intelligentsia a committed #ang!ard o% people who shaped the minds o% their people by
shaping their lang!age. The a!thor Gabriel E!h!mbika was #ery m!ch a member o% this
#ang!ard. 5e was born in 13< on Ckerewe 4sland in ake Dictoria in the ?ritish Mandate o%
Tanganyika. E!h!mbika was a pro%essor o% literat!re at the Cni#ersity o% Bar es Salaam
between 1/: and 1<& and he was one o% the co!ntry(s leading radical intellect!als 9see e.g.
Mb!g!ni and E!h!mbika 1/$;. -%ter 1<& he mo#ed to the CS and became a pro%essor o%
8nglish at 5ampton Cni#ersity Dirginia and a%terwards a pro%essor o% comparati#e literat!re
at the Cni#ersity o% Georgia. Miradi 6ubu ya (azalendo was written in the CS b!t p!blished
in Bar es Salaam.
The book is a political no#el and its title already anno!nces this. The term %azalendo
Hpatriots( was one o% the key terms in the le+icon o% Tanzania(s C>amaa socialism a partic!lar
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brand o% socialism de#eloped and propagated as the state ideology by the _rst president o%
Tanzania A!li!s 'yerere.1 E!h!mbika(s no#el is hard to read witho!t any knowledge o% the
C>amaa socialist period in Tanzania %or it is intended as a retrospecti#e commentary on the
C>amaa political system and what it did to the co!ntry. Tanzania emerged o!t o% the !nion o%
Tanganyika and the %ormer ?ritish ,rotectorate o% \anzibar in 1$. Tanganyika had won its
independence a%ter a period o% peace%!l transition in 11 !nder the leadership o% A!li!s
'yerere(s T-'C party 9Tanganyika -%rican 'ational Cnion;@ \anzibar became independent
in 13 b!t the S!ltanate installed by the ?ritish was soon o#erthrown by a pop!lar
re#ol!tion the leaders o% which so!ght closer !nion with socialist Tanganyika. The !nion led
to a socialist radicalization within the new Eep!blic o% Tanzania and this radicalization was
codi_ed in 1/ in the so"called -r!sha Beclaration which proclaimed 71amaa na
8u1itegemea Hsocialism and sel%"reliance(. The main %eat!res o% this state ideology were
egalitarianism the absence o% e+ploitation political and economic non"alignment pan"
-%ricanism and sel%"reliant small"scale agric!lt!ral de#elopment 9in HC>amaa #illages(; as the
backbone o% the economy 9see ,ratt 1/;.
C>amaa was certainly in the years %ollowing the -r!sha Beclaration #ery pop!lar with the
yo!nger intelligentsia largely based at the Cni#ersity o% Bar es Salaam o% which E!h!mbika
was a member. The !ni#ersity was a center o% radical political acti#ity not only nationally b!t
also internationally 9*thman 1$; and many o% the yo!ng intellect!als saw themsel#es as
the leading #ang!ard in a socialist re#ol!tion 9see Shi#>i 1 %or e+cellent e+amples;.
0onse6!ently many intellect!als #igoro!sly s!pported T-'C 9which had become the single
party o% the co!ntry; tho!gh their emphasis on a radical socialist strategy was not always
welcomed by the T-'C leaders 9?lommaert 1b chapter 2;. The Tanzanian C>amaa
economy collapsed in the 1/:s and the co!ntry was %!rther impo#erished by a war against
4di -min(s Cganda in the late 1/:s. From that point onwards disill!sionment abo!t T-'C
and socialism was great. 'yerere #ol!ntarily stepped down as ,resident in 1<& and his
s!ccessor Mwinyi almost immediately signed a re"str!ct!ring agreement with the 4MF.
C>amaa was abandoned as a new o%%icial state ideology o% economic liberalism replaced
K!>itegemea 2 Hsel% reliance( and a m!ltiparty system was installed.
4t is against this backgro!nd o% general disill!sionment that Miradi 6ubu has to be set.
ritten by an erstwhile radical s!pporter o% C>amaa it re^ects on power"ab!se ine6!ality
class"determinism and in>!stice in socialist Tanzania. 4t does so by telling the story o% two
Tanzanians Saidi and 'zoka. They are the main characters in the no#el. ,art o% Saidi(s storyin#ol#es two other men Mzee Aabiri and M!n!bi whose li#es are s!b"plots in the no#el.
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The plot o% the book consists o% %i#e parts s!mmarized as %ollows.
,art 1 Mzee Aabiri
Mzee Aabiri li#es in Masasi in so!thern Tanganyika. 5e has two children late in li%e b!this da!ghter and wi%e die o% an !nknown disease. 5e lea#es Masasi with his only
s!r#i#ing child the boy Saidi. They tra#el to Tanga in the north and get a menial >ob in a
sisal plantation owned by a white man. Mzee Aabiri gets badly in>!red d!ring work in the
_elds. The s!per#isor M!n!bi %orces the white plantation owner to dri#e Mzee Aabiri to
a hospital. Aabiri dies be%ore they reach the hospital. The plantation owner d!mps Mzee
Aabiri(s body in a sewage pit.
,art 2 S!per#isor M!n!bi
M!n!bi lea#es the plantation with Saidi and tra#els to a relati#e(s ho!se in Mombo.
There he arranges %or Saidi to be bro!ght to relati#es o% his in Bar es Salaam. M!n!bi
himsel% _nds a >ob on a sisal plantation in Morogoro central Tanzania. The plantation is
owned by a white So!th -%rican and M!n!bi as a s!per#isor is s!pposed to administer
corporal p!nishment to the workers. hen he does so howe#er Mzee Aabiri(s ghost
appears in his sleep. M!n!bi ^ees to another place and he contin!es to mo#e %rom one place to another !ntil independence. -%ter independence he gets a >ob as a s!per#isor in
Kilosa on a %arm owned by an 8nglishman. M!n!bi marries a woman there and b!ilds
himsel% a ho!se o!tside the %arm compo!nd. The %arm owner disagrees with this and
_res M!n!bi. Mzee Aabiri(s ghost incites M!n!bi to correct this in>!stice and M!n!bi
kills the %armer. M!n!bi is tried and hanged %or this m!rder.
,art 3 'd!g! Saidi
Saidi has %o!nd his way to Bar es Salaam where he li#es with a relati#e o% M!n!bi(s.
5e _nds a >ob as a ho!seboy with an 4ndian %amily and then he works as a shopkeeper
in the 4ndian neighborhood %or nine years. 4n his spare time he is a #ol!nteer worker %or
T-'C the leading independence party. -%ter some time he gets hired by T-'C as a
messenger. 5is salary is lower than what he earned %rom the 4ndians b!t he is
committed to T-'C(s ca!se and accepts the bad labor circ!mstances. Saidi li#es in a
one"room ^at in Kariakoo the market area o% Bar es Salaam. hen 'yerere becomes president in 12 Saidi >oins his personal sta%% as a messenger. 4n the meantime he has
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let his %riend and colleag!e 'zoka mo#e into his ho!se. Saidi marries 0hik! and
between 12 and 1/ the co!ple ha#e three children. 4n 1/ with the -r!sha
Beclaration T-'C installs a n!mber o% o%_cial commissions and 'zoka becomes the
leader o% one s!ch commission. 5e appoints Saidi as a messenger to the commission.
Saidi decides to b!ild a ho!se o% his own in Manzese and the %amily mo#es into the hal%"
_nished ho!se witho!t electricity or r!nning water in 1/:. ?y 1<1 Saidi has nine
children and is str!ggling to make ends meet. The co!ntry is economically de#astated
and things get worse a%ter the liberalization o% 1<& and 1<. Saidi(s two oldest
da!ghters become prostit!tes. 5is oldest da!ghter 4daya m!rders her child and is
imprisoned. hen 'yerere steps down in 1<& Saidi is made red!ndant. 5e recei#es a
#ery small s!m o% money and some praise %or his patriotism b!t li#es in ab>ect po#erty
in Manzese.
,art $ 8+ec!ti#e Birector 'zoka
'zoka was born in the Mwanza region o% northern Tanzania. 5e %ails to 6!ali%y in a state
e+am and is not eligible %or st!dies abroad. 4nstead he organizes a trade !nion and
manages to impress 'yerere beca!se o% his organizational and propaganda skills.
'yerere hires him to can#ass pop!lar s!pport. 5e >oins the T-'C head6!arters in Bar es
Salaam in 1& mo#es into Saidi(s apartment and becomes 'yerere(s personal
assistant. 5e marries ?eatrice and earns eno!gh to mo#e to the 8!ropean 6!arter in
*yster ?ay. 'yerere sends him to #ario!s international colleges to complete his training.
5e tra#els to Ghana and 4srael and then to E!skin 0ollege *+%ord to !m!mba
Cni#ersity Moscow and to the Cni#ersity o% S!sse+. 4n 1/ 'zoka has _#e children.
5e becomes the e+ec!ti#e director o% the State 0ommission %or ,lanning ealth
Sa#ings and ,rogress. This ends his %riendship with Saidi as well as his marriage with
?eatrice. 'zoka had committed ad!ltery. 5e remarries and di#orces se#eral times
incl!ding a woman called Eosemary a German %emale pro%essor and an 4ndian woman
9who con#erts him to 4slam;. 5e becomes 5ead o% the -rmed Forces. 5e %alls in lo#e
with a prostit!te b!t marries her da!ghter and con#erts to 0atholicism. ?y 1<& 'zoka
has 32 children all o% whom are _nishing their st!dies or are being taken care o% by
nannies. 5e li#es in l!+!ry while the co!ntry has become one o% the poorest in the
world.
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,art & 8pilog!e
Saidi decides to make the in>!stices he has e+perienced p!blic at a ceremony at which he
is thanked %or his years o% ser#ice. 5e walks !p to 'yerere the %arewell gi%ts in his hand
b!t the latter doesn(t recognize him despite the many years o% contact. 'zoka who is
also present senses Saidi(s plan and anno!nces to 'yerere that Saidi intends to o%%er him
the gi%ts he has >!st recei#ed o!t o% gratit!de %or what he 9'yerere; has done %or the
co!ntry. Saidi is praised %or his patriotism b!t is not gi#en the opport!nity to speak o!t.
The social semiotics of Tanzanian space
,eople attrib!te meanings to the spaces they know and !se 9see e.g. Feld and ?asso 1ow 2::1;. S!ch spaces are _lled with symbols and attrib!tes and !sing them creates
inde+ical ties to them. The symbols and attrib!tes not only re%er to the ob>ecti#e place b!t
also to a partic!lar atmosphere associated with it incl!ding the people li#ing in it as well as
their class and other c!lt!ral pec!liarities.2 Th!s a 0ockney accent does not only identi%y one
as being %rom ondon@ it also carries class gender and other c!lt!ral inde+icalities.
0odeswitching may inde+ the partic!lar ^a#or o% a place and may th!s Hmake a person speak
%rom that place( as it were 9see Eampton 2::1 Maryns and ?lommaert 2::1@ ?lommaert
2::& chapter <;. 4nhabitants o% a partic!lar place disting!ish between Hgood( and Hbad(
neighborhoods or parts o% a co!ntry and !pward social mobility is o%ten associated with 9and
practically e%%ected by; mo#ing %rom a Hbad( to a Hgood( place. Feat!res o% partic!lar places
s!ch as the 8i%%el Tower in ,aris or the Stat!e o% iberty in 'ew Oork Hcan be !sed to de%end
local identity sell de#elopment sites comment ironically on local trans%ormations or simply
sit!ate a plot de#elopment in _lms( 9ong and McBonogh 2::1 <;. They can conse6!ently
also be !sed to sit!ate a plot de#elopment in a no#el. *b#io!sly some o% the inde+icalities
carried by places are meaning%!l only to Hlocals( some are to o!tsiders too.
E!h!mbika !ses places and spatial tra>ectories that are inde+ically highly salient to
Tanzanians 9see also ewinson 2::3;. 4n#estigating them may lead !s to a local perception o%
centers and peripheries a world"systems model transposed to one partic!lar area. Eecall that
allerstein(s model operated at the global le#el@ we see here a H%ractal( replication o% this
model at a lower = national = scale"le#el. This %ractal phenomenon may direct !s to c!lt!ral
and social patterns in which social beha#ior appears to be organized on the basis o%
perceptions o% opport!nities 9generally located in Hcenters(; and o% social mobility and
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ambition. Foc!sing on how %or instance opport!nities and social mobility are percei#ed it
may also direct !s at empirically graspable %orms o% transnational ^ows -ppad!rai(s H"scapes(
91;. e will now e+amine the way in which s!ch patterns are !sed in Miradi 6ubu@ we
will %irst artic!late some o% the widespread attrib!tes and associations tied to partic!lar places
and regions in Tanzanian pop!lar imagery.
Tanzania is an o#erwhelmingly r!ral co!ntry with one big !rban center Bar es Salaam.
The o%%icial state capital is Bodoma a small city in the geographical center o% the co!ntry b!t
all ma>or ser#ices are concentrated in Bar es Salaam the harbor the international airport the
,arliament ministries embassies the Cni#ersity the most prestigio!s schools head6!arters
o% b!sinesses and international organizations big international hotels and so %orth. Bar es
Salaam also hosts a small comm!nity o% e+patriates %rom the est as well as an older
pop!lation o% 4ndian descent who ha#e traditionally controlled retail b!siness and parts o% the
local ind!stry international trade and banking. The city is the center o% Tanzanian c!lt!ral li%e
and it is the home o% most prominent m!sic bands a!thors and artists. Bar es Salaam is the
prestige place in Tanzania white"collar careers are in#ariably made there money and
opport!nities %or obtaining money are concentrated in Bar es Salaam. The city is associated
with highli%e 9in#ol#ing both its >oys and #ices; access to international contacts and power
an imagery that has deeply penetrated pop!lar conscio!sness and has been artic!lated in songs
and pop!lar no#els 9?lommaert 1<@ 1b chapter $;. 4t is in short a scale"le#el o% its
own.
There are no other cities that can compete with Bar es Salaam. -r!sha in the north is an
important city and so is Mwanza on ake Dictoria b!t none o% them comes close to Bar es
Salaam in the terms sketched abo#e. 4n general the northern part o% the co!ntry aro!nd ake
Dictoria and the Kiliman>aro region are Hbetter( regions with some degree o% economic
prosperity. The inhabitants o% these regions and notably the 0hagga the 5aya and the
S!k!ma ethnic gro!ps are o%ten seen in pop!lar imagery as being shrewd b!sinesspeople and
capable organizers #ery o%ten holding positions o% considerable power. The so!thern and
central parts o% the co!ntry are Hbad( regions. ,eople %rom those regions are economically
#ery poor and politically they are less weighty than their northern co!ntrymen. The Makonde
Mak!a 5ehe Gogo and other inhabitants o% the so!thern and central regions are o%ten
percei#ed as among the poorest and most disen%ranchised Tanzanians. -dopting world"
systems terminology we arri#e at this pattern Bar es Salaam is the absol!te center o% the
co!ntry the northern regions are semi"peripheral while the central and so!thern parts are peripheral.
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Bar es Salaam is as noted abo#e the most prestigio!s place in Tanzania. ?!t Bar es
Salaam itsel% is di#ided into se#eral areas many o% them carrying the same kind o%
associations as the ones attached to 9semi"peripheral; regions. The city is located on a lagoon
with a nat!ral harbor and the city center itsel% borders this lagoon and is 6!ite old. The city
center is a%%l!ent and dominated by m!lti"storey bank and hotel b!ildings. 4t is s!rro!nded by
old densely pop!lated areas and the bo!ndary o% central Bar es Salaam is %ormed by a
largely dried"o!t ri#er bed Msimbazi 0reek r!nning %rom north to so!th. The main a+es o%
the city center are two big roads -li 5assan Mwinyi Eoad coming %rom ?agamoyo in the
north and ending at the water%ront and Morogoro Eoad connecting with -li 5assan Mwinyi
Eoad at the water%ront and mo#ing west in the direction o% Morogoro and Tabora. The
northern and western a+es are the main tra%_c arteries b!t also the main social=geographic
a+es o% the city.
The western a+is is the pop!lar lower"class a+is o% the city. Mo#ing west %rom the
water%ront close to the #ery centre o% town is Chindini = the 4ndian 6!arter littered with
oriental"style old stone b!ildings mos6!es small b!sinesses and shops. - bit %!rther west
and separated %rom Chindini by Mnazimo>a ,ark lies Cswahilini = the Swahili 6!arter a
h!ge collection o% small ho!ses with corr!gated iron roo%s pop!lated by -%ricans %rom all
o#er the co!ntry. The center o% this part o% town is Kariakoo the market area. 4t is a rather
poor b!t #ery li#ely area with lots o% shops bars and resta!rants and with dense tra%_c ca!sed
by the daladala small pri#ately operated b!ses. Kariakoo is the center o% highli%e and pop!lar
m!sic. -cross Msimbazi 0reek along Morogoro Eoad lie a n!mber o% o#ercrowded pop!lar
areas Magomeni Manzese and Cb!ngo. Manzese is the poorest o% them and Manzese is
o%ten associated with #iolence crime and ab>ect po#erty among the inhabitants o% Bar es
Salaam.
The northern a+is is the elite !pper"class a+is o% the city. The most prestigio!s 6!arter is
*yster ?ay a bea!ti%!l area along the shore with a concentration o% spacio!s detached gated
ho!ses embassies and _ne hotels and resta!rants. *yster ?ay is traditionally the home o%
e+patriates and a%%l!ent or prominent Tanzanians. The area is somewhat sheltered and
separated %rom downtown Bar es Salaam by Msimbazi 0reek. 86!ally prestigio!s are
Msasani %!rther north and recently also Mbezi ?each se#eral miles %!rther north along -li
5assan Mwinyi Eoad. 4n between lies Mwenge a pop!lar neighborhood located at an
intersection o% -li 5assan Mwinyi Eoad and a co!ple o% roads connecting the %ormer with
Morogoro Eoad. This connection between the western and northern a+es r!ns thro!gh Sinzaa middle"class neighborhood with some prestige and marked by bars resta!rants and hotels.
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*n the other side o% this connection lies the camp!s o% the Cni#ersity o% Bar es Salaam again
a rather prestigio!s area and home to the intellect!al elite.
e can now t!rn to the way in which these local social and socioc!lt!ral semiotics o% space
are applied in Miradi 6ubu. e can sketch two pro_les %or the main characters in the no#el on
the basis o% spatial associations and tra>ectories. 8n ro!te we will also see how partic!lar
acti#ities >obs and attrib!tes are attached to certain places.
+aii and his %ather come %rom the Masasi region in the so!th o% Tanzania and they are
Makonde people th!s %rom the periphery. Bisease strikes their region and they are
%orced to seek re%!ge elsewhere. Saidi tra#els to Tanga in the north 9a wealthy area; as a
migrant worker and _nds a >ob on a sisal plantation o%ten seen as one o% the Hlowest(
>obs. The Tanga sisal plantation is the site o% gross e+ploitation and ab!se and in order
to sa#e Saidi the s!per#isor M!n!bi sends him to Bar es Salaam where he li#es with a
Makonde %amily. M!n!bi himsel% tra#els on to 0entral Tanzania and _nds poorly paid
and e+ploitati#e >obs in Morogoro and Kilosa. Saidi _rst _nds >obs with 4ndian
employers. There is no mention o% ed!cation at all he embarks on a career o% low"paid
!n6!ali_ed menial >obs. hen he gets hired by T-'C it is as a messenger. 5e then
mo#es to an apartment in Kariakoo and later to Manzese. -ll o% his li%e is spent there
he hasn(t tra#elled apart %rom the mo#e %rom the local Tanzanian periphery to the local
center. ?!t in this center 9Bar es Salaam; he li#es in the periphery = the Manzese sl!m
where li%e is to!gh.
(zoka comes %rom the Mwanza region in the north and he is a S!k!ma %rom the semi"
periphery. 5e has had some ed!cation altho!gh he %ailed in a cr!cial state e+am. 5e
appears to be an e+cellent organizer and this b!ys him a ticket to the center Bar es
Salaam. 5e tra#els e+tensi#ely and to prestigio!s places either politically 9Ghana
!m!mba Cni#ersity; or academically 9*+%ord S!sse+ Cni#ersity;. 5e tra#els and he
ac6!ires ed!cational 6!ali_cations as well as ine#itably prestige. 5e _rst li#es in
Kariakoo with Saidi b!t then mo#es to *yster ?ay. 'zoka(s li%e is spent in the center in
two ways _rst as opposed to his region o% origin then as opposed to the co!ntry as a
whole when he tra#els abroad.
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e see how Saidi and 'zoka mo#e thro!gh these spaces _lled with symbols and attrib!tes.
e also see how %eat!re cl!sters emerge in ways that allow in%ormed readers to make all
kinds o% meaning%!l in%erences with respect to people places acti#ities and #al!e
attrib!tions. 4n a #ery sketchy way s!ch in%erences co!ld be represented as %ollows
+aii<
So!thern Tanzania Makonde ` po#erty no ed!cation lower class
Sisal plantations ` menial >obs
Bar es Salaam 4ndian 6!arter ` ser#ant lower employee
Kariakoo ` lower middle class messenger
Manzese ` po#erty prostit!tion crime
(zoka<
'orthern Tanzania S!k!ma ` relati#ely prospero!s ambitio!s ed!cated
,olitical acti#ism ` power ed!cation skills
Kariakoo ` lower middle class
Tra#els abroad ` elite go#ernment o%_cial intellect!al
*yster ?ay ` !pper class go#ernment o%_cial
M!ltiple marriages 9incl!ding %oreign spo!ses; ` wealth stat!s
0osmopolitanism
The connections that are made are connections between space acti#ities and attrib!tes and
stat!s or #al!e. e can identi%y two directions in this set o% connections ro!ghly de_nable as
Hmargin"directed( #ers!s Hcenter"directed(
Margin"directed the So!th lack o% ed!cation !nskilled >obs in someone(s ser#ice low
wages@ in Bar es Salaam Manzese@ no international contacts. ocality.
0enter"directed the 'orth ed!cation 6!ali_ed white"collar >obs international contacts@
in Bar es Salaam *yster ?ay@ abroad intellect!al and political centers o% e+cellence.
Mobility.
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Two partic!lar %eat!res stand o!t as critical in determining one(s position either in the margin
or in the centre ed!cation and international contacts or translocality. ?oth are closely
connected. 'zoka(s s!ccess appears to lie in his artic!lateness and he deri#es considerable
prestige %rom his ed!cation abroad. 'zoka is capable o% Hmo#ing aro!nd( both as a
pro%essional by tra#eling to prestigio!s international places and in his pri#ate li%e by crossing
ethnic racial and religio!s bo!ndaries in marriage and by li#ing among e+patriates in *yster
?ay. This howe#er appears not to be merely an indi#id!al accomplishment it is determined
by his backgro!nd. 'zoka comes %rom a part o% the co!ntry which is already close to the
socio"economic center. -s a 'ortherner he seems to ha#e been dealt the right hand o% cards
right %rom the start. Saidi in contrast has no ed!cation and grows !p in terrible
circ!mstances. 0onse6!ently he spends his li%e in H_+ed( places among members o% his
ethnic gro!p and in the socio"economic periphery e#en in Bar es Salaam. 5e comes %rom the
So!th the poorest region o% the co!ntry and he appears to be destined to remain in the
periphery.
The way in which thro!gh all this we see the emergence o% centre=periphery perceptions
at three le#els is interesting. -t each o% them we see a n!mber o% attrib!tions in action
The strictly local le#el in Bar es Salaam Manzese #ers!s *yster ?ay. hat Saidi is and
what happens to his %amily = po#erty a perpet!al str!ggle to s!r#i#e prostit!tion and
m!rder = is something that is not !ne+pected gi#en his location in Manzese@ con#ersely
'zoka(s wealth power and cosmopolitanism are things that come with his location in
*yster ?ay. Manzese is the periphery and *yster ?ay is the center.
The national le#el #ario!s parts o% the co!ntry and tra>ectories %ollowed by people allow
pres!pposable in%erences as to stat!s social class and opport!nities. The So!th is the
periphery the 'orth is the semi"periphery and Bar es Salaam is the center. 8d!cation is
not easily accessible in the So!th and more accessible in the 'orth@ these di%%erences
ha#e an impact on the opport!nities people get in Bar es Salaam.
The transnational le#el Tanzania #ers!s the rest o% the world. ,restige is deri#ed %rom
being able to lea#e Tanzania and #isit prestigio!s places and instit!tions o!tside -%rica@
po#erty and %ail!re are inde+ed by a li%e spent inside the co!ntry witho!t opport!nities
to tra#el.
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From these perspecti#es we notice how strongly s!ch center"#ers!s"periphery perceptions
organize the description o% the characters and the str!ct!re o% the plot. The li%e histories o%
Saidi and 'zoka are deeply anchored in a set o% meaning%!l spatial associations that ha#e to
do with the opport!nities people ha#e and can ha#e in the Tanzanian world. *ne can become
a s!ccess story beca!se he is able to Hmo#e o!t( _rst to prestigio!s places in Bar es Salaam
then to 8!ropean and -merican prestigio!s places and in between as he crosses ethnic
racial and religio!s bo!ndaries. M!ch o% his ability to mo#e regionally and socially is
9pre;determined by his regional backgro!nd. The other character remains a poor man beca!se
his backgro!nd pre#ents him %rom Hmo#ing o!t(. Saidi %ollows a tra>ectory that brings him
%rom one periphery to another and the low stat!s and disen%ranchisement that he carries with
him %rom Masasi sticks with him all the way thro!gh. 4n a way he ne#er Hmo#es o!t( he
doesn(t mo#e o!t o% po#erty misery #iolence his co!ntry and his ethnic and social gro!p.
The characters e#ol#e in one o% -ppad!rai(s Hideoscapes( an ideology o% mobility and
adaptation to criteria established in the centers o% the world system = 8!rope and 'orth
-merica = as the key to s!ccess. 0on#ersely locality and localism stand here %or po#erty and
%ail!re. This is a widespread social and c!lt!ral script that probably acco!nts %or a lot o% social
processes in contemporary -%rica.
These social attrib!tions o% space and spatial tra>ectories ob#io!sly carry deep political
meanings. 4n e%%ect the kind o% tra>ectories sketched by E!h!mbika %orm an important part o%
his criti6!e o% C>amaa Tanzania. The promise o% C>amaa was to b!ild a classless society in
which e#ery -%rican wo!ld ha#e e6!al opport!nities and in which 7zungu 9Hthe ways o% the
est(; wo!ld no longer be the model %or s!ccess in society. 5is two protagonists inscribe
themsel#es in the C>amaa pro>ect both become acti#e in the str!ggle %or independence and
both become aides to 'yerere. 4n spite o% their #ery di%%erent regional origins and social
tra>ectories both also speak this emblem o% C>amaa Standard Swahili. ?!t the deep clea#ages
that characterized the co!ntry be%ore 4ndependence = regional di%%erences in wealth and
opport!nities and class di%%erences = persist a%ter 4ndependence. Those who pre#io!sly had
%ew opport!nities %or !pward social mobility still remain the losers@ those who were less
!nderpri#ileged and %ollowed the track o% ed!cation and internationalization 9i.e. opted %or
7zungu; are still the ones who make it. 0lass as inscribed in all these clea#ages persisted
thro!gho!t C>amaa and patriotism was not eno!gh to attain e6!ality as a citizen. So whereas
C>amaa was la!nched as a localizing political strategy = an African socialism emphasizing-%rican roots and #al!es = only those who got inserted in translocal globalized tra>ectories o%
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ed!cation and mobility made it. The world system won. 0onse6!ently images o%
globalization and the way in which Tanzania is inserted in globalization processes are
power%!l organizing principles in Miradi 6ubu and we begin to see how a no#el written in an
-%rican lang!age is %!lly globalized. Bisco!rses o% globalization ha#e become part o% the
stylistic apparat!s that E!h!mbika can deploy in Swahili and while the semiotics o% space in
the no#el hea#ily draws %rom local images o% space these local images appear to be sat!rated
with globalized tropes o% locality and mobility. The reso!rces o% the lang!age ha#e changed.
The repatriation of criti#ue
'ot >!st the reso!rces ha#e changed the lang!age can be !sed in di%%erent networks as well.
e now mo#e into the other aspect o% o!r disc!ssion the way in which Miradi 6ubu is itsel% a
rather typical globalization phenomenon. e concl!ded o!r disc!ssion in the pre#io!s section
by stating that globalization was an important moti% in the no#el. Oet it is hard to characterize
the no#el as anything other than Hlocal( written %or Tanzanian readers in their national
lang!age and drawing on conte+t!al in%ormation m!ch o% which is only accessible to
Tanzanians. e also noted earlier that E!h!mbika wrote the no#el while he was a pro%essor in
the CS. So what we ha#e on o!r hands is a no#el prod!ced in the center o% the world system%or cons!mption in the periphery Tanzania and the choice o% lang!age as well as the c!lt!ral
semiotics o% space artic!lated in Swahili pro#ide e#idence %or this.
The no#el conse6!ently is a typical prod!ct o% contemporary globalized c!lt!ral
processes and we sho!ld heed 5annerz(s ad#ice 911 12; to think abo!t the ^ow between
places as well as within themN when st!dying s!ch prod!cts o% c!lt!re. 5annerz adds that the
comm!nities within which c!lt!ral prod!cts are prod!ced and circ!lated are more and more
Hec!menical( made !p by networks that are translocal and o%ten in#ol#e deep di%%erences in
o!tlook and %ramework. Th!s
thro!gh the operation o% the #aried %rameworks %or c!lt!ral process and the interaction
between them some meanings and meaning%!l %orms become m!ch more localized
m!ch more tied to space than others 9ibid.;.
0learly the comm!nity within which Miradi 6ubu is prod!ced and circ!lated is ec!menical
and diasporic we ha#e an e+patriate a!thor writing %or a readership which is per%orce largely
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made !p o% politically and artistically sensiti#e intellect!als most o% who are in his homeland
and in 8ast -%rica. So the ec!mene is restricted. The no#el is written in Swahili and it draws
hea#ily on Hlocal( Tanzanian meaning%!l %orms strongly Htied to space( in 5annerz(s terms.
0onse6!ently the comm!nity can sensibly be de_ned as E!h!mbika on the one hand 9and
perhaps some st!dents o% -%rican st!dies programs in the CS and 8!rope mysel% incl!ded;
and a small gro!p o% Tanzanian 9or 8ast"-%rican; intellect!als on the other hand. 4n that sense
Miradi 6ubu is a Hlocal( no#el destined %or circ!lation in a network which is con_ned to those
who are pri#y to the intricate local semiotics he !ses in his work as well as to the code in
which it is written. 4t is a Tanzanian no#el.
?!t things are ob#io!sly not that simple beca!se locality and mobility co"occ!r. e ha#e
seen in the pre#io!s section that E!h!mbika draws on local meanings against the backgro!nd
o% globalization imagery containing center"#s"periphery models. 5is Hlocal( criti6!e against
C>amaa is done by means o% Htranslocalization( i.e. by means o% arg!ments and tropes that
de_ne = anachronistically = the %ail!re o% C>amaa as a %ail!re to recognize the dynamics o% the
modern world system. 4t is a criti6!e which is b!ilt on cosmopolitanism as a world#iew an
awareness that localism in social organization is an error and that center=periphery patterns
are a reality. So in order to constr!ct a local criti6!e o% Tanzania Tanzania has to be li%ted o!t
o% its shell delocalized and placed into the world system. 'zoka is the key in this his
mobility and its res!lting prestige and s!ccess demonstrate how insertion into transnational
channels o% power and prestige shapes s!ccess in Tanzanian society. Th!s interestingly we
see how a no#el that is hard to read i% one does not ha#e access to the local semiotics o%
places people and acti#ities at the same time translocalizes this semiotics and place it in the
conte+t o% Tanzania"in"the"world.
4t is perhaps at this point that we can begin to !nderstand what globalization and its
re%le+es on literat!re in#ol#e. 4t in#ol#es dynamics o% semiotic localization and delocalization
in s!ch a way that 5annerz(s space to which meanings are tied can be seen as elastic space a
space that can be red!ced and e+panded almost line by line and episode by episode.
E!h!mbika speaks %rom %ithin Tanzania and %rom outside Tanzania at the same time. e get
images o% what it means to be %rom So!thern Tanzania both within Tanzania as %ell as in the
world the local periphery is also a global periphery %or peripheries and centers are relati#ely
stable while they operate at #ario!s le#els o% awareness and acti#ity. 0onse6!ently being
marginal in Tanzania is also meaningful in the %orld and this stretching o% local meanings
into translocal ones may o%%er !s a better !nderstanding o% po#erty and disen%ranchisement inthe periphery.
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The message is howe#er primarily %or Tanzanians to pick !p. E!h!mbika(s diasporic act
o% comm!nication sho!ld be repatriated in -ppad!rai(s sense and th!s reconte+t!alized and
re"ente+t!alized in Sil#erstein and Crban(s 91; sense. ?!t repatriation does not necessarily
mean localization. The strength o% the moti% o% mobility both within and o!tside Tanzania
and its connection to s!ccess and %ail!re as well as to an assessment o% 71amaa make it hard
to read this book as other than a translocalization o% the history o% Tanzania. -s is perhaps the
case with all diasporic literat!re this may precisely be the no#el(s -chilles( heel. 4n the
process o% repatriation the localization o% the messages in the book may be challenged by the
translocal dimension it necessarily has that o% a criti6!e %rom a%ar by an o!tsider who doesn(t
s!%%er %rom the conditions o% li%e he criticizes in his book. -nd th!s whereas the book is by
all standards %!lly Tanzanian its stat!s as HTanzanian( may perpet!ally be challenged by
Tanzanian critics. The repatriation o% meanings prod!ced by e+patriates is always a political
iss!e and e#en at that le#el 5annerz(s ties between c!lt!ral prod!cts and space crop !p.
The cultural codes of globalization
E!h!mbika(s choice o% Swahili 9rather than 8nglish his working lang!age as a pro%essor in
the CS; encodes this comple+ semiotics. 4n itsel% the choice to write a no#el in Swahili is a
highly meaning%!l act it dramatically restricts the scope o% the readership to the gro!ps
described abo#e and this pre>!dices sales %ig!res international acclaim and other rewards o%
s!ccess%!l a!thorship. To some e+tent it Hhides( the no#el in a corner in the world it locks it
in a narrow space o% circ!lation and !ptake. -ll o% this is indisp!table e#en to many people
strongly interested in -%rican literat!re my disc!ssion here 9written o% co!rse in 8nglish;
will be their %irst enco!nter with E!h!mbika(s no#el. 4n that sense the dynamics o%
localization and trans"localization always come with a price the choice to a#oid the global
ling!ae %rancae seems to immediately marginalize c!lt!ral prod!cts and minimize the
symbolic bon!ses one co!ld get %rom c!lt!ral prod!ction.
4t is indisp!table howe#er to the e+tent that one #iews globalization as a process o%
!ni%ormization and to the e+tent that c!lt!ral globalization processes are seen as the
prod!ction o% a global monoc!lt!re. Things are di%%erent when we see globalization in the
terms sketched earlier in this book as a more Hniched( comple+ o% processes de#eloping at
se#eral di%%erent scale"le#els some o% them tr!ly global others regional national or e#en s!b"
national. -ppad!rai(s H#ernac!lar globalization( 4 wo!ld s!ggest is globalization at one partic!lar scale le#el lower than the %!lly global one it is the connectedness o% small pockets
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o% people located 9and Hlocal(; in di%%erent parts o% the world sharing c!lt!ral prod!cts and
being in#ol#ed in processes o% >oint c!lt!ral prod!ction the Hnetworks( described by 0astells
91;. E!h!mbika(s book is globalized within s!ch a network it is globalized at a s!b"global
scale le#el within the comm!nities skteched abo#e. -t that scale"le#el a strong artic!lation o%
locality can be e+pected and the choice o% Swahili as well as the strongly local social
semiotics o% space contrib!te to that. There is nothing parado+ical to that = the seemingly odd
combination o% o!tspoken locality and o!tspoken globalization = i% one !nderstands the nat!re
and scope o% the partic!lar comm!nication network %or which this c!lt!ral prod!ct was
designed. 4t was designed %or a dispersed worldwide network in which this sense o% locality is
politically c!lt!rally and artistically meaning%!l %or a network that shares the inde+icals that
render it meaning%!l.
et me s!mmarize what we ha#e seen so %ar. e saw how an -%rican lang!age
Swahili co!ld become the #ehicle %or disco!rses o% translocality and locality in a comple+
balance which re%lected the partic!lar kind o% globalization in which it was !sed s!b"global
niched globalization within a partic!lar network o% comm!nicators.-n -%rican lang!age s!ch
as Swahili co!ld become the c!lt!ral code %or globalized c!lt!ral prod!ction at a partic!lar
scale le#el and that it e#en was the best c!lt!ral code %or this partic!lar network. This 4
wo!ld say is an aspect o% #itality these opport!nities %or !sing s!ch lang!ages in
globalization are relati#ely new 9they %ollow the increasing connecti#ity in diasporic
networks; there are plenty s!ch opport!nities and a 6!ick look at the 4nternet shows that they
are !sed by many people to artic!late the new c!lt!ral %orms o% #ernac!lar globalization.
E!h!mbika !ses an Hold( %ormat that o% the postcolonial Swahili no#el to artic!late a new
9translocal; criti6!e o% the 9local; past. The %ormat th!s becomes new and the lang!age
encodes this inno#ation. 4 %ind this a #ery hope%!l sign %or -%rican lang!ages and see this as a
necessary 6!ali%ication o% the more widespread #iews o% socioling!istic globalization in
which 8nglish is seen as a ling!icidal %orce. 4t no do!bt is b!t perhaps only at certain scale
le#els not at others and seeing globalization as something that operates at a #ariety o% le#els
can help !s !nderstand the real dynamics o% #itality and endangerment o% -%rican lang!ages.
This also co!nts %or other lang!ages that do not belong to the socioling!istic top o% the
world. 0!lt!ral prod!cts s!ch as m!sic art cinema and 9to a lesser e+tent; literat!re appear to
open new a#en!es to s!r#i#al %or lang!ages whose %ate wo!ld be otherwise pretty gloomy. e
see how %or instance 5ip5op appears to o%%er new opport!nities %or Hsmall( lang!ages to
artic!late globalized meanings in a new and in#ariably inno#ati#e c!lt!ral genre. ,ietikainen92::<; mentions the Sami rap artist -moc who makes widely sold and pop!lar records in the
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4nari Sami lang!age = a lang!age that co!nts 9in optimistic acco!nts; abo!t 3:: speakers and
is solely spoken in one town in 'orthern Finland. 4nari Sami th!s gets a new lease o% li%e
thro!gh the globalized #ehicle o% 5ip5op. Similar phenomena can be obser#ed in #ario!s
places in -%rica and elsewhere where we see local lang!ages and lang!age #arieties being
!sed in rap m!sic and being disseminated #ia this medi!m to otherwise inaccessible
a!diences. The spread o% globalized c!lt!ral %ormats and the emergence o% globalized
comm!nities o% cons!mers th!s create new and positi#e opport!nities %or lang!ages to
circ!late = e#en i% the lang!ages are changed in the process and e#en i% the locality they
artic!late only makes sense in the conte+t o% the translocal circ!lation o% signs and meanings
in which the lang!age is in#ol#ed.
3.2. Locality an the periphery
The images o% the world that we saw in E!h!mbika(s work were local images they were
images o% and %rom the periphery o% the world"system. E!h!mbika drew on a local social
topography in which places and tra>ectories ac6!ire meaning and str!ct!re e#ents and
s!b>ects the same kind o% social topography that gi#es names s!ch as H,aris( or HThe hite
5o!se( m!ch more than >!st a geographical meaning. S!ch topographies belong to the local
c!lt!ral codes the comple+es o% local meanings that pro#ide rich inde+icals to place names.
The spaces they inde+ so begin to str!ct!re disco!rses o% ascriptions disco!rses in which
e#ents and people ac6!ire characteristics that are sensed to be attached to these places.
This is a rich %ield %or research on globalization processes beca!se whene#er people
comm!nicate they comm!nicate %rom and on partic!lar places. Their conte+t!al sit!atedness
as comm!nicators also incl!des spatiotemporal sit!atedness. This is not the same as
spatiotemporal %i+edness %or the patterns o% mobility we associate with globalization
ob#io!sly trigger e+pected and !ne+pected phenomena at this le#el. - Tanzanian %riend o%
mine who had st!died in ancaster CK sent home pict!res o% himsel% ne+t to a radiator = a
#ery m!ndane ob>ect %or people in ancaster so m!ndane that #ery %ew people wo!ld %ind it
worthy o% photographic recording. The pict!re 9in which he himsel% was tightly packed in
layers o% clothing; told a story howe#er the story o% how cold it was in ancaster so cold
that people had heating systems in their ho!ses and e#en with s!ch heating systems people
%rom Tanzania wo!ld ha#e to wear sweaters and scar#es = it was that cold. My %riend was
comm!nicating about ancaster b!t from Tanzania %rom within a %rame o% meaning%!lnessthat was Tanzanian. 4t was %rom within that Tanzanian %rame that the radiator in his st!dent
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room ac6!ired the emblematic #al!e that it had in the pict!re. 5e was th!s translating one
%orm o% locality into another in a process o% mobility = the transport o% local 8nglish practice
into a local Tanzanian !ni#erse where it is assigned a localized Tanzanian interpretation.
0omm!nication th!s always in#ol#es iss!es o% transporting the signs or ob>ects attached one
place into those o% other places where they can be re"interpreted otherwise. 4t always in#ol#es
the mobilization o% meanings.
This is Htrans"localization( = a term 4 pre%er 9like -ppad!rai 1; o#er the more
common one Hglocalization( which is slightly misleading beca!se it s!ggests the global"in"
the"local. 4 see locality transported into locality and while s!ch a process is indeed
de%initional o% semiotic globalization processes the localities do not necessarily become more
Hglobal( or Hdeterritorialized( beca!se o% s!ch patterns o% trans"localization. They remain as
local as be%ore e#en when elements %rom a higher scale"le#el 9the trans"local; are being
imported 9Hre"territorialized( we co!ld say;. Meanings are primarily imported into local
systems o% meaning%!lness where they are changed and interpreted on the basis o% s!ch
systems = like when a ancaster radiator becomes an emblematic sign in Tanzania o% the
climate in 'orthern ?ritain. This point merits some emphasis beca!se while processes o%
global %low are by now 6!ite well described their !ptake has been less well !nderstood so %ar
and s!ch %orms o% !ptake need to be !nderstood in terms o% locality. e need to gain a clear
sight o% what locality means i% we want to !nderstand globalization. 4 am not happy with
#iews o% globalization in which the local is only seen as the stable and traditional and 4 am
e6!ally !nhappy with #iews in which locality is seen as the e%%ect o% deterritorialized Hplace"
making( 9c%. McKay and ?rady 2::&@ also ?!binas 2::&@ Mankekar 2::2;. S!ch #iews are
too m!ch tainted by e+isting emphases on globalization as primarily diasporic in nat!re while
more speci%ic %orms o% semiotic mobility = like the photos o% radiators mo#ing %rom ancaster
to Tanzania = are o#erlooked or neglected.
This is partic!larly at iss!e when we consider globalization processes %rom the center
to the periphery. There and rather persistently we see how global images disco!rses and
patterns o% cond!ct become relocalized into e+isting strong and perd!ring patterns. 8#en i%
s!ch peripheral local comm!nities are Hto!ched( by globalization they remain %irmly local in
str!ct!re sel%"presentation and image. 0hange is grad!al step"by"step and slow and the Hold
order( o% things persists while elements o% the new order creep in. This is what we saw in the
Tanzanian no#el the local semiotics o% space was !sed in a translocal globalized act o%
comm!nication which then became relocalized among the Tanzanian readers o% the no#el.The lang!age Swahili itsel% %!nctioned as the carrier %or this process o% blending the old and
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the new and so became a #ehicle %or c!lt!ral inno#ation. ang!ages and disco!rses mo#e
aro!nd b!t they do so between spaces that are %!ll o% r!les norms c!stoms and con#entions
and they get adapted to the r!les norms c!stoms and con#entions o% s!ch places be%ore
mo#ing %!rther on their tra>ectories. This dynamic o% localization delocalization and
relocalization is essential %or o!r !nderstanding o% socioling!istic globalization processes.
This will also become clear when we engage with the ne+t series o% e+amples in which we
see the socioling!istic emblem o% globalization 8nglish make its way into a newly
democratic ed!cation en#ironment in the townships o% So!th -%rica.
3.3. The norms of the periphery
Societies marked by deep ine6!ality characteristically prod!ce di%%erent layers and niches in
which #ery di%%erent ways o% li%e are de#eloped on the basis o% r!les norms and opport!nities
not #alid elsewhere. The dynamics within s!ch spaces lead one to s!spect that they ha#e a
degree o% a!tonomy #is"R"#is the wider system@ yet they are o%ten seen only in relation to the
wider system as Hperipheries( Hmargins( Hbackward areas( Hpoor neighborhoods( and so
%orth. There is a politics o% semiotic strati%ication that ass!mes the e+istence o% a !ni%orm
system in which a ranking o% Hgood( and Hworse( places can be made. This mechanism is
homogenizing and it o%ten appears as a disco!rse o% standards Hnormalcy( and
monocentricity where the norms and c!stoms o% the Hcenter( 9i.e. !s!ally the middle class; are
taken to be the only #alid ones and the only ones g!aranteeing !pward social mobility and
s!ccess. Failing to meet s!ch norms is then seen as %ailing to meet the norms = %ailing to
comply with the only percei#ed possible tra>ectory %or s!ccess in society. -nd those who %ail
to meet the norm are in one mo#e rapidly 6!ali%ied as problems Habnormals( Hmarginals(
etc. 9Fo!ca!lt 2::3;. 8d!cation as a system designed %or c!lt!ral and social reprod!ction is
o% co!rse a case in point.
S!ch homogenizing approaches to di%%erences in an !ne6!al society 4 intend to
demonstrate obsc!re an acc!rate #iew and appraisal o% the local dynamics in parts o% the
system. The Hmargin( so to speak is not necessarily a space in which people fail to meet
norms b!t it can as well be seen as a space in which different but related norms are produced
responding = Hecologically( so to speak = to the local possibilities and limitations. S!ch
norms o% co!rse do not matter m!ch in the larger scheme o% things. i%ted o!t o% their local
conte+t they b!mp into the homogenizing sing!lar images o% normati#ity dominant in mostsocieties and get dis6!ali%ied witho!t m!ch ado 9?lommaert 0re#e and illaert 2::@ also
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Milroy and Milroy 11@ Sil#erstein 1@ ?on%iglio 2::2;. This howe#er is a process that
deser#es s!bstantial attention beca!se it is a process o%ten only !nderstood not in its own
terms b!t in terms o% the homogenizing normati#ity itsel%. Bis6!ali%ying Hde#iant( norms
almost a!tomatically e%%aces these norms as e+isting socially and c!lt!rally #al!able and
abo#e all producti!e problem"sol#ing instr!ments. This is a classic problem o% hegemony in
social science emphasis on a limited n!mber o% categories and notions makes other categories
and notions in#isible e#en i% they might be cr!cial %or an acc!rate !nderstanding o% the #ery
social processes o% e+cl!sion and eras!re that made them in#isible 9c%. 4r#ine and Gal 2:::;.
4n#estigating de#iation is there%ore 9in an echo o% Fo!ca!lt; an in#estigation o% power.
4 will %oc!s here on literacy practices in esbank 5igh a township school in the 0ape
Town area So!th -%rica s!ggesting that Hde#iant( normati#ity in lang!age = speci%ically
orthographic Herrors( = becomes a producti!e instr!ment that allows teachers to work with
gro!ps o% learners displaying wildly di%%erent backgro!nds capacities and skills. 4 will
s!ggest that there is an ad"hoc consens!s o#er local normati#ity a normati#ity that relates to
the sociological and c!lt!ral en#ironment 9a Hrealistic( %orm o% normati#ity in other words;
and th!s creates opport!nities %or Hrealistic( appraisals o% learning tra>ectories. 4t has to be
seen in terms o% local = restricted = repertoires o% literacy an economy o% literacy in the
townships which e+ists alongside other economies in which more di#erse and e+tended
repertoires are a#ailable. S!ch ad"hoc norms there%ore do not co!nter the dominant
9c!rric!l!m; norms nor do they dis6!ali%y them@ they s!ggest a local le#el o% organization in
which di%%erent sol!tions are de#eloped to local problems. 4n that sense the prod!ction o%
local de#iant normati#ity is both a problem and a sol!tion as we shall see. 4t is a problem
beca!se it remains Hins!%%icient( in terms o% the dominant norms@ it is a sol!tion beca!se it
allows %or a prod!cti#e teaching practice in school as well as %or a degree o% comm!nity
de#elopment and identity constr!ction.
- detailed decoding o% the con%lict!al and ambi#alent nat!re o% s!ch processes may be
%!ndamental %or an !nderstanding o% patterns o% ine6!ality in societies s!ch as contemporary
So!th -%rica. 4magining literacy normati#ity not as one !ni%orm ob>ect b!t as an ecologically
and economically localized one is an important %irst step towards analysing it with more
sensiti#ity to local conte+t !se and %!nction. For a socioling!istics o% globalization it is
important to see the way in which globalized lang!age material = normati#e 8nglish literacy =
enters and becomes adapted to a local socioling!istic en#ironment and begins to %!nction
there as a local reso!rce only loosely connected to its globalized origins. This local reso!rce belongs to a lang!age 8nglish to be s!re b!t it is more prod!cti#e to see it as it is as a set o%
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specialized localized semiotic reso!rces that is related to a local economy o% signs and
meanings. The ne+t chapter will %!rther elaborate on this theme b!t %irst we need to speci%y
the partic!lar processes we are considering here. 4n what %ollows 4 shall %irst pro#ide some
general conte+t!alizing remarks. 'e+t 4 shall engage with a n!mber o% iss!es emerging %rom
%ieldwork in esbank 5igh %oc!sing %irst on the density o% occ!rrences o% Hde#iant( literacy
%eat!res and then on local #iews o% %!nction and #al!e o% ling!istic reso!rces. 4 will then
sketch a pattern o% the prod!ction o% locality in esbank 5igh and what is commonly
regarded as Herrors( committed against a single norm will be con#erted into prod!cti#e
mechanisms %or the constr!ction o% peripheral normati#ity a normati#ity that relates to the
sociology o% the periphery. This then sho!ld ill!strate the dynamic o% localization
delocalization and relocalization in globalization processes and so show !s the core o%
socioling!istic globalization processes.
The field and the issues
The esbank settlement is by all standards a peripheral comm!nity isolated %rom
neighboring areas and plag!ed by a #ariety o% social and economic di%%ic!lties. esbank was
one o% the %irst post"apartheid ho!sing pro>ects. ,rior to the start o% the ho!sing pro>ect the
area was an in%ormal settlement 9i.e. a sl!m; known as 0amelot. 4n September 1& the
,ro#incial -dministration o% the estern 0ape decided that esbank sho!ld become an area
%or the relocation o% Hma+im!m s!bsidy( 9i.e. minim!m income; %amilies. Former place o%
residence color or other social diacritics did not play a role. The b!ilding works started in
1/ and gi#en the critical nat!re o% the ho!sing problems in the 0ape area proceeded at a
rapid pace and with a limited b!dget. The ho!ses were b!ilt with brick walls and corr!gated
iron roo%s witho!t thermal ins!lation. 8#ery ho!se has one toilet and one washing table. The
ho!ses are !ni%orm and e+cessi#ely simple in str!ct!re = people call them Hmatchbo+ ho!ses(.
The bright colors in which they were painted 6!ickly ga#e rise to another nickname
HSmarties town( a%ter the colored chocolate Smarties 9MandMs;.
,eople started mo#ing into esbank in 1 and at the time o% %ieldwork in 2::$ the
comm!nity consisted o% an estimated 2&::: people li#ing in &1$& ho!sing !nits. B!e to the
dominance o% socio"economic criteria in the selection o% inhabitants the pop!lation in
esbank was and is #ery di#erse esbank ho!ses people who li#ed in other townships in the
0ape Town area and in the n!mero!s in%ormal settlements m!shrooming aro!nd the city aswell as recent immigrants %rom the 8astern 0ape pro#ince and %rom %!rther a%ield. ?lack
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colored and 9some; white people are li#ing in the same comm!nity. Most o% the inhabitants
are colored and -%rikaans"speaking tho!gh 2&] are black and Xhosa"speaking. The Xhosa
comm!nity li#es together in one section o% esbank 9Byers 2::$a 2::$b;. esbank is a
comm!nity with #ery limited p!blic in%rastr!ct!re and a serio!s degree o% spatial isolation
ca!ght between highways and an inade6!ately integrated in the local Hta+i( transport network
9Aonckers and 'ewton 2::$ 113"11<;. -part %rom Hshebeens( 9local illegal bars; and other
small"scale shops there was one s!permarket. There were one secondary and three primary
schools catering to many tho!sands o% learners only one open"air b!st"stop and no
comm!nity center or hospital. The !nemployment rate in esbank is #ery high perpet!ating
the po#erty which characterized the eligible pop!lation. *ne has to start one(s own small
b!siness or lea#e the comm!nity to %ind a >ob and comm!ting o!t o% esbank in#ol#es
considerable tra#el e+penses.
esbank 5igh is the only secondary school in the area and its new and well"
constr!cted %acilities rank among the best and most welcoming in the whole o% esbank. 4t is
sit!ated on the edge o% the settlement at a certain distance %rom the main road and is
there%ore shielded %rom b!sy tra%%ic and passage. The b!ilding is s!rro!nded by a high %ence
and a gate pro#ides access to the school gro!nds. The b!ilding is organized aro!nd a large
central patio. The school has an 9embryonic; library anne+ comp!ter"room@ there are some
9modest; sports %acilities at the back o% the b!ilding@ a #egetable garden is !nder constr!ction.
-part %rom daytime teaching acti#ities there are also e#ening ad!lt classes.
esbank 5igh is a d!al"medi!m school which means that s!b>ects are o%%ered in two
lang!ages 8nglish and -%rikaans. 4n 2::$ the school co!nted nine grade < classes nine grade
s and %i#e grade 1:s. 8#ery grade had two class gro!ps ha#ing 8nglish as the medi!m o%
instr!ction and it m!st be noted that only the rarest o% learners in these gro!ps had 8nglish as
their mother tong!e. The rest o% the classes had -%rikaans as medi!m o% instr!ction and
mostly this was the learners( mother tong!e. This distrib!tion can immediately ser#e as an
indicator %or the balance between black and colored learners in the school. The ma>ority was
colored and took -%rikaans"medi!m classes. Dery %ew black learners >oined them there as
most black learners attended 8nglish"medi!m classes where one %o!nd %ew colored learners.
-ltho!gh this seems a simple lang!age iss!e it had social and socioling!istic reperc!ssions
as we shall see %!rther on.3
The error as terror: "eviation and normativity in $esbank %igh
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Teachers in esbank 5igh %ace a n!mber o% challenges big classes with a #ery heterogeneo!s
pop!lation 6!a backgro!nds capacity and le#els o% achie#ement@ a poor and marginalized
comm!nity@ an !nder"reso!rced school in which special ed!cational needs cannot beade6!ately addressed. et !s now ha#e a look at some classroom acti#ities in esbank 5igh.
4 will restrict mysel% to obser#ations on literacy practices and the way in which we see
comple+ relations towards norms there. This restriction is a matter o% space not o%
methodology and it is !se%!l to emphasize that the obser#ations on literacy are mirrored in
the spoken #arieties o% learners and teachers as well 9%or a detailed st!dy o% rele#ance to o!r
concern here see Kapp 2::1;.
Getting it right
-ll learners regardless o% their a#erage scores shared some problems and one ma>or problem
was command o% basic literacy skills. - close e+amination o% the data gathered among
learners re#eals that almost all o% them consistently 9and with amazing %re6!ency; prod!ced
partic!lar types o% writing %eat!res
9i; the erratic !se o% capitals 9not !sing them where needed !sing them where not
needed;@
9ii; di%%ic!lties with sing!lar and pl!ral marking@
9iii; di%%ic!lties with #erb in%lections esp. pl!ral marking and tense marking@
9i#; problems with the !se o% de%inite and inde%inite articles 9not !sing them where
needed;@
9#; a wide range o% spelling problems mostly a res!lt o% phonetic spelling 9writing
according to pron!nciation;@
9#i; a tendency to aestheticize writing e#en while str!ggling with basic writing skills =
writing as drawing.
These %eat!res occ!rred regardless o% the lang!ages !sed by learners 9we shall later see that
they also occ!r in the teachers( writing;. 4n addition many learners had more speci%ic
problems with completing relati#ely !ndemanding syntactic and grammatical tasks in 8nglish.
<
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et !s look at a small random sample %rom the data gathered. First obser#e these e+amples o%
erratic capital !se
1. ?eca!se they tho!ght that is a G!n So!nd and the boy wasnZt back home.
2. 4% 4 lo#ed him 5e wo!ld marry me
3. >a 8k dink daar is toekoms ... 9yes 4 think there is a %!t!re...;
$. atte taal ho! >i> 'iks #an nie7 9hich lang!age do yo! dislike;
&. ?80-CS8 Oo! can 0omm!nicate with 8#eryone with it.
. Oo! can go to the %ar lands that they speek other lang!age lets say maybe they speek
%rench they may !nderstand english.
/. 8'Glish. beca!se itZs the oFFicial ang!age in So!th -%rica
8+ample already shows that apart %rom the erratic !se o% capitals learners also str!ggled
with spelling. 5ere is a sample o% the spelling problems we enco!ntered in o!r data and as
noted abo#e many o% them ha#e to do with phonetic writing. e see %or instance errors that
seem to ha#e their origin in Haccent"in"writing( local ways o% prono!ncing words re%lected in
writing 9c%. ?lommaert 2::<;.
Xhosh I Xhoza 9Xhosa; Fraans 9Frans; spesel 9special; dearist 9dearest; sewand
9selwand; emegency e+it 9emergency e+it; amtelle I amtelik 9amtelike; 8nglis
98nglish; de%%erent 9di%%erent; importend 9important; ne#e 9ne#er; disent 9decent;
ather 9other; whe 9when; hotal 9hotel; iconomy 9economy; tra#e egent 9tra#el
agent; trasport 9transport; eirs 9ears; anather 9another; pe%ect 9per%ect; merriage
9marriage; the 9there;
Eelated to the %ormer category some %orms betray interling!al in%l!ences %rom -%rikaans on
8nglish and #ice #ersa
-%ricaans -%rikans 9-%rikaans; Franch 9Frans; pop!lare 9pop!lar; beco!se
9beca!se; %inde 9%ind; importante 9important; %amile 9%amily; co!ntrie 9co!ntry;
somethinge 9something; 8ngilhs 98ngels;
e also see homophone spellings spelling a word in a way that allows homophono!s
realization in local #arieties o% speech
now 9know; noyse 9nose; a price hate I apesiheth 9appreciate; s!tch 9s!ch; mybe9maybe; eath 9earth; resta!rand 9resta!rant; -%rikaan 9-%rikaans; So!d"-%rica
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9So!th -%rica; lang!age 9lang!age; meter 9matter; there leder 9their leader; leyzy
9lazy; !s 9!se; mothe lang!age 9mother lang!age; no 9know; learne 9learner; sow
9so; #erry 9#ery; e#erry 9e#ery; othe I ather I arther 9other; som 9some; b!sness
9b!siness; arwer I awer 9o!r; rase 9race; speek 9speak; l!rners 9learners;
Some errors might be based on the comple+ity o% the graphic %orm in#erted order o% symbols
con%!sion abo!t the graphic representation o% so!nds etc.
whit 9with; So!th -%ricka I So!d"-%ica 9So!th -%rica; peopel 9people; a noteher
9another; mith 9might; aers 9ears; cop!ter aided design 9comp!ter aided design;
pleke 9plekke; meste 9meeste; 'edelerlands 9'ederlands; %eel !nappreciatel 9%eel
!nappreciated; be!ty%!ll 9bea!ti%!l; bec!ase 9beca!se; langage I langa!ge I lang!ge
9lang!age; somethimes 9sometimes; liek I lick 9like; t!ong I to!nge I tog!e 9tong!e;
the want 9they want; speck 9speak; mo!st 9most; apro%% 9a proo%; peop I peaple
9people; respect%!ll 9respect%!l; leasten 9listen; weather 9wether;
Fig!re 1 is an e+ample o% a word order task in 8nglish@ %ig!re 2 is an e+ample o% an
orthographic 9spelling; correction task. Fig!res 3 $ and & show how all these isolated
di%%ic!lties combine in creati#e writing. Fig!re %inally shows another widespread %eat!re
the tendency to create an aesthetic te+t!al prod!ct in spite o% the di%%ic!lties in handling
literacy codes.
9F4GCE8S 1 2 3 $ & -'B 58E8;
Fig!re 1 0aption Hsynta+ assignment(
Fig!re 2 0aption Hspelling assignment(
Fig!re 3 0aption Hletter to the ,rincipal(
Fig!re $ 0aption Hthe lang!age 4 like most(
Fig!re & 0aption Hcomm!nicate(
Fig!re 0aption Hdecorated writing(
These %eat!res o% writing are not !ne+pected they are %eat!res o% Hgrassroots literacy(
and #ery widespread in -%rica and elsewhere. They can be enco!ntered in many places in the
world where people are inserted in s!b"elite literacy economies and ha#e restricted literacyrepertoires and o%ten ass!me the shape o% a skeleton writing competence in which aco!stic
1::
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images o% words are noted in an !nstable spelling system. Grassroots literacy 4 insist need
not be seen as Hbad literacy( or Hrestricted literacy( in Aack Goody(s terms 9Goody 1<;. S!ch
terms s!ggest a partic!lar 9in%erior; position on one !ni%orm contin!!m o% H6!ality( in literacy
whereas it is %ar more !se%!l to see grassroots literacy as a partic!lar locally constr!cted and
constrained literacy 9culture* with a degree o% a!tonomy #is"R"#is related literacy c!lt!res
incl!ding that o% elite normati#e literacy. 4t is a %orm o% literacy which res!lts in #ery
restricted literacy repertoires and in which conse6!ently the norms and codes o% literacy are
deployed di%%erently in a di%%erent system o% #is!alization o% meaning. 4t is not ortho"graphy
b!t hetero3graphy the deployment o% literacy techni6!es and instr!ments in ways that do not
respond to instit!tional ortho"graphic norms b!t that ne#ertheless are not completely chaotic
e#en i% s!ch chaos appears to be the most conspic!o!sly %eat!re 9?lommaert 2::<@ see
,rinsloo and ?reier 1 and Thesen and Dan ,letzen 2:: %or st!dies o% contemporary So!th
-%rica;. There is order in the chaos and this order in#ites 9as yet !ne+plored; rich
comparati#e st!dy we see rec!rrent Herrors( widespread as types in the e+amples gi#en here
as well as in those %o!nd elsewhere and rather than seeing this as an absence o% order and
consistency one can also see it as the presence o% a di%%erent kind o% order operating within a
restricted repertoire. These %orms o% literacy respond to local iss!es o% %!nction and need@ they
are in other words ecologically embedded in the comm!nity in which they operate 9c%.
?arton 1$@ ?arton and 5amilton 1<@ Street 1&@ Aa%%e 2:::@ 0ollins and ?lot 2::3;.
This #iew in which s!ch %orms o% writing are seen as belonging to a partic!lar local
literacy c!lt!re complicates matters that otherwise might seem o#erly clear. For one thing it
does not help to dismiss the learners( writing as littered with orthographic errors there is a
more prod!cti#e hetero"graphic way o% seeing it. 4t does not only e+ist in relation to one
9instit!tional; norm o% writing b!t it e+ists in relation to a m!ltit!de o% s!ch norms. -lso and
conse6!ently s!per%icial comparison with similar %orms o% writing prod!ced e.g. in the CK
or the CS is not help%!l either as they wo!ld again s!ggest one !ni%orm literacy comple+ that
%!nctions as a yardstick %or assessing degrees o% 6!ality in literacy. 8#en i% we see similar
graphic realizations in contemporary and historical e+amples o% writing %rom the est the
partic!lar histories o% becoming o% s!ch %orms as well as their contemporary embeddedness in
socio"economic c!lt!ral and ideological conte+ts call %or deeper and more n!anced analyses.
4% %or instance someone in a literacy"sat!rated en#ironment writes Hl!#( it is likely that sIhe
also knows that there is an orthographically normati#e #ersion Hlo#e( and that sIhe wo!ld be
able to write this orthographically normati#e #ersion. riting Hl!#( then becomes an act o%wit skill and graphic creati#e display 9as well as a display o% some !nderstanding o% spelling
1:1
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con#entions e.g. in identi%ying the #owel in Hl!#( as identical to the one in Hp!n(; something
that e+ists alongside normati#e writing and deri#es its inde+ical #al!es o% creati#ity and
wittiness %rom the contrast with an 9accessible; norm. hat we are %acing here is an interplay
between two di%%erent literacies both o% which are within reach o% the same !ser beca!se both
belong to the literacy repertoire o% the !ser. 4n contrast the learner who wrote Hdearist( instead
o% Hdearest( in her letter to the principal 9%ig!re 3; has no access to the orthographically
normati#e #ersion o% the word@ Hdearist( is her best possible graphic realization beca!se the
orthographically normati#e #ersion is not accessible in her partic!lar literacy repertoire. 8#en
i% %orms o% writing in So!th -%rica and the CK ha#e a prima facie similarity it is what lies
beneath the s!r%ace that co!nts when we want to address the roles and %!nctions o% these
%orms o% writing %or those who employ them.
S!mmarizing we ha#e seen that the learners( writing in esbank 5igh displayed
%eat!res o% grassroots literacy. The %eat!res are not gro!p"speci%ic b!t widespread %eat!res o% a
partic!lar %orm o% literacy and they occ!r regardless o% the ling!istic backgro!nds o% the
learners as well as o% their a#erage academic per%ormance. They are in other words a le#el o%
shared literacy c!lt!re in an otherwise e+tremely heterogeneo!s comm!nity.
'he teachers
The pict!re o% a shared literacy c!lt!re becomes partic!larly intrig!ing as soon as we start
looking at teachers( lang!age !sage. Many o% the %eat!res we detected in the learners( writing
also occ!r in the writing o% teachers. 0onsider the %ollowing e+amples taken %rom
6!estionnaire responses
91; 8nglish being an international lang!age wo!ld e6!ipt learner to be able to
comm!nicate e%%ecti#ely internationally4N
92; earners %eel shy to speak a minority lang!ge. Mostly make yo!se o% code
switching. -lso a%raid o% stereotyping.N
4n 91; we see a spelling error 9e6!iptN; and a missing article or a problem with pl!ral
marking 9the learnerN or learner sN;@ in 92; we also see spelling errors 9lang!geN yo!seN;
and two rather !ne+pected %orms o% s!b>ect and #erb ellipsis in the two %inal sentences. Thespelling errors in 92; are similar to those enco!ntered in the learners( writing abo#e. Fig!res /
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and < pro#ide %!rther e+amples@ note again the typological similarity between the errors made
by the teachers and those made by the learners 9e.g. accent in a#angelistN and galariesN in
%ig!re /@ !nwarranted capitals and aco!stic writing in ell 8stablishN %ig!re <;.
9F4GCE8S / < 58E8;
Fig!re / 0aption Hteacher(s 6!estionnaire 1(
Fig!re < 0aption Hteacher(s 6!estionnaire 2(
So teachers and learners appear to share some o% the %eat!res o% writing and make
typologically similar errors = both gro!ps appear to di%%erent e+tents to be part o% a partic!lar
hetero"graphic literacy comple+ to the s!b"elite strat!m o% literacy. This is a sociologically
realistic %orm o% literacy in the sense that it mirrors the marginalized stat!s o% the comm!nity
in which it occ!rs. 4t is a %orm o% literacy that characterizes the place in which they operate
and in which access to elite 9hyper"normati#e homogenized; literacy is se#erely restricted. 4t
is not the case that teachers incorporate an abstract ideal and !ni%orm literacy norm which
wo!ld set them apart %rom their learners. The reason is again a historical one. The teachers in
esbank 5igh all belonged to the same Hracial( gro!ps as their p!pils colored and black. -nd
e#en i% in comparison with their p!pils they wo!ld be relati#ely well"o%% 9they are a salaried
pro%essional lower middle"class; being black or colored e6!alled str!ct!ral
disen%ranchisement !ntil #ery recently. 4n other words the esbank 5igh teachers come %rom
a similar s!b"elite strat!m in society in which the material and symbolic pri#ileges o% the elite
were and are rare commodities. Traces o% that str!ct!ral marginalization can be %o!nd e#en
today and they pro#ide a bedrock o% shared c!lt!re between teachers and learners.
The teachers deploy this sociologically real local %orm o% literacy as a normati#e tool
in teaching practice. This becomes clear when we look at the way in which teachers correct
and mark learners( assignments. 0onsider %ig!re an 8nglish writing assignment marked and
corrected by the teacher. 4n disc!ssing it we shall !se the term Herror( beca!se we are
addressing an e#al!ated e+ercise in orthographic correctness.
9F4GCE8 58E8. 0aption Hcorrected assignment(;
The teacher identi%ies and corrects < writing errors and marks the assignment with e+cellent
<$]N. The teacher howe#er does not spot the error in sentence 2 lo#e end careN nor thetwo errors in sentence $ somoneN and hen yo! lo#e her our himN 9note that the teacher
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also let pass the di#ision o% 9$; in two separate sentences;. -nd in sentence the teacher
corrects two cases o% phonetic writing 9all so spesialeN; b!t does not spot and appraise the
initial intention o% the learner 9aborted while writing; to add a bene%iciary to the synta+ o% the
sentence 9%r!its are %or someone also #ery specialN;. - sel%"correction s!ch as in sentence
re#eals the learner(s str!ggle with literate narrati#ity the grammatical bl!eprint is there b!t
literacy obstacles pre#ent a smooth narrati#e realization o% it. The teacher(s enco!raging
marks and comments show that the %orm o% literacy displayed by the learner is positi#ely
#al!ed@ the teacher(s reading and assessment o% it is less than p!niti#e and o#erlooks se#eral
more errors as well as the general str!ggle with literate narrati#ity displayed in the learner(s
responses. *bser#e that the errors not sanctioned by the teacher belong to the types we
identi%ied earlier phonetic writing and Haccent( in writing = types o% errors also present in the
teachers( writing.
The teacher assessing the assignment in %ig!re o#erlooked se#eral rather se#ere
writing errors as well. The missing articles e.g. are not identi%ied as errors 9To!rist is
someoneLN 4t can be sportsman b!sines etc.N pro#ides place %or people to stayN = note
also the spelling error in Hb!sines(;@ and the in%lectional error in 4t s!pply transport %or
peopleIto!ristN is also not marked as an error. T!rning to %ig!re 3 %inally 9the letter to the
principal; we again see that the teacher does not inter#ene in the general !neasiness o%
e+pression in the letter 9the %re6!ent !se o% b!tN %or instance; and that #ery problematic
e+pressions s!ch as to thank yo! %or the doing us a big thing N are also allowed to pass. e
can go on o!r data contain n!mero!s e+amples o% teachers partially sanctioning and
correcting learners( transgression o% Hgeneral( 8nglish orthographic norms.
Peripheral norms
The shared literacy c!lt!re th!s a%%ects systems o% appraisal and marking by teachers. 4n other
words grassroots literacy becomes not only a practical code a tool %or e+pression b!t also an
e!aluati!e and hence normati!e code a code in which degrees o% correctness and H6!ality( can
be disting!ished. Th!s a local system o% di%%ering H6!alities( o% literate e+pression is created
which does not pre"empt serio!s and consistent e#al!ation = see the teacher(s marks and
corrections and the di#erging a#erage scores o% learners = b!t which shi%ts the yardstick o%
e#al!ation away %rom an !nattainable pres!med !ni#ersal and sing!lar norm to a local
realistic norm to which learners can aspire and towards which they can make impro#ements.This is not done on p!rpose = it is not the case that teachers percei#e themsel#es as lenient
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towards learners 9on the contrary in o!r inter#iews with them most teachers characterized
themsel#es as demanding strict and rigoro!s towards their learners;. 4t is an e%%ect o% both
gro!ps being part o% the same s!b"elite literacy strat!m in society.
This normati#e yardstick conse6!ently is embedded in the local economies o%
semiotic reso!rces. 4t is in other words a normati#e comple+ with at least some degree o%
sociological and c!lt!ral reality in terms o% the le#els o% literacy pre#alent in esbank where
9as we saw earlier; low le#els o% ed!cation are the r!le rather than the e+ception and where
s!bstantial di#ersity in ling!istic social and c!lt!ral backgro!nds is the r!le as well.
0onse6!ently doing Hwell( at school means doing well by local standards@ it is abo!t doing
well in (esban& not in an abstract !ni#erse o% learning. The socioling!istic li%e o% the
comm!nity is dominated by this local normati#ity comple+. Globalization can spread a
lang!age b!t it does not spread the partic!lar %orms in which it occ!rs.
Cndo!btedly this has positi#e e%%ects. The teacher(s marks and comments s!ch as
e+cellentN m!st ha#e a stim!lating e%%ect on the learner who thanks to this realistic local
normati#ity has the opport!nity to per%orm better than when a p!niti#e e+ternal percei#ed
!ni#ersal normati#ity wo!ld be applied to hisIher assignments. That this m!st ha#e a positi#e
impact on the sel%"perception o% the learner and on hisIher moti#ation is more than an
ed!cated g!ess. The localization o% normati#ity probably also allows teachers to attain some
degree o% e%%ecti#eness in %ront o% the large and #ery heterogeneo!s classes that characterize
esbank 5igh. -gain an Habsol!te( 9e+ternal a"conte+t!al; norm wo!ld most probably lead
to no"passes %or almost e#ery learner whereas application o% the realistic norm allows %or
some degree o% di%%erentiation some degree o% identi%ication o% Hbetter( and Hworse( learners.
There is th!s a pedagogical and moral case to be made %or this proced!re. 8#en
tho!gh %rom one perspecti#e it amo!nts to li%ting Herrors( to the le#el o% norms 9and th!s
Hnormalizing( errors in writing; another perspecti#e s!ggests that it o%%ers interesting
pedagogical opport!nities and is th!s a prod!cti#e positi#e proced!re. 4t can be seen as the
localization o% ed!cation standards = something which probably occ!rs e#erywhere 9we ha#e
seen that all o#er the world 8nglish is learned %ith an accent ; b!t is rarely recognized and
acknowledged. 8d!cation certainly on literacy is #ery o%ten seen as de#eloping with
re%erences to indisp!table and a"conte+t!al codes and norms. hat happens in esbank 5igh
is the Hdownscaling( o% ed!cation bringing it down to the le#el o% the local or regional
comm!nity borrowing its norms and e+pectations and training learners in the local9ized;
codes and norms. The norms in esbank 5igh are !sed to include not >!st to e$clude.
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*bser#e that this arg!ment rests on an approach in which we see the 8nglish literacy
skills o% the learning comm!nity in esbank as a localized set o% semiotic reso!rces which is
organized in a partic!lar way. Totalizing ideas o% lang!age and literacy are not help%!l here@
we need an ethnographic sensiti#ity to the ways in which in this comm!nity people ha#e
organized their semiotic reso!rces within local constraints and in #iew o% creating locally
#alid opport!nities %or them. e shall consider the iss!e o% how s!ch resor!ces are organized
in repertoires in greater detail in the ne+t chapter. The totalizing ideas o% lang!age and literacy
are not wholly absent howe#er. They belong to a lang!age"ideological layer o% socioling!istic
realities to which we can now t!rn.
Perceptions of the center
4n the practice o% teaching and learning we see that esbank 5igh has localized its normati#e
comple+es ad>!sting its e#al!ati#e schemes and scales and creating a #iable realistic
pedagogy practice in which local #arieties o% literacy are #al!ed. So %ar so good = we ha#e
identi%ied a set o% practices which 9perhaps co!nter"int!iti#ely; is a solution to otherwise
mon!mental obstacles to academic achie#ement the !nattainable nat!re o% Hideal( norms the
norms o% the center %or people in the periphery. 4n so doing we ha#e enco!ntered the core
process o% socioling!istic globalization a globalized lang!age standard becomes trans%ormed
into relocalized #ernac!lar #arieties.
4t is o% co!rse not only a sol!tion b!t a problem as well and in its most
straight%orward %orm!lation the problem is this while being able to de#elop a prod!cti#e and
stim!lating learning en#ironment which o%%ers new opport!nities to more learners in a
Hdi%%ic!lt( social en#ironment the localization o% norms also in#ol#es a mo#e away %rom the
norms o% the Hcenter(. -nd these norms as we know are hegemonic in the end. hen
esbank 5igh grad!ates intend to mo#e on to instit!tes o% higher learning the errors in their
essays will not be percei#ed as tokens o% local c!lt!ral creati#ity and peripheral normati#ity
b!t as inde+es o% poor academic literacy le#els. The %eat!res that were instr!ments o%
incl!sion and creati#ity at the local le#el o% esbank s!ddenly become ob>ects o% e+cl!sion
at a higher le#el. Their literacy skills are locked so to speak into one scale"le#el the local
one. This too is a core %eat!re o% socioling!istic globalization the relocalized #arieties may
get Hst!ck( at a local scale"le#el and o%%er little in the way o% mobility potential across scales
%or their !sers.
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-n o#erwhelming ma>ority o% learners and teachers saw 8nglish as the Hmost
important( lang!age in So!th -%rica = as the ling!istic reso!rce carrying most prestige and
promise o% social and spatial mobility 9Byers 2::$a 2::<@ see ?ekker 2::3 %or an insight%!l
historical analysis;. *% co!rse H8nglish( = as a tool %or social and spatial mobility = o%%ers
only a small margin o% negotiability as to norms and codes whene#er we %rame 8nglish in
terms s!ch as presented here we are talking abo!t prestige !arieties o% 8nglish. esbank
5igh learners howe#er e+pressed their belie% in the mobility"endowing potential o% 8nglish
in strongly Haccented( #arieties #arieties that displayed the peripheral normati#ity we
identi%ied in the pre#io!s section. et !s ret!rn brie%ly to %ig!re $ abo#e. This is what the 1"
year old learner writes
The lang!age that 4 like at school to learn 8nglish beca!se that 8#erybody
they lean 8nglish beca!se is a #ery nice lang!age to 8#eryone that they want
to speak 8nglish
0onsider also this e+ample %rom another learner(s lang!age"mind"map
ca!se o#er race in this co!ntry can !nderstand 8nglish and we can
comm!nicate with e#eryone whether in So!th -%rica or in any other
co!ntry.
4t is clear that the H8nglish( both learners ha#e in mind is not the H8nglish( they artic!late in
their answers@ there is a gap between Htheir( 8nglish and Hthe( 9normati#e and literate; 8nglish
considered to be the most important lang!age in So!th -%rica.
This 8nglish is an ob>ect o% considerable attention and learners str!ggle to ac6!ire it.
hat %ollows is a %ragment %rom an inter#iew between the researchers ' and M and learners
- and G
1. ' the rest yo! donZt like7 .. a%rikaans e!hm .. li%e orientation I
2. - no i donZt want to learn
a%rikaans I. i already know . how to talk a%rikaans I i want to learn english like i can
talk with yo! I
3. ' okayI beca!se yo! can already speak a%rikaans
$. - a%rikaans yes
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&. M so yo! I yo! wo!ld pre%er to .. learn english instead o% a%rikaans I
. - yes iZ#e got one english book I
/. M yeah
<. - they .. they try to learn english and they .. they andand a%rikaans
. M yeah ..
9L;
22. M do yo! think it is important that yo! know . many lang!ages here in so!th a%rica I
or .. I to learn many lang!ages
23. G 9lo; to learn many lang!ages L is important seef P a lot o% noise in the back the
learners are coming o!t o% the classesQ
2$. - b!t the important lang!age %or me is english
2&. M thatZs the most important lang!age to yo! I and why I
93s;
2. - i donZt know why
2/. ' is it maybe beca!se most o% the people can !nderstand it
2<. - yes
*bser#e how - and G identi%y 8nglish as a target as something to be learned not as
something already ac6!ired 9e#en tho!gh they responded to the inter#iew 6!estions in
8nglish;. 'ote also that 8nglish is at the top o% a local ideologically in%ormed hierarchy o%
lang!ages in which respondents !s!ally disting!ish three elements 8nglish -%rikaans and
Xhosa. There is strong emotional a%%inity with -%rikaans and Xhosa 9the Hmother tong!es( o%
most children in esbank;. 8nglish is !s!ally speci%ied as to domain = interaction with
%riends or o!tsiders 9s!ch as the 8!ropean researchers; and class acti#ities = and as a prestige
reso!rce it is sit!ated outside o% esbank 8nglish 9that is the normati#e and literate #ariety
o% it; is the lang!age that will allow people to Hget o!t o%( esbank to better and more
prospero!s en#ironments 9c%. also Byers 2::$a 2< 2::<;. 4t is beca!se o% this connection between 8nglish and social and spatial mobility that 8nglish is gi#en its 96!ite common;
attrib!tion o% Hne!trality( a ne!tral medi!m allowing -%rikaans 9colored; and Xhosa 9black;
mother tong!e speakers to interact with one another witho!t acti#ating ethnoling!istic
sentiments.
Breams o% Hmo#ing o!t( are widespread. Many learners artic!late e+plicit desires to
mo#e on to higher learning tracks as in the ne+t %ragment where ' and M in6!ire into B(s
plans a%ter Hmatric( 9the 6!ali%ying e+am a%ter high school;
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1. ' b!t do yo! wanna go to school a%ter matric7 to ehr
2. B i want to go to a college
3. ' college
$. M yeah
&. B or something
. M yeah
/. B engineering
?y absence o% s!ch rather precise tra>ectories o% %!rther learning the aspiration is !s!ally Hto
become rich(
1. F yo! see my dream is to ha#e a big ho!se2. ' mhm
3. M that(s yo!r dream
$. F yes beca!se .. ii always grow !p in those small ho!ses
&. M mhm
. F those shacks yo! see
/. ' mhm
<. F i want i want to impro#e my li%e I
. Mand' yeah
1:. F to ha#e a big ho!se and those bea!ti%!l cars I yo! see
*r in its most elementary %orm >!st to get o!t o% esbank
1. ' do yo! ha#e plans %or the %!t!re7 do yo! like . want to become something or a
pro%ession yo! wo!ld like to ha#e I
2. 8 ehr i ha#e like two di%di%%erent dreams I depends .. like my most dream is .to
totototo mo#e o!t with my %amily here in esbank yo! know I
3. M yeah
$. 8 and li#e ehr somewhere else I b!t that i donZt think that .ehr is a good thing e#en
tho!gh iZm still working on it yo! know I
-ll these dreams and imagined !pward 9and o!tward; tra>ectories are predicated on
knowledge o% the H8nglish( the learners described earlier as a prestige reso!rce. There is anawareness o% that and this 9sociologically #ery acc!rate; awareness e+plains the learners(
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desire to ac6!ire H8nglish(. Th!s learners in esbank appear to ha#e a rather precise idea o%
the Hcenter( o% society and o% the way in which tra>ectories %rom the periphery to the center
re6!ire access to and control o#er speci%ic symbolic goods s!ch as 9Hstandard(; 8nglish.
4t is in light o% this that the localization o% norms in teaching becomes slightly more
problematic. The gap we saw between the H8nglish( identi%ied as the reso!rce o% social and
spatial mobility and the H8nglish( in which they artic!lated this #iew is what we call a
prete$tual gap a gap between e+pected lang!age competence and really a#ailable lang!age
competence 9Maryns and ?lommaert 2::2;. S!ch prete+t!al gaps are systemic they do not
depend on the indi#id!al e%%orts 9or lack thereo%; intrinsic capacities and possibilities o%
s!b>ects b!t they are elements o% social str!ct!res o% ine6!ality and the reprod!ction patterns
o% s!ch str!ct!res. 0onse6!ently while the downscaling o% normati#ity to a realistic local
le#el o% possibilities and norms is s!rely a prod!cti#e and stim!lating pedagogical instr!ment
it is at the same time something that reprod!ces systemic ine6!alities in society the ri%t
between centers and peripheries.
The production of locality
,eripheral neighborhoods s!ch as esbank display what -ppad!rai called H#ernac!lar
globalization( = a grassroots dimension o% globalization e+pressed amongst other things in
dense and comple+ %orms o% neighborhood heterogeneity. This kind o% grassroots
globalization res!lts according to -ppad!rai in more comple+ and !nclear %orms o% locality
more than e#er shot thro!gh with contradictions destabilized by h!man motion and
displaced by the %ormation o% new kinds o% #irt!al neighborhoodsN 91 1<;. 4ts e%%ects
incl!de the destabilization and decentering o% norms and the creation o% spaces which tho!gh
they appear to operate within %i+ed sets o% instit!tional norms 9e.g. those o% the ed!cation
system; in e%%ect operate with considerable a!tonomy. This a!tonomy we ha#e seen may be
e+tremely !se%!l in sol#ing local problems. 4n this case it s!rely contrib!ted to the
constr!ction o% an ade6!ate learning en#ironment %or the challenging school conte+t o%
esbank 5igh. ?!t at the same time it does not address problems that arise translocally as
soon as the locally ac6!ired 9and locally ade6!ate; symbolic reso!rces are He+ported( so to
speak to other places and spheres o% society crossing di%%erent scale"le#els.
The dynamics o% e+cl!sion and marginalization in en#ironments s!ch as So!th -%rica
9b!t by the same token also elsewhere; in#ol#e comple+ scalar processes in which whatco!nts as ade6!ate and acceptable at one scale le#el can be dis6!ali%ied at another scale le#el.
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0oncretely what co!nts as Hgood 8nglish( in the township may be Hbad 8nglish( at the
regional or state le#el. 4ne6!ality occ!rs on the bo!ndaries between scales the points o%
transition %rom strict locality to translocality %rom a le#el de%ined by the r!les and codes o%
one place to a le#el de%ined by the r!les and norms o% di%%erent places. -t s!ch points o%
transition the iss!e is the mobility offered by semiotic resources s!ch as lang!age skills some
skills o%%er a #ery low degree o% mobility while others o%%er a considerably larger degree o%
mobility and trans%erability across social and spatial domains. HStandard( literacy !s!ally %alls
in the second category while Hnon"standard( literacy %alls in the %irst category e#en i% %rom
one perspecti#e it can be seen as H%!ll( de#eloped comple+ literacy within a restricted
repertoire o% literacy skills and reso!rces.
0learly s!ch a diagnosis casts a di%%erent light on iss!es too o%ten ca!ght in totalizing
images o% clashing lang!ages ling!istic imperialism and oppositions between Hlocal( and
Hinternational( lang!ages. 4n analyses drawing on s!ch images the socioling!istic process is
red!ced to a con%rontation between a lang!age %rom the o!tside 9e.g. 8nglish; and people
%rom the inside 9old"style Hnati#es( to some e+tent; who are %orced to !se the o!tside
lang!age 9e.g. ebb 1$@ Mazr!i 2::$;. The scheme th!s drawn is attracti#ely simple and it
in#okes moral and political %rames o% independence #ers!s oppression e+cl!sion #ers!s
incl!sion respect #ers!s re>ection. Socioling!istic reality = alas = is considerably more
comple+ and ambig!o!s. *ne o% the main %eat!res o% the lang!age regime in esbank 5igh
%or instance is the %act that H8nglish( is a m!ltiple+ item composed o% at least two di%%erent
ob>ects "nglish an ideologically concei#ed homogeneo!s and idealized notion o% H8nglish"
the"lang!age"o%"s!ccess( and "nglish; a sit!ationally and locally organized pragmatics o%
!sing H8nglish( in ways rather distant %rom 8nglish1. This is a dynamics o% re"appropriation
localization and relocalization in a repertoire in which an !nattainable 8nglish1 is trans%ormed
into an attainable reso!rce lowering the threshold o% access while maintaining its stat!s
appeal and percei#ed trans%erability into !pward and o!tward tra>ectories. 8nglish is th!s
both it remains a lang!age %rom the o!tside 98nglish1; b!t has sim!ltaneo!sly been made
into a lang!age %rom the inside 98nglish2;. 4t is not >!st a H%oreign( lang!age b!t it has become
Ho!r( lang!age as well.
8thnographic in6!iry into s!ch processes o% locality and trans%erability opens !p a
wide range o% iss!es and casts them in a %!ndamentally new light. The processes obser#ed in
esbank 5igh cannot be !nderstood when ass!ming the e+istence o% one stable sing!lar and
!ni%orm perception o% normati#ity in the %ield o% literacy nor in the %ield o% Hlang!age( ingeneral. 4nstead a more %ragmented conte+t!alized and localized perception is re6!ired in
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which allowance is made %or !nderstanding practices in terms o% repertoires o% a local play"
o%% o% str!ct!re and agency o% determination and creati#ity.
3.!. )mages from the periphery
E!h!mbika as well as the people o% esbank 5igh artic!lated images o% the world = images
o% their own peripheral position in the world as well as images o% better places and o%
mobility o% tra>ectories towards these better places. 4n the case o% E!h!mbika s!ch images
were !sed ascripti#ely as a way o% de%ining and identi%ying characters in a no#el. 4n the case
o% the learners and teachers in esbank 5igh these images were inhabited they were the
Hlogic o% practice( 9in the sense o% ?o!rdie!; that organized their world#iew learning
proced!res and aspirations. 4n both instances the imagery was part o% locality it was a local
imagery that was deeply embedded in the local conditions o% li%e = those o% the periphery o%
the world"system. -nd seen %rom the periphery the world = and globalization = looks #ery
di%%erent %rom how it is seen %rom the center.
The world is #ery di%%erent too. ,eople don(t ha#e the same reso!rces e#erywhere and
scarcity o% reso!rces yields strange images o% wealth o% reso!rces and #ice #ersa. The
e+pectations people ha#e o% others o% people %rom other places is #ery o%ten not matched by
the act!al %eat!res and reso!rces these people possess. ,eople(s reso!rces re#eal their place in
the world their reso!rces are Hplaced( so to speak in that they betray the locality %rom where
they are drawn and in which they %it. This raises iss!es o% repertoires and the ne+t chapter
will address them. For now we can obser#e the partic!lar kind o% spatial determination that
emerges %rom a socioling!istic #iew o% globalization. -n -merican song s!ng by an
adolescent in Finland ac6!ires a Finnish accent@ it ac6!ires a ?elgian accent when s!ng by a
yo!ngster %rom ?elgi!m a 'igerian accent when s!ng by a 'igerian a Aapanese accent when
s!ng by a Aapanese kid and so %orth. Socioling!istically globalization is a strongly local and
localizing phenomenon in which strong %eat!res o% local socioling!istic regimes operate on
the bits o% globalized lang!age that enter the local en#ironments.
This to some e+tent 6!ali%ies e+isting #iews o% c!lt!ral globalization as predominantly
globalizing . The literat!re o%ten emphasizes how local comm!nities and places change
beca!se o% globalization. To be s!re they do b!t o#eremphasizing change can obsc!re the
importance o% contin!ity in s!ch processes and certainly %rom a socioling!istic #iewpoint
contin!ity is as important as change the persistence o% patterns is as important as thetrans%ormation o% patterns d!e to globalization.
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!. "epertoires an competence
4 arg!ed in the preceding chapters that a socioling!istics o% globalization needs to be a
socioling!istics o% mobile reso!rces not one o% immobile lang!ages. *!r %oc!s o% analysis
sho!ld be the act!al ling!istic comm!nicati#e semiotic reso!rces that people ha#e not
abstracted and idealized 9or ideologized; representations o% s!ch reso!rces. *!r %oc!s sho!ld
there%ore be on repertoires on the comple+es o% reso!rces people act!ally possess and
deploy. 4 already mentioned the Htr!ncated( nat!re o% m!ltiling!al repertoires in s!per"di#erse
conte+ts s!ch as those o% a contemporary Hglobal( city. M!ltiling!alism 4 arg!ed sho!ld not be seen as a collection o% Hlang!ages( that a speaker controls b!t rather as a comple+ o%
specific semiotic reso!rces some o% which belong to a con#entionally de%ined Hlang!age(
while others belong to another Hlang!age(. The reso!rces are concrete accents lang!age
#arieties registers genres modalities s!ch as writing = ways o% !sing lang!age in partic!lar
comm!nicati#e settings and spheres o% li%e incl!ding the ideas people ha#e abo!t s!ch ways
o% !sing their lang!age ideologies. hat matters in the way o% lang!age %or real lang!ages
!sers are these concrete %orms o% lang!age or to go by 5ymes( words
The place o% lang!age in the li%e o% the comm!nity wo!ld be !nderstood as more than
a matter o% so!nds spellings grammatical categories and constr!ctions. 4t wo!ld be
properly !nderstood as in#ol#ing #arieties and modalities styles and genres ways o%
!sing a lang!age as a reso!rce. 95ymes 1 /:;.
Shi%ting o!r %oc!s %rom Hlang!ages( 9primarily an ideological and instit!tional
constr!ct; to reso!rces 9the act!al and obser#able ways o% !sing lang!age; has important
implications %or notions s!ch as Hcompetence( as 4 will try to demonstrate shortly. The
6!estion what it is to Hknow( a lang!age to Hspeak it well( or to Hbe %l!ent( in it will ha#e to be
re%orm!lated and some e+isting tools %or meas!ring the answers to s!ch 6!estions 9as in
lang!age testing schemes; will ha#e to be critically re#isited. - clearer !nderstanding o%
repertoires %!rthermore may add detail and precision to analyses o% comm!nication
processes in the world o% globalized comm!nication where people o%ten comm!nicate with
bits and pieces o% genres and registers. Cnderstanding that comm!nication processes do not
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>!st proceed thro!gh Ha lang!age( b!t thro!gh specialized and partic!lar pieces o% lang!age
may help !s %ind a diagnostic %or what in a #ery #ast literat!re is called Hinterc!lt!ral
mis!nderstandings(. That too 4 will try to ill!strate in this chapter.
!.1. Truncate repertoires
'o one knows all o% a lang!age. That co!nts %or o!r so"called mother tong!es and o% co!rse
also %or the other Hlang!ages( we ac6!ire in o!r li%e time. 'ati#e speakers are not per%ect
speakers. 5ymes emphatically warns !s against the %allacy to e6!ate the reso!rces o% a
lang!age with the reso!rces o% 9all; !sersN 95ymes 1 213;. There is nothing wrong with
that phenomenon o% partial competence no one needs all the reso!rces that a lang!age
potentially pro#ides. e all ha#e speci%ic lang!age competences and skills we can !se
partic!lar genres 6!ite acceptably speak in the registers that are typical o% some social roles
and identities prod!ce the accents o% o!r nati#e regions and deploy the schooled literacy o%
o!r ed!cation tra>ectories. *!r real Hlang!age( is #ery m!ch a biographical gi#en the str!ct!re
o% which re%lects o!r own histories and those o% the comm!nities in which we spent o!r li#es.
-s an ill!stration and with lots o% reser#ations as to representati#ity and acc!racy
consider the %ollowing graphic. 4t represents my own m!ltiling!al competences in %o!r
lang!ages B!tch 91; French 92; German 93; and 8nglish 9$;.
9F4GCE8 1 58E8. 0aption Hthe tr!ncated repertoire(;
The %o!r lang!ages are ordered on the basis o% the se6!ence in which they entered my
repertoire %irst B!tch then 9%rom the age o% <; French then German 9age 12; and 8nglish
9age 13;. 4n the graphic 4 ha#e set scores not %or the lang!ages b!t %or speci%ic modes o%
!sage o% the lang!ages oral #ernac!lar #arieties 9dialects speci%ic dialects and sociolects;
oral standard #arieties 9e.g. the #arieties 4 sho!ld !se in %ormal comm!nicati#e sit!ations;
literacy le#el 9speci%ically writing; competences to comm!nicate in %ormal settings in
in%ormal settings and %inally the range o% domains in which 4 can s!ccess%!lly comm!nicate.
These di#isions are >!st ill!strati#e and indicati#e@ a %!ll"blown analysis o% my repertoire
wo!ld re6!ire m!ch more in the way o% distinctions. ?!t with these ro!gh indicators perhaps
the point co!ld be made clearly.
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e see that the range o% competences and skills in B!tch is highest and most balanced.
4 am capable in B!tch to deploy oral #ernac!lar as well as standard #arieties@ 4 can ha#e
in%ormal contact as well as per%orm %ormal comm!nication tasks 4 can write comple+ %ormal
te+ts in the lang!age and can comm!nicate within a wide range o% domains. 4% we compare
this pro%ile with French howe#er we see some striking di%%erences. My pro%iciency in
#ernac!lar #arieties is higher than that in standard #arieties %or instance. The reason is that
the standard #arieties 4 ac6!ired were con%ined to classroom en#ironments while 4 ac6!ired
#ernac!lar #arieties as an adolescent growing !p in ?r!ssels where #ernac!lar French was
the lang!age o% interaction with local %riends and c!stomers in my %ather(s shop. hene#er 4
speak French now it wo!ld ha#e a distinct Flemish"?r!ssels accent. My literacy le#els are not
#ery well de#eloped either. 4 can easily read French b!t not write elaborate French prose. -nd
while 4 can be a rather %l!ent comm!nicator in in%ormal contacts 9!sing my #ernac!lar
French; lect!ring or gi#ing %ormal speeches in French wo!ld be tasks that e+ceed my
reso!rces.
German came into my li%e earlier than 8nglish yet when we compare the pro%iles %or
both lang!ages we see sharp di%%erences. German ne#er rose abo#e the le#el o% a school
lang!age@ 8nglish in contrast became a %airly de#eloped tool e#en i% it entered my li%e at a
relati#ely late stage. 4t entered my li%e as a pro%essional tool and this e+plains the absence o%
#ernac!lar #arieties 94 don(t know any dialects or slang #arieties in 8nglish; and the #ery high
le#el o% literacy de#elopment. Most o% my academic writing is in 8nglish and 4 also lect!re
o#erwhelmingly in that lang!age. The range o% domains howe#er is rather small. hile 4 can
pass %or a %l!ent and artic!late speaker in academic and pro%essional domains other skills in
other domains are #ery !nderde#eloped. 4 am %airly inartic!late when 4 need to go shopping in
a s!permarket in the CK or when 4 need to e+plain a health problem to a doctor in 8nglish. 4
can conse6!ently be seen as a #ery artic!late speaker by some and as a #ery inartic!late one
by others = and all in the same Hlang!age(.
This is where lang!age tests o%ten miss the point. 4n attempting to set a#erage
pro%iciency le#els in Hlang!ages( they o#erlook the #ery speci%ic nat!re o% lang!age !se o%
the #ario!s ch!nks and pieces o% lang!age that we deploy %or speci%ic tasks. 4% we take %or
instance the terms o% re%erence o% the 0ommon 8!ropean Framework %or ang!ages 9the
most a!thoritati#e meas!ring tool o% the moment; and apply it to my 8nglish skills we wo!ld
see strange things.1 -s long as 4 can comm!nicate within my %ormal pro%essional registers 4
wo!ld not hesitate to 6!ali%y my per%ormance in the terms o% 8!ropean ang!age e#el 02 =the highest pro%iciency le#el
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0an !nderstand with ease #irt!ally e#erything heard or read. 0an s!mmarize
in%ormation %rom di%%erent spoken and written so!rces reconstr!cting arg!ments and
acco!nts in a coherent presentation. 0an e+press himIhersel% spontaneo!sly #ery
%l!ently and precisely di%%erentiating %iner shades o% meaning e#en in more comple+
sit!ations.
4% howe#er 4 am asked to e+plain a technical problem in 8nglish to a pl!mber or an electrical
engineer or a health problem to a doctor or a technical %inancial iss!e to an o%%icer o% the
%inance department o% my !ni#ersity my le#el o% pro%iciency wo!ld more acc!rately be
described as
0an !nderstand and !se %amiliar e#eryday e+pressions and #ery basic phrases aimed at
the satis%action o% needs o% a concrete type. 0an introd!ce himIhersel% and others and
can ask and answer 6!estions abo!t personal details s!ch as where heIshe li#es people
heIshe knows and things heIshe has. 0an interact in a simple way pro#ided the other
person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.
hich is the description o% 8!ropean ang!age e#el -1 the most elementary le#el o%
lang!age pro%iciency. Testing systems s!ch as the 8!ropean ang!age e#els stand in a
c!rio!s relationship to the real reso!rces and skills that people ha#e beca!se they belie#e they
meas!re lang!ages while in %act they meas!re speci%ic reso!rces. 4% 4 wo!ld be tested on the
basis o% test materials that %all within my range o% highly de#eloped skills my score wo!ld
probably be #ery high@ i% the test materials %all o!tside that range my score wo!ld be #ery
low.
-ll o% this is common sense and as said abo#e a real analysis wo!ld re6!ire %ar more
than what 4 !sed here in the way o% sophistication and arg!ment. ?!t the point deser#es to be
!nderscored i% %or no other reason beca!se o% the persistence o% lang!age"based #iews o%
competence in o!r %ields o% scholarship. The iss!e sho!ld be clear we always ha#e a
determined range o% speci%ic competences and some are #ery highly de#eloped while others
are considerably less de#eloped. -nd there are always reso!rces that we do not possess. The
answer to the p!zzle o% o!r repertoires is in o!r biographies and the wider histories o% the
comm!nities in which we li#e. 4% s!ch comm!nities are Hmonoling!al( in the sense that thea#ailable ling!istic reso!rces wo!ld belong to what is con#entionally de%ined as a speci%ic
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lang!age s!ch as B!tch then it is #ery likely that o!r repertoire will be composed o% B!tch
reso!rces@ i% the a#ailable reso!rces are deri#ed %rom #ario!s con#entionally de%ined
lang!ages o!r repertoire is likely to be Hm!ltiling!al(. -nd ac6!iring these reso!rces 9a
process !s!ally called Hlang!age learning(; wo!ld in e%%ect be the constr!ction o% a
m!ltiling!al repertoire. e wo!ld ac6!ire the ling!istic %eat!res o% these lang!ages = their
so!nds words grammatical patterns o% !se = as well as some o% their pragmatic %eat!res =
ways o% organizing interaction in s!ch lang!ages comm!nicati#e ro!tines registers that
enable !s to per%orm certain roles and identities = and c!lt!ral patterns = the !se o% genres the
lang!age"ideological load o% partic!lar e+pressions and so %orth.
-s arg!ed in chapter 1 the s!per"di#ersity that res!lts %rom globalization processes
res!lts in comm!nities o% people whose repertoires are str!ct!red as s!ch as tr!ncated
comple+es o% reso!rces o%ten deri#ed %rom a #ariety o% lang!ages and with considerable
di%%erences in the le#el o% de#elopment o% partic!lar reso!rces. ,arts o% these m!ltiling!al
repertoires wo!ld be %airly well de#eloped while others e+ist only at a #ery basic le#el.
4mmigrant children %or instance can grow !p in a %amily in which they hear their parents
speak a lang!age. They can !nderstand this lang!age and respond ade6!ately to !tterances
made in it b!t they ne#er learn to speak it. This does not mean that this lang!age does not
belong to the children(s repertoire it does belong to it be it only in a minimal and recepti#e
%orm. These children con#ersely wo!ld speak the lang!age o% the host society and wo!ld
help their parents accomplish comm!nicati#e tasks in that lang!age. The lang!age o% the host
society th!s indirectly belongs to the range o% a#ailable reso!rces o% the parents as well
beca!se they can draw on their children(s repertoire to achie#e comm!nication goals in it. The
tr!ncated repertoires o% new immigrants o%ten compel them to collaborati#e comm!nicati#e
work in which the little bits o% competence o% some are added to those o% others. The res!lt is
o%ten something that has a #ery !n%inished character partial realizations o% genres with
partially Hcorrect( bits o% lang!ages.
e ha#e seen se#eral s!ch H!n%inished( prod!cts in the pre#io!s chapters and the
H!n%inished( character o% lang!age and comm!nication is probably one o% the clearest ob>ects
o% in6!iry %or a socioling!istics o% globalization. 4t is clear that mobility creates all sorts o%
challenges %or people while it o% co!rse also o%%ers opport!nities. Messages and people
become more mobile and this re6!ires a stretching o% the repertoires o%ten beyond their
limits. 'otwithstanding that we see that some %orms o% H!n%inished( comm!nication are 6!ite
s!ccess%!l and 4 will now t!rn to one s!ch s!ccess story email %ra!d messages sent %rom the
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periphery o% the world to the center o% the world. e will see that these messages too raise
comple+ iss!es o% competence.
!.2. -lobalize genres of frau
BearSir
`
` 4 am writing %ollowing the impressi#e in%ormation abo!t yo!
` thro!gh one o% my %riends who r!ns a cons!ltancy %irm
` !nder 'igeria 0hamber o% 0ommerce and 4nd!stry.5e ass!red
` me o% yo!r 0apability and Eeliability to 0hampion a
` ?!siness o% great Magnit!de
`
` 4 am Br.Aoseph BiaraThe personal assistant to the newly
` appointed -cco!ntant General *% The Federation 9-.G.F;4 and
` *ne o% my colleag!es are in c!stody o% CS1.3M44*'hich
` is an !nclaimed %oreign contract payment.This %!nd is
` c!rrently in the s!spence acco!nt o% o!r paying ministry
` awaiting immediate claim.
`
` 4 ha#e concl!ded e#ery arrangement to make yo! clam this
` %!nd on o!r behal% as the tr!e ?ene%iciaryI0ontractor.
`
` ,lease4% yo! are serio!s and interested in handling this
` transaction %rom yo!r end Bo noti%y me by email or call me
` on my direct phone23$"<:"$&2"1&:.%or %!rther
` details.,leasesend yo!r response
` to>osephdiarahotmail.com
`
` Oo!rs Sincerely
` Br.Aoseph Biara
9Sample 1;
5ere is a genre o% contemporary globalized comm!nication an e"mail spam hoa+ message
originating pres!mably %rom somewhere in the periphery o% the world and sent to a large
n!mber o% addressees in the core co!ntries o% the world system. This spam mail is associated
with what has been tagged by the F?4 as the H'igerian -d#anced Fee Fra!d( also known as
H$1 scams( a%ter the section o% the 'igerian ,enal 0ode on %inancial crimes. The general
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pattern o% the direction o% $1 emails is a So!th"to"'orth r!n the message is oriented towards
a partic!lar kind o% s!b>ect in a%%l!ent societies someone greedy eno!gh to gi#e in to the
temptation o% earning millions with an e"mail reply. The $1 scams are 6!ite s!ccess%!l. There
are n!mero!s reported and doc!mented cases o% these s!%%icient %or the 0entral 4ntelligence
-gency and Federal ?!rea! o% 4n%ormation to mention the scam on their o%%icial websites.
The 0entral ?ank o% 'igeria has also p!blished disclaimers in ma>or newspapers aro!nd the
world. 'otwithstanding this pre#ailing So!th"'orth direction o% interactions the largest $1
scam on record is a So!th"on"So!th crime which led to the collapse o% ?anco 'oroeste in Sao
,aolo ?razil a%ter 'igerian scam perpetrators siphoned CS2$2 million %rom the bank 9see
httpIIodili.netInewsIso!rceI2::&Ino#I1I2:2.html;. 4t is clear that many people are appealed
by the messages the orientations to partic!lar s!b>ects are e%%ecti#e th!s raising 6!estions
abo!t the Hhow( and Hwhat( o% the messages.
4n order %or these orientations to be e%%ecti#e the messages need to correspond to a
wide #ariety o% ling!istic stylistic and generic criteria = criteria that pro#ide desired %orms o%
pres!pposability the right %orms o% inde+ical #al!es to allow the message to be read as a
gen!ine bona %ide b!siness proposal. 4 wo!ld s!ggest that this comple+ o% ling!istic stylistic
and generic re6!irements pro>ected onto a concrete te+t!al arte%act can be read as the lowest
empirically obser#able le#el o% globalization as globalization"on"the"gro!nd. 4 wo!ld
howe#er also s!ggest that s!ch a concl!sion cannot merely be drawn %rom prima facie
characteristics o% the doc!ment = %or instance the %act that it is distrib!ted by the globalized
channel par e$cellence e"mail = b!t that s!bstantially more is re6!ired and that we need in
partic!lar to address the min!sc!le ling!istic stylistic and generic %eat!res o% s!ch te+ts in
order to arri#e at a precise #iew o% what lang!age does in globalization conte+ts.
The reason already emphasized a n!mber o% times be%ore is that we do not only need
to !nderstand the simple %act o% H%low( b!t also the content and %!nction o% %lows the way
concretely in which doc!ments s!ch as these can artic!late or %ail to artic!late identities
intentions conte+ts o% intelligibility. 4n other words the target is to !nderstand how te+ts
%lowing thro!gh the channels o% globalization can ha#e te+t!al %!nctions. S!ch %!nctions
socioling!ists ha#e long ass!med are nested in socioling!istic systems %irmly gro!nded in the
socioc!lt!ral and political %abric o% Hspeech comm!nities( o%ten seen as local. Globalization
now clearly complicates the associati#e link between locality speech comm!nity and
comm!nicati#e %!nction. hile we ha#e some answers to the 6!estion abo!t how to imagine
translocal speech comm!nities we still str!ggle to come to terms with the idea o% translocal
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%!nctions. Te+ts s!ch as these may o%%er !s a glimpse into the potential and limitations o%
translocal %!nctioning.
The theoretical dri%t o% what %ollows is the tension between !ni%ormity and di#ersity
which might be at the core o% globalization processes. 4 want to establish the %ollowing points
91; the a!thors o% these email messages are %!lly inserted in the technology o% globalized
comm!nication@ 92; %!rthermore there is #ery clearly also a signi%icant degree o% awareness
o% generic con#entions %or the messages@ 93; howe#er the a!thors %ail to prod!ce Hcomplete(
H%a!ltless( realizations o% the genres. This then 4 will arg!e prod!ces rich inde+ical messages
which e+cl!de some addressees and incl!de others. 4n other words incomplete instances o%
genre realization create pec!liar translocal speech networks. This phenomenon may shed light
on iss!es o% comm!nicati#e competence in a globalized en#ironment what we see is
tr!ncated competence di%%erent competences co"occ!rring and together creating messages
that might work or %ail depending on the degrees to which the di%%erent competences are
de#eloped. ?e%ore de#eloping this arg!ment 4 shall ha#e to introd!ce the data on which it is
based.
The data: preliminary observations
ike many others 4 recei#e email messages s!ch as the abo#e on a reg!lar basis. The concrete
analysis will be cond!cted on small corp!s o% & messages between -pril and A!ne 2::&.
Bata collection proceeded indiscriminately copying e#ery message that reached my mailbo+
= abo!t one per day. -part %rom the %act that none o% the messages is long 9ranging between
hal% a printed page and two printed pages; they all share a n!mber o% %eat!res 9i; almost all
o% them are written in #arieties o% 8nglish@ 9ii; they are all sent thro!gh international %ree
pro#iders@ 9iii; they all represent an attempt at %ormal o%%icial style o% writing@ 9i#; the senders
all pose as elite members in control o% %lows o% money and knowledgeable abo!t trans%er
proced!res and 9#; they all o%%er to trans%er s!ms o% money into my acco!nt on a con%idential
basis. The amo!nts stated in CS Sterling or 8!ro #ary between :.& million dollars and
$1:.$ million dollars. The appendi+ to this chapter pro#ides an o#er#iew o% the corp!s.
'ypes of offers
Typologically we can disting!ish %o!r ma>or types o% o%%ers.
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14 Bormant acco!nts. -lmost hal% o% the o%%ers made 92&; are abo!t what we co!ld call
Hdormant acco!nts(. 5ere is a typical story
8+. 1 ` B8-E ,-ET'8E
` 4 g!ess this letter might come to yo! as a s!rprise since 4 had no pre#io!s` correspondence with yo! ?!t with d!e respect 4 got yo!r contact in my` research %or a reliable and honest person who will be capable and %it to` assist me in handling a #ery con%idential transaction in#ol#ing the trans%er ` o% CS/& million dollars only.` 4 want to trans%er these %!nds to o#erseas9/&.::::::.::CSB; Se#enty Fi#e` million Cnited States Bollars;.For o!r sharing and in#estment p!rposes in` yo!r co!ntry.` The abo#e %!nd is not connected with arms dr!gs or Money la!ndering@ neither ` is it related to any terrorist sponsor o% any sort.` 4 am A!mbo illiams -k!nnean acco!ntant and ?ank manager The 8+ec!ti#e and` the ?oard o% Birectors ha#e appro#ed and accredited this rep!ted ?ank with` the o%%ice o% the Birector4nternational EemmitanceIForeign *peration to
` handle and trans%er all %oreign inherittance %!nds this %inal 6!arter o% the` year. 4 ha#e my client in#ol#ed who died in a plane crash with his wi%e and` childrentho!gh i ha#e tried to contact any o% the relati#es b!t to no a#ail` and witho!t any traceable ne+t o% kin5ence the dormant nat!re o% 5is acco!nt` and i% 4 do not remit this money o!t !rgently it will be re"channeled into` the bankZs reser#e.
9sample 2;
The a!thor o%ten poses as a banking or ins!rance e+ec!ti#e who has knowledge o% and access
to a large !nclaimed s!m o% money le%t in an acco!nt !pon the tragic death o% the owner and
o%ten in danger o% being appropriated by the state. The p!rpose o% the transaction is money
la!ndering to get the s!m o!t o% the present acco!nt and co!ntry and %!nnel it into o!r bank
acco!nt. 9'ote how in s!ch messages images o% corr!pt go#ernments and inept b!rea!cracies
are acti#ated.;
2. ottery rewards. -bo!t one 6!arter o% the o%%ers 913; ass!mes the shape o% an
anno!ncement that 4 ha#e won a s!bstantial amo!nt o% money in an 4nternet lottery. 5ere is a
typical anno!ncement
8+. 2 e are pleased to in%orm yo! o% the res!lt o% the *!r Global 8mail ottery program held on the 2th
-pril 2::&.
` Oo!r e"mail address attached to ticket n!mber 3/&11$&<"$1: with serial n!mber $</2"&1: drew
l!cky n!mbers /"1$"<<"23"3&$& which conse6!ently won in the 1st category yo! ha#e there%ore been
appro#ed %or a l!mp s!m pay o!t o% CS 1::::::.:: 9*ne Million Cnited States Bollars;.
`
` 0*'GE-TC-T4*'S
` B!e to mi+ !p o% some n!mbers and names we ask that yo! keep yo!r winning in%ormation
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con%idential !ntil yo!r claims has been processed and yo!r money Eemitted to yo!. This is part o% o!r
sec!rity protocol to a#oid do!ble claiming and !nwarranted ab!se o% this program by some participants.
`
` -ll participants were selected thro!gh a comp!ter ballot system drawn %rom o#er 2:::: companyand 3::::::: indi#id!al email addresses and names %rom all o#er the world. This promotional
program takes place e#ery three years. e hope with part o% yo!r winning yo! will take part in o!r ne+t
CSB &: million international lottery.
`
` To %ile %or yo!r claim please contact o!r %id!cial agentIattorney
`
` ?-EE4ST8E. E*O 5-'S 9E*O- -BD*0-T8' K-'T*E;
` -msterdam"'etherlands.
` Tel 931; 1/ /2 /:.
` Fa+ 931; <$/ &: 2//.
` 8"Mail Eoy5ans?D-netscape.net
`
9sample 2<;
ottery messages o%%er the lowest amo!nts o% money 9between :.& and &.& million ; b!t as
we can see with promises o% s!bstantially higher gains in %!t!re ro!nds.
3. Eesc!e operations . 12 o%%ers s!ggest that 4 assist people who ha#e got into tro!ble in their
homeland to get their capital o!t o% the co!ntry and made accessible to them in ret!rn %or a
he%ty reward. 5ere is an e+ample
8+.3 ` My 'ame is MES.SC\-'- 'C5-' D-O8 %rom iberia a 0o!ntry in est -%rica. My late
5!sband is 4ssac '!han Daye Bep!ty Minister o% ,!blic orks in iberia. My 5!sband was %alsely
acc!sed o% plotting to remo#e the then ,E8S4B8'T *F 4?8E4- 05-E8S T-O*E; %rom o%%ice.
itho!t trial 0harles Taylor killed him. Oo! can #eri%y this %rom some o% the international newspapers
posted in the web sites below
`
` 94;httpIIwww.!satoday.comInewsIworldI2::3":/"1&"liberia+.htm
`
` ?e%ore my h!sband was killed he mo#ed o!t the s!m o% 21.& million thro!gh a diplomatic means
and deposited it with a Sec!rity 0ompany -broad. -nd this money was meant %or importation o%
agric!lt!ral machineries.
`
` -ll that is needed is %or my lawyer to instr!ct the company to trans%er the %!nds to yo!r acco!nt 4 will
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rem!nerate yo! with 2:] at the end b!t most o% all is that 4 solicit yo!r tr!st and honesty in this
transaction. 4 ha#e been con%ined only to o!r co!ntry home and all my calls are monitored so 4 will
ad#ise yo! contact my pri#ate -ttorney ?arr. ,.*.illiams base in Cnited Kingdom on his contact
stated below %or onward proceedings "
9Sample$1;
$. 0harity . - %inal type o% which my corp!s has & e+amples is a rather remarkable appeal to
assist in charity. The a!thor in all %i#e cases poses as a de#o!t M!slim who %eels that the end
o% his li%e is near and who tries to gi#e his %ort!ne to charities. 5ere is an e+ample
8+.$ ` 'ow that God has called me 4 ha#e willed and gi#en most o% my property and assets to my immediate
and e+tended %amily members as well as a %ew close %riends. 4 want God to be merci%!l to me and
accept my so!l 4 ha#e decided to gi#e alms to charity organizations as 4 want this to be one o% the last
good deeds 4 e#er do on earth. So %ar 4 ha#e distrib!ted money to some charity *rganizations in the
C.-.8 -lgeria and Malaysia.
`
` 'ow that my health has deteriorated so badly 4 cannot do this mysel% anymore. 4 once asked members
o% my %amily to close one o% my acco!nts and distrib!te the money which 4 ha#e there to charity
organization in ?!lgaria and ,akistan@ they re%!sed and kept the money to themsel#es. 5ence 4 do not
tr!st them anymore as they seem not to be contended with what 4 ha#e le%t %or them.
`
` The last o% my money which no one knows o% is the h!ge cash deposit in 8!rope whort eighteen
Million CS dollars 9CS1<::::::.::; that 4 ha#e with a deposit company abroad.
`
` -cknowledge this message so that 4 can introd!ce yo! to my lawyer who will handle the trans%er o%
recei#ership by yo! o% the abo#e said %!nds.
`
` 4 will want yo! to help me collect this deposit and dispatched it to charity organizations. My lawyer
shall p!t yo! in the pict!re o% the %!nds tell yo! where the %!nds are c!rrently being maintained and
also disc!ss modalities incl!ding rem!neration %or yo!r ser#ices.
9Sample3:;
4n all %o!r types the story is di%%erent and di%%erent moral %rames are being in#oked. There are
o%%ers that appeal to western liberal sentiments to in#oke recipients( sympathy o#er the
#iolation o% h!man rights@ o%%ers which claim to ha#e a philanthropic p!rpose that is the
reason add!ced %or trans%erring the %!nd in 6!estion is to make a donation to a charitable or
religio!s ca!se@ and thirdly some o%%ers co!rt re#erse morality by claiming that they are
Hsa#ing( the %!nds they seek to trans%er %rom %alling into the hands o% wayward establishment
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o%%icials. ?!t the patterns and proced!re are identical in all cases %or !ne+plained reasons 4
ha#e personally been chosen as the pre%erred partner in a money transaction o% considerable
size and s!bstance@ 4 ha#e to open a new bank acco!nt in which the money can be placed. -nd
whate#er the nat!re o% the ser#ices we render to the a!thors o% s!ch messages 4 shall be #ery
genero!sly rewarded.
<rigin of the messages
From the email address we may be able to determine where a scam mail is %rom = each
co!ntry 9e+cept the CS; has a registered node H!k( Hca( Hch( Hhk( Hde( Hng( etc. ?!t there
are ne!tral nodes on the %ree email ser#ices s!ch as Hgmail.com( Hyahoo.com( and
Hhotmail.com( which are more di%%ic!lt %or the !nschooled eyes to read. -lso it is possible to
register an address in a co!ntry witho!t being resident there thro!gh a %alsi%ication o% personal
details. The & messages in o!r corp!s are sent by people claiming to write %rom 1$ di%%erent
co!ntries. Table 1 presents an o#er#iew.
'igeria 11
CK 1:
So!th -%rica /
The 'etherlands /
?enin &
4#ory 0oast &
B!bai 3
E!ssia 2
0hinaI5ong Kong 2
iberia 2
4taly 1
\imbabwe 1
Ghana 1
Senegal 1
Table 1 0laimed origin o% a!thors
The CK and The 'etherlands are the so!rces o% Hlottery( messages = se#en and si+ messages
respecti#ely = and s!ch Hlottery( items do not originate in other co!ntries 9with one e+ception
sample1 which claims origins in the CK and So!th -%rica;. The other categories are
dominated by 'igeria or i% we e+tend regionally est -%rica. 'igeria ?enin 4#ory 0oast
iberia Ghana and Senegal together acco!nt %or 2& o!t o% & messages. So!th -%rica does
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rather well with se#en messages. 4% we disco!nt the Hlottery( messages 8!rope is the origo o%
a mere se#en messages and interestingly three messages %rom 8!ropean co!ntries are
Hresc!e( messages. The two messages %rom E!ssia 9samples. / and 2; both claim to be part o%
an attempt to resc!e some o% Mikhail Khodoro#sky(s O!kos %ort!ne while he does his time in
>ail@ the message %rom 4taly 9sample.2; p!rports to protect the interests o% Mr. !igi Morgera
a ,armalat e+ec!ti#e ca!ght in %ra!d trials.
The messages as a r!le o%%er an email reply address 9abo!t which 4 shall ha#e to say
more below; and in a n!mber o% cases also a telephone n!mber. ith one or two e+ceptions
the phone n!mbers corroborate the claimed place o% origin. -!thors claiming to be %rom
'igeria o%%er a 'igerian phone n!mber a!thors %rom the CK a ?ritish phone n!mber. The
story o% e"mail pro#iders howe#er is considerably more comple+ and already o%%ers !s some
insights in the patterns o% globalization against which we ha#e to interpret these doc!ments.
&nowing your way around the globe: aliases' anonymous providers
-ll o% the a!thors !se open anonymo!s commercial pro#iders %or sending and recei#ing
messages. 4t is ob#io!s that some attention has gone towards a#oiding a recognizable trace o%
identity and creating opport!nities %or erasing one(s traces and posing as an alias. - 6!ick
look at the selection o% pro#iders in the appendi+ yields a gen!inely globalized pict!re.
-!thors witho!t e+ception choose commercial %ree pro#iders o% the 5otmail or
Oahoo type pro#iders that o%%er %ree email addresses and some 9limited; ser#er space. These
pro#iders can be %o!nd all o#er the world and a!thors in the corp!s !se pro#iders based in
Malaysia Me+ico Spain 4taly the CK E!ssia the CS The 'etherlands the ,hilippines
T!rkey 0hina and 5ong Kong So!th -%rica 0anada France Benmark Cr!g!ay ,oland
-rgentina -!stralia 'ew \ealand 4ndia and 4srael. ith almost no e+ceptions pro#iders are
based in co!ntries other than the ones claimed to be the place o% origin o% the messages =
messages are claimed to be sent %rom 'igeria b!t they are sent thro!gh pro#iders in the CS
Cr!g!ay or the ,hilippines 9note that none appears to be based in ?elgi!m the co!ntry o% the
addressee in this case;. -nd o%ten the reply address is di%%erent %rom the sending address
indicating that probably the a!thors %re6!ently shi%t base so to speak %rom one pro#ider to
another.
The choice o% pro#iders is sometimes ingenio!s. Th!s sample carries the message
mail sent %rom ebmail ser#ice at httpIIwww.p!k"en"m!k.com.N The latter is a second"handclothing store in 5answeert The 'etherlands. Se#eral messages are sent %rom
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httpIIyo!rsite.com a CS"based comp!ter s!perstore. -nd sample 22 is sent %rom
handbag.com a women(s e"zine based in the CK. The ser#ers %rom which some messages
ha#e been sent no longer e+isted when 4 checked on them two months a%ter recei#ing the
message perhaps s!ggesting that ser#ers are being set !p and dismantled repeatedly so as to
pre#ent localizing e%%orts by others.
-dd to this the capacity to do e+tensi#e and detailed searches %or indi#id!al addressees
on the 4nternet 9emails are sent directly to one address and o%ten also !se the addressee(s name
in the te+t = the mails are personalized; and we can see that we are witnessing ad#anced
comp!ter skills here. The a!thors o% these messages know their way aro!nd the world o%
#irt!al comm!nication. 4n order to %ind pro#iders s!ch as the ones they !se thoro!gh and
well"targeted searches on the 4nternet are re6!ired@ setting !p email addresses changing them
and keeping track o% the comple+ %lows o% messages th!s generated@ knowing that pro#iders
can be accessed 2$I/@ and knowing that choosing %ar away small pro#iders can help create
#irt!al anonymity = all o% these are %orms o% highly de#eloped comp!ter literacy. The people
a!thoring these messages are streetwise in the world o% the 4nternet. They are %!lly competent
!sers o% the technology o% globalized comm!nication.
The comple+ %orms o% Hplacing( = where the message is claimed to be sent %rom@ where
it is act!ally sent thro!gh and so on = necessitate identity work and a!thors make e%%orts to
pro#ide pla!sible aliases. Th!s %or e+ample the lottery coordinator in sample $: claims to be
based in ?ritain and calls himsel% Simon 0ro%t@ another one 9sample 22; claims to be based in
The 'etherlands and calls himsel% HAan Dan Klein( 9not a #ery common b!t also not an
!nlikely B!tch name;. Sometimes howe#er the !se o% Hplaced( aliases 9aliases that s!ggest a
partic!lar regional belonging; can back%ire. The a!thor o% the lottery message in sample &1
based in The 'etherlands calls himsel% HDan ?ell( 9to be contacted thro!gh a pro#ider in
-rgentina;@ the one o% sample 31 signs with H\ack Sonnie( = both are highly !n!s!al B!tch
names. -nd the most !nlikely one is that in sample 2/ = a lottery message s!pposedly %rom
The 'etherlands and signed by H-nton Geesink(. -nton Geesink is a good B!tch name b!t it
happens to be the name o% a B!tch A!do legend the giant who gained eternal *lympic glory
when he won the gold medal in the hea#yweight category at the 1$ Tokyo *lympics
de%eating the Aapanese %a#orite. -nd the a!thors o% sample 2< again claiming to be %rom The
'etherlands re%er to
8+.&
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` ?-EE4ST8E. E*O 5-'S 9E*O- -BD*0-T8' K-'T*E;
They o#erlook the %act that Hbarrister( wo!ld be a #ery !nlikely title in the B!tch legal system
9where Had#ocate( Hattorney( or Hlawyer( wo!ld be most common and where the title wo!ld
be HMr( = HMaster(; where Had#ocaten kantor( o!ght to be Had#ocatenkantoor( 9one word
do!ble Ho(; and where the title HEoyal( can only be carried by royal appointment again a #ery
!nlikely 6!ali%ication %or Eoy 5ans( ad#ocaten kantorN.
4n spite o% these shaky e+amples we see that in general a!thors display an awareness
o% degrees o% isomorphism between names and places ?ritish names when the a!thor is
s!pposed to be based in ?ritain B!tch ones when in The 'etherlands and so on. There is an
awareness o% Hnational( %eat!res across the world and there is an awareness o% the rest o% the
world. -!thors mention other co!ntries in their messages sometimes so as to pro#ide
acco!nts o% migration tra>ectories 9o% people or o% money; or to display their international
networking ability. 4 will come back to this %eat!re below.
et !s take stock o% what we ha#e %or the moment. 0learly the messages are sent by
people who are %!lly inserted in the technology o% globalized comm!nication. They know
how to !se the opport!nities o%%ered by the 4nternet %or sending personalized messages while
remaining anonymo!s and !ntraceable and they also know that the pla!sibility o% messages
can depend on Hplacing( signs s!ch as Hlocal( names. 4n other words the a!thors are no
4nternet illiterates 6!ite the contrary they possess ad#anced 4nternet skills and they are %!lly
inserted into the economies o% global comm!nication. This is a %irst type o% comm!nicati#e
competence they display they are %!lly competent in the technology o% electronic
comm!nication. -nd this remember is the %irst point 4 wanted to establish.
(onstructing genres
The second point is the awareness o% genre con#entions %or dra%ting messages s!ch as these
designed to tra#el thro!gh the globalized comm!nication systems crossing continents and
time zones. There is striking generic !ni%ormity across the corp!s. -s genres the messages
are H%!lly %ormed( 9to !se 5ymes( 1< terms;@ in the #ery least they are in a process o%
stabilization. -nd in each o% the cases a!thors make e%%orts to deploy registers of
&no%ledgeability in their messages attempting to con#ey speci%ic inde+icalities o% identity
p!rpose and tr!th%!lness.
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Two main genres can be disting!ished 9i; the Hlottery( messages are by and large
composed as administrati!e and formal te+ts and they stand o!t by their deployment o%
Htechnical( and proced!ral registers@ 9ii; the Hdormant( Hresc!e( and Hcharity( types are
composed as narrati!es of e$perience and trust and they are marked by registers o% personal
in#ol#ement rapport and %aith. e shall brie%ly disc!ss the %irst type and dwell somewhat
longer on the second.
Administrati!e3formal genres
Hottery( messages share a basic str!ct!ral pattern. 4 shall !se sample 31 to ill!strate this.
i. - technical b!sinesslike s!b>ect line containing n!mber re%erences
8+.
` 1:T5 G*?- ,E*M*"*EG-'4\-T4*' 4'T8E'-T4*'- ,E*GE-M T58
'8T58E-'BS.
` -F*'STE--T ?& 1::2 ?S -MST8EB-M T58 '8T58E-'BS.
` FE*M T58 B8SK *F T58 ,E*M*T4*'S M-'-G8E 4'T8E'-T4*'-
` ,E*M*T4*'SI,E4\8 --EB B8,-ETM8'T
`
` E8F *O I2&1:$::3/I:2
` ?-T05 2$I::31I4,B
`
` -TT8'T4*' E8I --EB '*T4F40-T4*'@ F4'- '*T408
The tone and style are impersonal@ there is no establishment o% a personal %orm o%
in#ol#ement between sender and addressee. The messages also !s!ally carry ne!tral terms o%
address HBear SirIMadam( HBear inner( or in one or two cases a more marked HBear
!cky inner(.
ii. -n anno!ncement o% the award and o% the proced!re o% selection
8+. /
` e are pleased to in%orm yo! o% the anno!ncement o% winners o% the 1:T5
` G*?- ,E*M*"*EG-'4\-T4*' 4'T8E'-T4*'- ,E*GE-M T58 '8T58E-'BS held the` 23rd o% april 2::&. 5a#ing picked yo!r email address by o!r electronic web
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` site #isitors collators in recognition o% yo!r patronage to the internet
` ser#ices in the %inal draw yo!r name was attached to Ticket n!mber
` :23":1$<"/:"$& with Serial n!mber &:/3"11 drew the !cky n!mbers
` $3"11"$$"3/"1:"$3 and conse6!ently won the lottery in the 3rd category. Oo!
` ha#e there%ore been appro#ed %or a l!mp s!m pay o!t o% CS<&:.:::.:: in cash` credited to %ile E8F '*.*O I2&1:$::3/I:2. This is %rom total prize money
` o% CS<:$:::::.:: shared among the Twenty"nine international winners in
` this category.
`
` -ll participants were selected thro!gh a comp!ter ballot system drawn %rom
` 2&::: names %rom -!stralia 'ew \ealand -merica 8!rope 'orth -%rica
` -merica and -sia as part o% 4nternational ,romotions ,rogram which is
` cond!cted ann!ally.
'ote the dense concentration o% n!mbers dates re%erences to instit!tional and technical items
9Global ,romo"*rganizational 4nternational ,rogramN 3rd categoryN credited to %ile E8F
'*.*OI2&1:$::3/I:2N etc.;
iii. - re6!est %or con%identiality and an in#itation to initiate a proced!re o% claiming
the award
8+.< Oo!r %!nd is now deposited with a ?ank in -msterdamins!red in yo!r name.
` B!e to the mi+ !p o% some n!mbers and names we ask that yo! keep This award
` strictly %rom p!blic notice !ntil yo!r claim has been processed and yo!r
` money remitted to yo!r acco!nt. This is part o% o!r sec!rity protocol to
` a#oid do!ble claiming or !nscr!p!lo!s acts by participants o% this program.
`
` To begin yo!r claim please contact o!r in%ormation centre at
` in%ocentrecompa6net.%r . For d!e processing and remittance o% yo!r prize
` money to a designated acco!nt o% yo!r choice.
`
` '*T8 4n order to a#oid !nnecessary delays and complications please
` remember to 6!ote yo!r re%erence and batch n!mbers in e#ery one o% yo!r
` correspondences with yo!r agent. F!rthermore sho!ld there be any change o%
` yo!r address do in%orm yo!r claims agent as soon as possible.
-s can be seen this part also contains the email address and phone n!mber o% a contact
person. 'ote that the reply address operates thro!gh a pro#ider in France.
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i#. - closing %orm!la
8+. 0ongrat!lations again %rom all o!r sta%% and thank yo! %or being part o% o!r
` promotions program.
`
` Sincerely
` \ack Sonnie.
` T58 ,E*M*T4*'S M-'-G8E
` 1:T5 G*?- ,E*M*"*EG-'4\-T4*' 4'T8E'-T4*'- ,E*GE-M
` T58 '8T58E-'BS.
*bser#e how generic %eat!res s!ch as thank yo! %or being part o% o!r promotions programNare directly borrowed %rom common commercial and promotional disco!rses. The lottery
messages in general and across the whole specter o% the corp!s seek close generic
identi%ication with s!ch widespread recognizable commercial genres o% comm!nication
incl!ding the cryptica o% >argon re%erence n!mbers and comments on r!les and proced!res =
things nobody !nderstands b!t e#eryone instincti#ely interprets as signs o% smooth
pro%essionalism serio!sness and really e+istent capitalism. Things in other words that ha#e
no re%erential #al!e whatsoe#er b!t that operate totally at an inde+ical le#el where they
con#ey established and hence pres!pposable inde+icals o% pro%essional reliable capitalist
identity.
-arrati!e genres
The messages belonging to the Hdormant acco!nt( Hresc!e operation( and Hcharity( types
mentioned in section 2 are more di#erse altho!gh they all ass!me narrati!e orientations to
the genre and all seek personal rapport and in!ol!ement in style. -nd like in the case o% the
lottery messages there is a general template which can be s!mmarized as %ollows
i. ,ersonal direct address
ii. -n apology and introd!ction
iii. - micro"narrati#e abo!t the origin o% the money
i#. -n in#itation to engage in a b!siness transaction
#. Ee6!ests %or con%identiality
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#i. 0losing %orm!la
Stylistically howe#er they lack the smoothness and !ni%ormity o% the lottery messages@ there
are #ery di#erse realizations o% the narrati#e. ?elow are some o% their pec!liarities
i. Terms o% address
-!thors !se #ery di%%erent terms o% address. The most ne!tral wo!ld be H9Bear; Sir( H-ttn
Sir( or H-ttn Aan ?lommaert( b!t many messages carry a%%ecti#e terms o% address in#oking
strong personal in#ol#ement and rapport. 5ere is a list
Bear Friend 9samples 3 1$ 1 1< 2 3: $2 $3 &;
Bear ,artner 9samples $ / $;
Bear *ne 9sample $$;
Bearest *ne 9sample 1:;
My Bear 9samples 12 3 $<;
Bear 9sample 1;
5ello Bear 9sample &:;
Bear Eespect%!l 9sample 2:;
-ttn ,lease 9sample 2&;
My letter to yo! 9sample 2;
-S--M -OK*M 9sample 3/;
Good day 9to yo!; 9samples 3 3/ 3< &2;
-TT' MBI08* 9sample $1;
For yo!r kind attention 9sample $;
'eedless to say terms o% address s!ch as 5ello BearN My BearN Bear *neN or Bear
Eespect%!lN are slightly marked as choices within the conte+t o% what is s!pposed to be an
inchoate b!siness relationship. ?!t passons.
ii. -pologies and introd!ctions
The messages o%ten contain pro%!se apologies %or initiating contact. 4nterestingly in doing sothey o%ten artic!late an awareness o% generic appropriateness conditions. 4n the ne+t e+ample
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%or instance the a!thor e+presses his awareness that this kind o% contact might not be the
appropriate channel %or a #ery sensiti#e transaction
8+1:
` Forgi#e me %or approaching yo! in this manner to disc!ss a matterwhich is #ery sensiti#e indeed. 5ad 4
another alternati#e 4 wo!ld ha#e >!mped at it. -ll 4 ask is that yo! take some time to hear me o!t.
9sample 2;
The tension between the personal nat!re o% the message and the impersonal nat!re o% e"mail
9spam; messages is a %eat!re o% a good n!mber o% s!ch apologetic introd!ctions. 8+planations
may be gi#en as to how and why the addressee was selected as a potential partner.
4nterestingly in light o% earlier remarks some messages re%er to internet searches 9or
H4nternate( searches sample 33;. 5ere is a small selection@ note the sometimes densely
a%%ecti#e e+pressions re%erring to %aith tr!st and respect
8+.11` Oo! may be s!rprised to recei#e this letter %rom me since yo! do not` know me personally. 9sample 3;
8+12
` 4 g!ess this letter might come to yo! as a s!rprise since 4 had no pre#io!s` correspondence with yo! ?!t with d!e respect 4 got yo!r contact in my` research %or a reliable and honest person who will be capable and %it to` assist me in handling a #ery con%idential transaction in#ol#ing the trans%er ` o% CS/& million dollars only. 9sample $;
8+13
` First4 m!st apologise to yo! %or !sing this medi!m to comm!nicate abo!t` this transactiontho!gh it is my great pleas!re in writing yo! this letter on` behal% o% my colleag!e and mysel%.4 am Eobert 0ha#ezthe manager in charge o% ` a!diting and acco!nting section o% a bank in ondonCK.My colleag!e and 4
` ha#e decided to contact yo! on a b!siness transaction that will be #ery` bene%icial to both o% !s at the end o% the transaction.4 wo!ld be brie% and` direct to ens!re yo! !nderstand e#erything properly. 9sample ;
8+1$
0ompliments 4 decided to bestow this tr!st on yo! which 4 pray yo! will
not ignore or betray.
4 apologize in ad#ance %or any incon#eniences this may ca!se yo!. 4 am
?arrister ,eter 4l!o the ,ersonal -ttorney to late Mr George K.Marshal
who was a contractor here in ?enin Eep. 9sample 3;
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8+1&
` Kindly accept my apology %or sending my mail to yo!. 4 am a tr!e God %earing person and 4 want yo! to tr!st
me and help me o!t in this my condition. 4 belie#e yo! are a highly respected personality considering the %act
that 4 so!rced yo!r pro%ile %rom a h!man reso!rce pro%ile database on yo!r co!ntry in the 4nternet. 9sample $1;
8+1
` This letter may come to yo! as a s!rprise d!e to the %act that we ha#e
` not yet met. 4 h!mbly cra#e yo!r ind!lgence in sending yo! this mail.
` 4 ha#e to say that 4 ha#e no intentions o% ca!sing yo! any pains so i
` decided to contact yo! thro!gh this medi!m .-s yo! read this 4 donZt
` want yo! to %eel sorry %or me beca!se 4 belie#e e#eryone will die
` someday. 9sample $3;
8+1/ Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship %ith you4I got your name and contact I
prayed o!er it and selected your name among other names due to its esteeming nature and the recommendations
gi!en to me as a reputable and trust %orthy person that I can do business %ith and by the recommendation 2 I
must not hesitate to confide in you for this simple and sincere business 4 .sample ==/
The general tone is clear this is a one"on"one relationship b!ilt on m!t!al con%idence and
s!pported by a realization o% m!t!al material bene%its or in some cases by the -lmighty.2
Some o% these %ragments are almost %orm!laic and te+t!al reocc!rrences s!ggest common
a!thorship or e+tensi#e borrowing %rom each other. 0ompare the %ollowing %ragments %romsamples 1 and $<. The a!thor o% sample 1 claims to be 'igerian and works thro!gh a 5otmail
acco!nt@ the a!thor o% sample $< claims to be %rom ?enin and works thro!gh pro#iders in the
CK and Benmark.
8+1<
` 4 am writing %ollowing the impressi#e in%ormation abo!t yo!
` thro!gh one o% my %riends who r!ns a cons!ltancy %irm
` !nder 'igeria 0hamber o% 0ommerce and 4nd!stry.5e ass!red
` me o% yo!r 0apability and Eeliability to 0hampion a
` ?!siness o% great Magnit!de 9sample 1;
8+1
-s it may interest yo! to know 4 got yo!r impressi#e
in%ormation thro!gh my good %riend who works with
chamber o% commerce on %oreign b!siness relations here
in 0otono!"?enin it is him who recommended yo!r
person to me to be #iable and capable to champion a
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b!siness o% s!ch magnit!de witho!t any problem. 9sample $<;
iii. Stories o% origin
*%%ering an !nknown correspondent a co!ple o% millions is a rather !n!s!al proposition so
almost all the messages in this genre o%%er small narrati#es abo!t the origin o% the money.
5ere are some samples.
Dormant accounts:
8+2:
` 4 am a branch manager in my ?ank and Special -cco!nting o%%icer to` 9Br.,eter.?lommaert; who worked as an e+patriate well 8ngineer with an` international oil %irm here. *n the 21st o% -pril 2::1 my c!stomer his` wi%e and their two children were in#ol#ed in a!to"crash along the e#er ` b!sy -ccra"-%laho 5igh ay. -ll occ!pants o% the #ehicle !n%ort!nately lost` their li#es. Since thenthe ?oard o% Birectors o% my ?ank ha#e made se#eral` en6!ires to their embassy to locate any o% my c!stomerZs e+tended relations` b!t to no a#ail.5ence the need to contact yo! since yo! share the same` %amily name.4 ha#e contacted yo! to assist in repatriating the money and` ,roperty le%t behind by my client be%ore they get 0on%iscated or declared` !nser#iceable by the bank where this 5!ge deposits o% CS$&.&M waslodged.
9sample <;
>escue operations:
8+21
BCE4'G T58 0CEE8'T 0E4S4S -G-4'ST T58 F-EM8ES *F \4M?-?8 ?O T58
SC,,*ET8E *F *CE ,E8S4B8'T E*?8ET MCG-?8 T* 0-4M - T58 54T8
*'8B F-EM 4' *CE 0*C'TEO 58 *EB8E8B - T58 54T8 F-EM8ES T*
SCEE8'B8E T584E F-MES T* 54S ,-ETO M8M?8E -'B T584E F**8ES
`
` MO F-T58E -S *'8 *F T58 ?8ST 4'B4G8'*CS F-EM8ES 4' T58 0*C'TEO
5* B4B '*T SC,,*ET T58 ,E8S4B8'T 4B8**GO T58 ,E8S4B8'T SC,,*ET8ES
4'D-B8B MO F-T58E F-EM **T8B -'B ?CE'T B*' 8D8EOT54'G -'B
0*'F4S0-T8B - 54S '4D8STM8'TS
`
` -FT8E T58 B8-T5 *F MO F-T58E MO M*T58E -'B 4-*'G 4T5 MO O*C'G8E
*'8 B804B8B T* M*D8 *CT *F \4M?-?8 F*E T58 S-F8TO *F *CE 4D8S8
T**K -*'G 4T5 CS T58 M*'8O MO F-T58E K8,T 4' T58 S-F8 4' MO M*T58E
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5*CS8 5405 -M*C'T8B T* T58 SCM *F CS1: M9T8' M44*' C'4T8B ST-T8S
B*-S ;T* S*CT5 -FE40- T58 FC' 4S ,E8S8'T ?84'G K8,T 4' T58 S80E8T
D-CT *F - ,E4D-T8 S80CE4TO F4EM ?-S8B 58E8 4' ,E8T*E4-"S*CT5 -FE40-
T58 *FF404- *F T58 F4EM ?848D8S T58O -E8 58,4'G M8 4' K88,4'G MO
,8ES*'- D-C-?8S '*T E8-4\4'G T5-T 4T 4S M*'8O`
` MO M*T58E -'B MOS8F 5-D8 B804B8B T* 0*'T-0T -'O E84-?8
*D8ES8-S F4EMI,8ES*' 5* 0*CB -SS4ST CS T* TE-'SF8E T54S M*'8O *CT
*F T58 ,E4D-T8 S80CE4TO 0*M,-'O ?80-CS8 8 -S -SOCM S88K8ES 58E8 4'
S*CT5 -FE40- 0-''*T *,8' - '*' "E8S4B8'T -00*C'T T5E*CG5 5405 T54S
FC'B 4 ?8 05-''88B *CT *F S80CE4TO 0*M,-'O T*-' *D8ES8-
-00*C'T
9sample 23;
Charity:
8+22
` 'ow that God has called me 4 ha#e willed and gi#en most o% my property and assets to my immediate and
e+tended %amily members as well as a %ew close %riends. 4 want God to be merci%!l to me and accept my so!l 4
ha#e decided to gi#e alms to charity organizations as 4 want this to be one o% the last good deeds 4 e#er do on
earth. So %ar 4 ha#e distrib!ted money to some charity *rganizations in the C.-.8 -lgeria and Malaysia.
`
` 'ow that my health has deteriorated so badly 4 cannot do this mysel% anymore. 4 once asked members o% my
%amily to close one o% my acco!nts and distrib!te the money which 4 ha#e there to charity organization in
?!lgaria and ,akistan@ they re%!sed and kept the money to themsel#es. 5ence 4 do not tr!st them anymore as
they seem not to be contended with what 4 ha#e le%t %or them.
`
` The last o% my money which no one knows o% is the h!ge cash deposit in 8!rope whort eighteen Million CS
dollars 9CS1<::::::.::; that 4 ha#e with a deposit company abroad.
9sample 3:;
Bespite the considerable di#ersity in origins pro#ided in the messages we can see rec!rrent
%eat!res. -!thors !se a limited range o% tropes in their stories and here is a s!r#ey
6oney becomes a/ailable because of samples
,lane crash $ 1/ 2$ 3< $< &3 &
0ar crash < 12 1 33 3$ 3/ 3
0i#il war political problems 3 / 1: 23 2 $1 &&
0ontract errors %ra!d 1 2 2& 2 &$4llness 3: $2 $3
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-ssassination $$ &2
,lane and car crashes as well as stories o% contracts and %ra!d dominate the Hdormant
acco!nt( stories@ ci#il war and political problems as well as assassination are typically !sed in
Hresc!e operations(@ the three instances o% illness as a reason %or the a#ailability o% money are
all Hcharity( cases.
4nterestingly some a!thors try to anchor these stories in recognizable conte+t!alizing
!ni#erses. Sample 1$ talks o% an 4ra6i o%%icial who got killed by -merican bombs d!ring the
4ra6 4n#asion o% 2::3. 4n sample 1& the money became a#ailable when its owners died in the
Ts!nami disaster o% late 2::$. The owner o% the money in sample 1/ died in the 0oncorde
crash in ,aris while the owner mentioned in sample & was a passenger in the plane that hit
the 'orth Tower o% the T0 b!ilding on September 11 2::1. The a!thors o% samples 3 and
23 both claim to be #ictims o% Eobert M!gabe(s Hredistrib!tion( policies in \imbabwe and
those o% samples / and 2 both pose as close collaborators o% Mikhail Khodorko#sky the
E!ssian %ormer O!kos oil"mog!l. The a!thor o% sample 2 %inally claims to be a collaborator
o% a senior e+ec!ti#e o% ,armalat the 4talian m!ltinational that got ca!ght !p in serio!s %ra!d
cases.3 Th!s a!thors seek recognizable stories which o%%er some prima facie pla!sibility
with a hand%!l o% them pro#iding 4nternet links with in%ormation on the e#ents in which they
set their o%%er to s!pport 9part o%; their stories.
i#. Eeass!rances
Some a!thors go to some length in pro#iding reass!ring statements abo!t their sincerity and
abo!t the risk"%ree character o% the operation. The a!thor o% sample $ %or instance tries to
con#ince !s that we sho!ldn(t e#en ha#e any atom o% %earN
8+23
` 4 will !se my position in the ?ank to do all the !ndergro!nd work and hasten` the appro#al and release o% the %!nds in yo!r %a#o!r. 4 will not %ail to` bring to yo!r notice that this transaction will be 1::] risk %ree and will` only take !s 1$ ?anking days to %inalize beca!se as a banker 4 know the` ?anking proceed!res so do not border or entertain any atom o% %ear as all` re6!ired arrangement ha#e been made to s!it the both parties in#ol#ed and to` achie#e s!ccess. 9sample $;
5e is echoed in this by the a!thor o% sample 3/
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8+2$
4 will not %ail to bring to
y o!r notice that this b!siness is hitch %ree and that yo! sho!ld not
entertain any %ear as all modalities %or %!nd trans%er can be %inalized within %i#e banking days a%ter yo! apply to
the bank as a relation to the
deceased. 9sample 3/;
The So!th -%rican a!thor o% sample 32 9o%%ering the staggering s!m o% 12 million CS; is
con%ident abo!t the legality o% the transaction
8+2&
` 4 will apply %or ann!al lea#e to get #isa immediately 4 hear %rom yo! that
` yo! are ready to act and recei#e this %!nd in yo!r acco!nt. 4 will !se my
` position and in%l!ence to obtain all legal appro#als %or onward trans%er o%
` this money to yo!r acco!nt with appropriate clearance %rom the rele#ant
` ministries and %oreign e+change departments. 9sample 32;
-nd ?arrister Malinga O!s!% 9-lhad>i; like some o% his colleag!es act!ally claims to %ollow
the orders o% his s!periors in the bank
8+2
` The sign legalised copy o% her 4 is in my chamberswhy
` the original copy is in the bank %ile.For %o!r yrs now the
` bank has not seen any %oriegn bene%iciary presented by me
` d!e to my rela+ation in law e+ec!tion.5encethe bank has
` called my attention to present a recomended bene%icairy to
` process legal claim o% this money and the estate witho!t
` delay.otherwise the bank will deposit the money into the
` bank treas!ry as an !nclaimed %!nd. 9sample33;
4n each o% these cases the reass!rances are gi#en on the basis o% identity the a!thors draw
!pon their in%l!ential positions in banks or ind!stries on proced!ral knowledge and %inancial
and legal know"how to reass!re !s o% their good intentions and o% the g!aranteed s!ccess o%
the operation.
#. 0on%identiality honesty and respect
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4n#ariably a!thors emphasize the importance o% strict con%identiality = e#en i% in the same
mo#e they reass!re !s o% the legal and risk"%ree character o% the transaction. They are also
!p%ront abo!t the act!al details o% the transaction th!s s!ggesting that the transaction can
proceed witho!t preliminary negotiation stages. 4t is immediately e+ec!ted on the basis o%
con%identiality and sincerity
8+2/
` 4 am Mr. -le+ !>! o% the abo#e address. 4 am sorry i% 4 ha#e intr!ded on
` yo!r pri#acy or barged on yo! witho!t yo!r permission.
`
` 4 ha#e a #ery rewarding b!siness o%%er which 4 will want !s to be in#ol#ed
` in together with all tr!st con%identiality and good brotherliness.
9sample 2;
8+2<
This b!siness itsel% is 1::] sa%e pro#ided yo! treat it with !tmost con%identiality.
4 ha#e reposed my con%idence in yo! and 4 hope yo! will not disappoint !s.4
ha#e the a!thority o% my colleag!es in#ol#ed to propose that sho!ld yo!
be willing to assist !s in this transaction yo!r share as compensation
will be 2:] while my colleag!es and 4 recie#e /:] and the balance 1:] %or
ta+es and all other misceleno!s e+penses inc!red. 9sample 1<;
8+2
May 4 at this point emphasize that this transaction` is a s!ccess%!l arrangementas an insider o% the bank 4 ha#e the capacity to` monitor that e#erything is going well. *n smooth concl!sion o% this` transaction yo! will be entitled to yo!r own share o% the total s!m as` grati%ication. This share o% yo!rs is negotiable as long as it is` reasonable.,lease yo! ha#e been ad#iced to keep this a top secret as we are` still in ser#ice and intend to retire %rom ser#ice a%ter we concl!de this` deal with yo!.4 will be monitoring the whole sit!ation here in this bank
` !ntil yo! con%irm the mon 9sample ;
8+3:
Oo! m!st howe#er '*T8 that this transaction is s!b>ect to the %ollowing terms and conditions*!r con#ictiono%yo!r transparent honesty and diligence.That yo! wo!ld treat this transaction with tr!st honesty andcon%identiality.That as a %oreign partner yo! will heed to all instr!ctions to the letter.Kindly commence action aswe are almost behind sched!le to enable this %!nds be incl!ded in the %inal 6!arter o% this %iscal yearZs
payment.hen yo! recei#e this lettershowing yo!r dedication and honesty to assist 4 will like yo! to contact meimmediately so that we take the necessary steps immediately. 4 look %orward to yo!r response. 9sample 1/;
8+31Then yo! and me can
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` share the money&&] to me and $:] to yo!and remaining &] will go to` e+penses inc!red by both parties d!ring the co!rse o% this transaction.4` ha#e all necessary legal doc!ments that can be !sed to back!p any claim we` may make. -ll 4 re6!ire is yo!r honest cooperation to enable this deal` thro!gh.4 g!arantee that this will be e+ec!ted !nder a legitimate` -rrangement that will protect yo! %rom any breach o% the aw. ,lease get in
` to!ch thro!gh my email and send to me yo!r Telephone and %a+ n!mbers to` enable !s %!rther abo!t this Transaction. 9sample <;
Th!s while the a!thors de%ine their own reliability in terms o% pro%essional identity
competence and knowledgeability the addressee(s reliability is a matter o% tr!st based on
sincerity and a capacity to operate discreetly the pro%essional #ers!s the Good ,erson.
8+pressions o% respect %or this Good ,erson are ab!ndant thro!gho!t the corp!s and they
sometimes c!lminate in #ery la!datory slightly baro6!e closing %orm!lae
8+32
Finally yo!r reward %or yo!r noble assistance will be !nder
negotiable.
Thanks and remain bless.
aiting %or yo!r reply.
Oo!rs sincerely.
M!sa Aacob Kamara 9A'E;.
9sample 2:;
8+33hen yo! recei#e this letter kindly send me an e"mail signi%ying yo!rinterest incl!ding yo!r most con%idential telephoneI%a+ n!mbers %or 6!ick comm!nication.Eespect%!lly s!bmittedBr Ban *bi
9sample 3/;
-nd on one occasion the a!thor 9claiming to work %or loyds ?ank ondon b!t operating
thro!gh an 4talian pro#ider; sketches the dangers o% breaking the r!les o% con%identiality
8+3$Eemember this is absol!tely con%idential. My h!sband` does not know abo!t this risk taking. My %amily will be in shambles i% ` it b!rst o!t and i will also be in tro!ble aswell as loose my precio!s` >ob. Oo!r contact phone n!mbers and name will be necessary %or this` e%%ect. 9sample &;
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#tructural stability and genre
4% we now take these insights together we see that the a!thors o% these messages clearly do
not write %rom scratch. They all attempt to constr!ct specific types of te$t %rom some
concept!al templates te+ts that prod!ce certain speci%ic inde+icals = te+ts that carry the
message across. This message let !s recall is that this is all abo!t a gen!ine honest b!siness
transaction o% considerable size and bene%it to all those in#ol#ed in it. -nd s!ch a message
needs to be ca!ght 9iconically; in a recognizably Hserio!s( style shot thro!gh by a wide
#ariety o% %eat!res that prod!ce meanings that may con#ince the addressee. The te+ts
howe#er are not e$plicitly persuasi!e b!t they are inde$ically persuasi!e they try to
con#ince the addressee o% the a!thenticity o% the o%%er thro!gh the deployment o% generic and
stylistic %eat!res that lock into e+isting recognizable and pres!pposable inde+ical #al!es. This
is a restricted set o% %eat!res and a non"random one and this e+plains the str!ct!ral stability
in the messages.
This was the second point 4 wanted to establish that apart %rom being %!lly literate in
the world o% globalized comm!nication technology the a!thors o% these te+ts are also
culturally literate in the sense that they know that some messages in order to be intelligible
and con#incing re6!ire speci%ic genre and stylistic characteristics. This is a second type o%
competence let !s call it c!lt!ral competence the H&no%ing %hat ( o% comm!nication. Many
o% the a!thors especially those o% the Hdormant acco!nt( messages pose as b!sinessmen
lawyers or bankers and they adorn their names with categorizing labels s!ch as HBr(
H?arrister( or H98s6;(@ they also re%er to positions o% in%l!ence and e+pertise and they deploy
semiotic emblems o% s!ch positions s!ch as technical terminology %or types o% money 9e.g. a
profiling amount in an e+cess o% CS1::.&MN = sample /@ a fi$ed deposit Amount N = sample
12; and %or legal and %inancial mechanisms o% trans%er 9e.g. The bank is ready to release this
money to any %oreigner who stands as bene%iciary and pro#ides reliable in%ormation abo!t the
deceased ownerN = sample 2$;. These are the registers of &no%ledgeability re%erred to earlier
a!thors make e%%orts to speak in ways that sho!ld re%lect the partic!lar position they claim to
be in. Gi#en the globalized nat!re o% their comm!nicati#e actions they ha#e to orient towards
a restricted range o% s!ch ways o% speaking they ha#e to con#ey meanings that can be picked
!p on the other side o% the world. 4% we take the two points established so %ar together the
story is one o% con#ergence o% the semiotic constr!ction o% similit!de = 4 am like yo! 4(m
part o% yo!r world.
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)n orrery of errors
This is where things s!ch as 8nglish and literacy come in at the end o% any ethnographic
road there are ling!istic details. The e+amples gi#en in the pre#io!s sections ha#e already
shown what this is abo!t many o% the a!thors o% the messages str!ggle with basic literacy
skills and ha#e an incomplete control o#er standard #arieties o% 8nglish. ?oth as we shall see
are prere6!isites %or a Hcomplete( realization o% the genres. ?!t incomplete realizations do not
precl!de comm!nicati#e s!ccess = they res!lt in more selecti#e smaller speech networks.
hereas th!s %ar 4 ha#e tried to demonstrate processes o% semiotic con#ergence in the
messages this point will lead !s in an opposite direction towards considering di!ersity !nder
conditions o% globalization. -s we now know globalization creates a heightened salience %orthe nat!re and str!ct!re o% ling!istic reso!rces. -s soon as ling!istic semiotic prod!cts start
tra#elling across the globe they tra#el across di%%erent orders o% inde+icality and what co!nts
as Hgood lang!age( in one place can easily become Hbad lang!age( in another@ what co!nts as
an e+pression o% de%erence can become an e+pression o% arrogance elsewhere@ what co!nts as
an inde+ o% intellect!al middle"class identity in one place can become an inde+ o% immigrant
!nderclass identity elsewhere. 4n other words small details in ling!istic str!ct!re = accent
writing style politeness %orm!lae speci%ic registers s!ggesting identities or relationships =
grow in importance as ob>ects o% in6!iry 6!estioning and e#al!ation o% personality and case.
Th!s the increase o% mobility in globalization does not seem to ha#e res!lted in an increase o%
the acceptance o% di#ersity. 4% anything it has opened a new and wider space %or meas!ring
di#ersity as aberrance %rom newly rein%orced or rein#ented standards c!stoms and
benchmarks as we shall see in more detail in chapter . Ee>ection and e+cl!sion on gro!nds
o% %eat!res o% one(s ling!istic reso!rces are ri%e altho!gh as will be arg!ed here s!ch
re>ections need not always be categorical.
et !s %irst ha#e a closer look at the ling!istic reso!rces deployed by many o% o!r
a!thors in their attempt to con#ince !s o% the sincerity o% their o%%er.
Grassroots literacy
Many o% the messages display typical %eat!res o% grassroots literacy inconsistent p!nct!ation
%re6!ency o% spelling errors the !nwarranted !se o% capitals and cross"register trans%ers 9e.g.
the !se o% in%ormal styles in %ormal genres or #ice #ersa;. 0onsider some e+amples
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8+3&
` Thro!gh my internate search i got yo!r mail addressthat
` is why i am obliged to contact yo! to seek yo!r interest
` and con%iremationand lay claim o% this money with my` legal backing and assistance --5 ?8SS O*C -'B O*CE
` F-M4O 9sample 33;
8+3
` My names are George Tony. iZm a & years old man. i am 4rish
` li#ing in dakar9senegal;. iZm
` a merchant and owned two b!sinesses in Bakar. 9L;
` please reply to this mail as i can only reply thro!gh my
` labtop can not talk #ery well georgetony%astermail.com
` sincerly 9sample 3$;
8+3/
Since then 4 ha#e made se#eral contacts to 5is 0o!ntries 8mbassy in order
to locate any o% my clients e+tended relati#es which had also been !ns!ccess%!l. 9sample 3;
8+3<
I am 'ony 8obi the only son of late Mr and Mrs Christopher 8obi4My father %as a !ery %ealthy cocoa merchant
in Abid1an the economic capital of I!ory coast2 my father %as poisoned to dearth by his business associates on
one of their outings on a business trip 4My mother died %hen I %as a baby and since then my father too& me so
special49sample $$;
8+3?e%ore The death o% o!r Father on the 2th o% A!ne` 2::$ by 1:.::am in a pri#ate hospital here in -bid>an. 5e secretly called me` and my yo!nger Sister and in%ormed !s that he has a s!m o% 9CS.&million; Si+e` million %i#e h!ndred tho!sand dollers. hich he Beposited in a ?ankin 0otono!.` ?enin rep!bilc. 9sample &2;
These %ew e+amples amply demonstrate the point many a!thors deploy literacy skills that
betray a position on the margins o% global literacy economies. hile they are %!lly literate as
comp!ter !sers and interna!ts and while they appear to ha#e rather clear and precise
!nderstandings o% the c!lt!ral semantics re6!ired in this type o% comm!nication many o%
them %ail to accomplish the most basic task the prod!ction o% a degree o% orthographic
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correctness sensed to iconicize the position %rom where they speak = a writing that matches
their claimed identity as members o% a highly skilled pro%essional elite.
Grassroots "nglish
The same applies to the #arieties o% 8nglish deployed by many a!thors they re#eal a str!ggle
with norms a series o% orientations to stylistic con#entions in local ling!a %ranca #arieties
and a lack o% e+pos!re to the normati#e codes o% their addressees. This res!lts in !ne+pected
t!rns"o%"phrase misnomers remarkable stylistic de#elopments as in the %ollowing e+amples
8+$:
4 am writing in respect o% a %oreign c!stomer o% my bank with acco!nt n!mber 1$"2&&"2::$I-ST?I123" who perished in an a!to"crash with the whole passengers aboard.
Since the demise o% this o!r c!stomer 4 personally has watched with
keen interest to see the ne+t o% kin b!t all has pro#ed aborti#e as no one has come to claim his %!nds o%
CS32::::::.:: 9Thirty Two Million Cnited States Bollar; which has been with my branch %or a #ery long
time. *n this note 4 decided to seek %or whom his name shall be !sed as the ne+t o% kin as no one has come !p to
be the ne+t o% kin. 9sample 3/;
8+$1
?8F*E8 4 4'TE*BC08 MOS8F -'B MO ,CE*,S8 *F 0*'T-0T4'G O*C 8T M8 F4EST -,,8-
T* O*CT* K4'BO E8-B T58 0*'T8'T *F T54S 8TT8E 4T5 K4'B -TT8'T4*'.
4 -M ME ,-TE40K M*EE4S- ?-'K8E4 -M -' -CB4T*E 4' ?-'K *F S0*T-'B.
4 -'T T* TE-'SF8E *CT 9 F4FT88'"M44*' ,*C'BS ST8E4'GS; FE*M *CE ?-'K
58E8 4' *'B*'. 4 5-D8 T58 0*CE-G8 T* **K F*E - E84-?8 -'B 5*'8ST ,8ES*'
5* 4 ?8 0-,-?8 F*E T54S 4M,*ET-'T ?CS4'8SS TE-'S-0T4*'?848D4'G T5-T
O*C 4 '8D8E 8T M8 B*' 84T58E '* *E 4' FCTCE8.
T58 *'8E *F T54S -00*C'T 4S ME A*5' 5CG58S F*E84G'8E -'B T58 M-'-G8E *F,8TE* 058M40- S8ED408 58E8 4' *'B*'- 058M40- 8'G4'88E ?O ,E*FF8SS4*'
-'B 58 B48B S4'08 1&.T58 -00*C'T 5-S '* *T58E ?8'8F404-EO -'B MO 4'D8ST4G-T4*'
,E*D8B T* M8 -S 8 T5-T 54S 0*M,-'O B*8S '*T K'* -'OT54'G -?*CT T54S
-00*C'T
-'B T58 -M*C'T 4'D*D8B 4S 91&::::::.::;,*C'BS ST8E4'GS.
4 -'T T* TE-'SF8E T54S M*'8O 4'T* - S-F8 F*E84G' -00*C'T -?E*-B ?CT 4 B*'ZT
K'* -'O F*E84G'8E4 K'* T5-T T54S M8SS-G8 4 0*M8 T* O*C -S - SCE,E4S8
-S 8 B*'ZT K'* *CE S8F ?8F*E8?CT ?8 SCE8 T5-T 4T 4S E8- -'B - G8'C4'8
?CS4'8SS.4 ?848D8 4' G*B T5-T O*C 4 '8D8E 8T M8 B*' 4' T54S
4'D8STM8'T.O*CE
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FC 0*'T-0T ,5*'8 -'B F-X 'CM?8E '-M8S 4 ?8 '808SS-EO F*E T54S 8FF80T.
5*,8 T* 58-E FE*M O*C 4MM8B4-T8O.
T5-'KS
ME ,-TE40K M*EE4S
'?"O*C 0-' E8,O M8 T5E*CG5 T54S ?*Xpatrickmorris1doramail.com9sample $;
8+$2
` ` Bear we are hono!rably seeking yo!r assistance in the %ollowing ways
` To help !s trans%er the money o!t %rom -%rica to yo!r 0o!ntry. since we donZt
` ha#e any idea abo!t transction. 9sample &2;
The n!mber o% e+amples co!ld again be m!ltiplied we %ind o!rsel#es in a %orest o% 8nglishes
with a bewildering range o% #arieties and with #ery di%%erent degrees o% pro+imity to
ling!istic and stylistic standards.
8nglish is deployed %or more than >!st operational reasons. 4t also ser#es as a power%!l
inde+ o% identity it is thro!gh control o#er the globalized code o% power and elite membership
that o!r a!thors try to signal their claimed identities. -long with the choice o% names that
match the claimed place o% origin o% the messages the choice o% lang!age is part o% the
creation o% a tr!stworthy recognizable persona. 8+amples 3 and $1 abo#e pro#ide !s with
interesting e#idence %or this. 4n sample 3 the a!thor claims to be H4rish( 9written correctly
with a capital 4; li#ing in Hdakar9senegal;( 9written witho!t capitals and witho!t space between
both words;@ he also stated that his Hnames( 9pl!ral; are George Tony. 4n sample $1 o!r a!thor
claims to be H- ?-'K8E 4 -M -' -CB4T*E 4' ?-'K *F S0*T-'B( = syntactically pec!liar
and written with problematic p!nct!ation and witho!t the article delimiting H?ank o%
Scotland(. Mr. ,atrick Morris as he calls himsel% has T58 0*CE-G8 T* **K F*E -
E84-?8 -'B 5*'8ST ,8ES*'N willing to engage in a transaction worth F4FT88'"M44*'
,*C'BS ST8E4'GSN 9with hyphen and HSterlings( in pl!ral;.
?oth Mr. George Tony and Mr. ,atrick Morris claim to be nati#e speakers o% the
lang!age in which they write their message. 4n the case o% Mr. Morris 9sample $1; the
a!thor(s claim to being a Scotsman s!pported the claimed origin o% the message = the CK
9note that Mr Morris sends his message %rom a pro#ider in Cr!g!ay and e+pects !s to reply
thro!gh a %ree webmail pro#ider on a cartoon %an site based in the CS;. *% co!rse it is
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!nlikely that a senior employee o% the ?ank o% Scotland wo!ld write HSterling( in the pl!ral =
>!st as it is !nlikely that o!r 4rish Mr. George Tony wo!ld concei#e o% his name as a pl!ral
constr!ction. 'onnati#eness shines thro!gh in e#ery line o% their messages. The point is
howe#er that in both cases the a!thors appear to ass!me that their "nglish is 9good* enough
to pass as fluent2 possibly 9nati!e* spea&ers. This can point towards di%%erences in the #al!es
o% partic!lar ling!istic reso!rces in di%%erent places in the world = between di%%erent locally
operating orders o% inde+icality it is not impla!sible that both a!thors ha#e no awareness o%
the di%%erence between their #ariety o% 8nglish and the normati#e #arieties known to their
addressees. The world system as we know is not a contin!!m b!t a system riddled with
dis>!nct!res and discontin!ities o% #ario!s sorts and ling!istic normati#e comple+es can be
percei!ed to be global b!t as we saw in chapter 3 may in reality be #ery local and enclosed
onto themsel#es responding to local constraints and opport!nities rather than to those
operating in the Hcenter( o% lang!age normati#ity.
The point here is that the partic!lar realizations o% 8nglish Hgi#e o%%( all kinds o%
inde+ical in%ormation. 4n the case o% Mr Tony and Mr Morris they clearly pro#ide ab!ndant
gro!nds %or disp!ting their claimed 4rish and Scottish identities = and by e+tension %or
disp!ting the sincerity o% the o%%er the a!thenticity o% the stories they tell. The nonnati#eness
o% their 8nglish in short e+poses their messages as cases o% %ra!d@ it destroys the whole
inde+ical edi%ice they attempted to b!ild in their message. This also applies to the n!mero!s
other e+amples in o!r corp!s. To the e+tent that the a!thors in#oke identities o% pro%essional
elite membership and e+ha!st themsel#es in attempts towards con#incing their addressees that
they belong to the same strat!m o% the world their orthographic p!nct!ation and ling!istic
di%%ic!lties gi#e them away as someone else = as poseurs.
This is the third point 4 wanted to establish. The a!thors o% these messages may be
well inserted into the globalized comm!nication technology networks and they may ha#e
de#eloped #iews o% how to comm!nicate in these networks b!t they %ail to realize the
re6!irements %or s!ccess in handling the comple+ and demanding genre tasks they engage
with. The third kind o% competence ling!istic competence seems to be less well de#eloped
than the two pre#io!s ones. e are now ready to mo#e on to some concl!ding re%lections.
Truncated fraud
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4 wo!ld s!ggest that this little genre st!dy can help !s !nderstand the comple+ities o%
ling!istic processes in conditions o% globalization. 4n its simplest %orm the case 4 ha#e tried to
b!ild can be s!mmarized as %ollows.
The type o% comm!nication per%ormed by the a!thors o% these messages appears as a
layered comple+ o% re6!irements deployed and deployable skills and practices = as tr!ncated
repertoires in the terms de#eloped earlier with some reso!rces that are #ery well de#eloped
while others are less de#eloped. The a!thors o% the messages participate %!lly in this
comm!nicati#e comple+ at some le#els while they %ail to participate at other le#els. They are
%!lly competent !sers and manip!lators o% the technological and in%rastr!ct!ral aspects o%
globalized comm!nication@ in this respect they are Hmat!red( !sers 9?aron 1< 1$&;. e
ha#e seen that they o%ten display amazing degrees o% e+pertise in detecting pro#iders aro!nd
the world capable o% co#ering their tracks. They are also transc!lt!ral mediators in the sense
that they appear to ha#e acc!rate !nderstandings o% the c!lt!ral genre con#entions that
dominate the partic!lar kinds o% comm!nication they engage in. e saw how their messages
display considerable amo!nts o% str!ct!ral !ni%ormity and tightness and how they sprinkle
their messages with registers o% knowledgeability inde+es o% elite membership and
tr!stworthiness and stereotypical images o% corr!ption and b!rea!cratic inade6!acy in their
co!ntries. They know what the globalized c!stomer wants and they all display a tendency
towards stylistic and generic con#ergence towards that point a globally recognizable Hserio!s(
letter written by sincere serio!s b!siness people. e can see some degree o% awareness here
abo!t the comm!nicati#e choices that need to be made in this globalized comm!nication
network. They a!thors are !ndo!btedly aware o% the %act that their messages need to be
specially designed %or their target a!diences and they make choices that re%lect this
awareness.
?!t we also saw that at the lowest le#el o% realization = the le#el where act!al words
sentences and p!nct!ation marks need to be organized into a te+t = the world system re"
emerged in %!ll glory with all its ine6!alities and di%%erential speeds o% de#elopment
collapsing in #arieties o% 8nglish that denied the accomplishments towards globalized generic
recognizability at the two other le#els. The Hknowing %hat ( is not matched by Hknowing ho%(
and e+amples like the ones by Mr. Tony and Mr Morris re#eal a disconcerting tr!th abo!t
lang!age in the world system the %act that to many people the H8nglish( they belie#e to be a
symbolic #ehicle %or !pward social mobility and the acc!m!lation o% wealth is something
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#ery di%%erent %rom the H8nglish( which is in act!al %act re6!ired in order to ha#e access to
s!ch !pward tra>ectories. Many o% o!r a!thors probably belie#e that their H8nglish( is not a
problem beca!se their addressees probably also !se H8nglish( = and the common !se o% that
word s!ggests compellingly that both #arieties are the same.
They are not to be s!re and when their messages are read by highly literate elites in
the First orld the demas,u? will be 6!ick and merciless. ?!t the r!le o% di#ersity works in
their %a#or as well. 4nternet comm!nication is a space dominated by non"nati#eness and the
same r!les apply to inner ondon or Eotterdam as well as to agos or Aohannesb!rg. There
will be addressees whose #arieties o% 8nglish are as distant %rom the normati#e Hcenters( as
those o% the senders. Some o% them may not spot the rich nonnati#e inde+icalities o% the
messages. These readers may only percei#e H8nglish( witho!t interpreting #ariation as
signi%icant and to them the proposed identities relationships and acti#ities may be %!lly
credible = perhaps !n!s!al b!t maybe the best thing that e#er happened to them. -s
mentioned earlier email %ra!d act!ally %or&s and it makes #ictims probably among those
wide a!diences whose competence in 8nglish is s!ch that the pec!liarities reported here pass
!nnoticed. -nd perhaps we sho!ld remind o!rsel#es o% the %act that there are a great many
people 9incl!ding %!lly %l!ent speakers o% 8nglish; in that category. Th!s messages s!ch as
these and their e%%ects o%%er !s a glimpse o% the growing di#ersi%ication in the domain o%
globalized comm!nication.
hen the big things are all right small things start to matter m!ch. The homogenizing
ring o% a word s!ch as H8nglish( is the inde+ical trap o% globalization it leads people to
belie#e that #ariety - is e6!i#alent to #ariety ? and so creates wide spaces %or prod!cing
di%%erences at a time when s!ch di%%erences howe#er minimal are read metonymically in a
densely inde+ical way as e#idence o% %!ndamental di%%erences. 4nstr!ments s!ch as the
4nternet o%%er opport!nities %or homogenization and !ni%ormization at one le#el o%
comm!nicati#e str!ct!ring and this process o% homogenization %!rther s!pports the percei#ed
homogeneity o% the ling!istic reso!rces we deploy in it@ b!t precisely this process re%oc!ses
o!r attention on the things that cannot be homogenized str!ct!ral ine6!alities in the world.
!.3. A worl of resources
The a!thors o% the email %ra!d messages displayed the kind o% che6!ered competence that 4
belie#e becomes more and more an iss!e in globalization. The di%%erent skills displayed by the
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a!thors entered their repertoires thro!gh #ery di%%erent historical tra>ectories some short
some long some collecti#e others indi#id!al some thro!gh Hnormal( 9instit!tional;
tra>ectories s!ch as ed!cation others thro!gh in%ormal learning en#ironments s!ch as peer
gro!ps and non"instit!tional comm!nities@ some came into their repertoires on their own
initiati#e and thro!gh their own e%%orts others were o%%ered to them by others. These
di%%erences are %!ndamental to an !nderstanding o% socioling!istic reality beca!se a repertoire
is ne#er H%lat( and smooth b!t always che6!ered and tr!ncated and th!s re%lecti#e o% the li#es
o% real people in real social en#ironments. The %act o% mobility o% people and messages
increases the #isibility o% the di%%erences between repertoires. Since e#ery aspect o% h!man
comm!nication is always open to e#al!ati#e >!dgment we see an e+pansion o% the range o%
%eat!res in comm!nication that trigger e#al!ation. The patchwork o% competences and skills
that the a!thors display o%%ers a wide panorama on which others can pass inde+ical
>!dgmenst. e saw this already in o!r disc!ssion o% commodi%ied accents in chapter 2 and
we see it here again.
This #iew o% tr!ncated m!ltiling!alism raises #ario!s theoretical iss!es and
possibilities and the iss!e o% competence has already been addressed. 4n a #ery insight%!l
paper 0harlyn Byers 92::<; analysed the repertoires o% inhabitants o% esbank the township
near 0ape Town which was also the setting %or some o% o!r re%lections in chapter 3. *n the
basis o% a thoro!gh analysis o% the reso!rces people !se in a #ariety o% domains Byers
concl!des that the m!lti"ethnic make"!p o% esbank where literally e#eryone is an
immigrant creates tr!ncated m!ltiling!al repertoires and lang!age practices. ang!age
reso!rces get re"ordered and %!nctionally specialised so as to co#er speci%ic tasks and
%!nctions not others. Byers then relates this to disc!ssions o% lang!age shi%t. The pattern she
obser#es in which reso!rces con#entionally associated with a lang!age get re"assigned to
speci%ic domains wo!ld in a more traditional #ocab!lary be called lang!age shi%t 9with
connotations s!ch as lang!age Hendangerment( or Hdeath(;. 5er !se o% tr!ncated repertoires
howe#er shows that lang!ages do not disappear at all their reso!rces become specialized and
so locked into partic!lar social spheres 9to !se ?akhtinian terminology;. The Hlang!ages( o%
the traditional #ocab!lary e+ist as Hregisters( in a new and more prod!cti#e #ocab!lary and
the real Hlang!age( that the people possess is this patchwork o% specialized m!ltiling!al
reso!rces. S!ch a #iew can ha#e a deep impact on contemporary st!dies o% lang!age
endangerment beca!se it remo#es the categorical aspect o% s!ch st!dies 9a lang!age is either
H#ital( or Hendangered(; and replaces it with a %ar more detailed and precise #iew in which
1$
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shades o% grey are allowed and in which we can see that partic!lar reso!rces e#en i% they
look obsolescent to the analyst can ha#e important %!nctions %or lang!age !sers.
e co!ld now also be in a position to start seeing patterns o% oppression and
dominance not so m!ch in terms o% lang!ages as in terms o% partic!lar reso!rces some o%
which can 9b!t do not need to; o#erlap with lang!ages con#entionally !nderstood. ,erhaps
not Hlang!ages( are oppressed b!t their deployment o#er speci%ic genres and registers = %or
instance their !se as a lang!age o% instr!ction in schools or o% political debate in the p!blic
arena. -nd perhaps this insight can pro#ide a more precise diagnosis o% s!ch phenomena and
9hope%!lly; better contrib!te to impro#ements. *ne thing looks 6!ite certain in a world in
which more and more comm!nication beca!se o% patterns o% mobility has the characteristics
o% an !n%inished prod!ct less and less analytic rele#ance can be attrib!ted to conceptions o%
lang!age that are based on the Hstandard( #arieties and images o% it. More and more lang!age
will appear Hnon"standard( not %or reasons o% the innate ling!istic sloppiness or carelessness
o% people b!t beca!se o% the comple+ play o% tr!ncated m!ltiling!alism and the problematic
allocation o% reso!rces and %!nctions which is an e%%ect o% mobility. - term s!ch as Hnon"
standard( so becomes obsolete beca!se it co#ers %ar too m!ch and %ar too di#erse phenomena.
Getting rid o% it and o% related terminology wo!ld be so good %or socioling!istics.
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#. Language, globalization an history
#.1. istorical concepts
Cnderstanding globalization is !nderstanding a historical process something o% which we saw
that it has considerable depth in time and something in which we co!ld discern di%%erent
stages and moments o% de#elopment. 4 !nderscored the importance o% this point earlier in this
book and now ret!rn to it. The di%%ic!lty we %ace was e+empli%ied in Fairclo!gh 92::; we
can only obser#e globalization synchronically while we can only !nderstand it historically.
0onse6!ently we m!st de#elop concept!al tools that are at least historically sensiti#e that
s!ggest and open a space o% historical analysis and interpretation.
5istory o% co!rse is not the same as diachrony. 4t is not s!%%icient to speci%y a time"
line along which socioling!istic %eat!res de#elop and on which certain Hdots( mark important
moments 9a problem in some work on lang!age policy and lang!age planning;. 5istory means
that time is %illed with h!man acti#ity with actors who stand in #ario!s kinds o% relationships
to one another and whose actions in%l!ence those o% others. ,ower hierarchy a!thority
normati#ity are central in !nderstanding historical processes history is %illed with power and
con%lict 9c%. ?lommaert 1a;. Some works can be !sed as e+amples o% historical
socioling!istic analysis. ?on%iglio 92::2; re#iews the genesis o% Hstandard -merican( accents
and sets it against a panorama o% race and ethnic relations twentieth"cent!ry +enophobia and
the emergence o% new elites in the CS. e hear the #oices o% the ambitio!s in his st!dy and
we see lang!age ideology being artic!lated by identi%iable actors to other identi%iable actors.
This is also the case in 0ollins and ?lot 92::3; where literacy in the CS is described as
ine+tricably linked with histories o% power and a!thority in lang!age and beyond. There too
we see identi%iable actors at work and we can %ollow the debates they engaged in.1 Fabian
91<; is a classic st!dy o% how lang!age was Hplanned( in the ?elgian 0ongo by speci%ic
colonial and religio!s a!thorities in the conte+t o% partic!lar phases o% the colonial enterprise.
-nd ?a!man and ?riggs 92::3; pro#ide an admirable historical acco!nt o% the grad!al
de#elopment o% a Hmodernist( lang!age ideology thro!gh an analysis o% the writings o%
philologists anti6!arians %olklorists and early anthropologists. e see in their work the
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artic!lation o% what became one o% the key concepts o% modernity an ordered p!re and clean
Hlang!age( that co!ld become the lang!age o% the modern nation"state. -ll the works
mentioned here 9and there are more; contain a diachronic analysis to be s!re. ang!age
mo#es thro!gh time. ?!t time itsel% is %illed with actors #oices moments o% crisis con%lict
and elo6!ent artic!lation@ and power de%ines both the inp!t and the o!tp!t o% the processes we
can obser#e. This is what makes these works historical and it is this kind o% historical
analysis that shows that lang!age is s!ch an eminently social and political ob>ect as well. e
see in s!ch works the #ario!s power tactics that are !sed on lang!age and in lang!age. e see
how people de%ine stakes %or lang!age in society how they de%ine social barriers and
gateways %or social mobility how they reg!late society thro!gh the reg!lation o% lang!age.
S!ch work is important.
e are still st!ck tho!gh with o!r initial problem that a historical process s!ch as
globalization can only be obser#ed synchronically. e can only witness the synchronic
o!tcome o% historical processes and we need concepts that allow !s to Hread back( %rom the
synchronic mani%estations towards the processes that prod!ced them. 5ere too we can start
%rom what we already ha#e. 'ow widespread concepts s!ch as interte+t!ality and
interdisc!rsi#ity 9e.g. Fairclo!gh 12; e+plicitly connect synchronic lang!age ob>ects with
prior ones and they sensitize !s 9or should sensitize !s; to the intrinsic historicity o% e#ery
lang!age %act = something that Doloshino# 91/3; already emphasised. They emphasise that
the interpretation o% !tterances in the here"and"now depends on retrie#ing elements %rom their
history o% !se and that in order to make sense o% what !tterances mean now we m!st go back
to what they meant be%ore. 86!ally widespread notions s!ch as conte+t!alization 9G!mperz
1<2@ 5anks 2::; a%%ordances 9Kress and #an ee!wen 1; and inde+icality 9Sil#erstein
2::3a 2::a; do the same they point towards the %act that meaning depends on in%erences
made %rom prior meanings whereby s!ch prior meanings are #ery o%ten re%lecti#e o% the
social order. -nd this ordered nat!re o% implicit 9historical; meaning comple+es is capt!red
!nder terms s!ch as genre and register 9-gha 2::/; end!ring relati#ely stable patterns o%
meaning%!lness in lang!age the prod!ction o% which triggers immediate connections between
!tterances in the present and in the past. Thro!gho!t all o% this we see that normati#ity
appears the stable interte+t!al and ordered aspects o% lang!age !se are those aspects that we
commonly label as Hnorms( in lang!age. S!ch concepts now belong to the stock and trade o%
st!dies o% lang!age in society yet it is important to !nderscore that they are historical
concepts concepts that open a window %rom the present onto the past and %rom prod!cts ontothe processes that generate them. They make !s aware o% the %act that e#ery act o% lang!age is
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an act that is gro!nded in historical connections between c!rrent statements and prior ones =
connections that are related to the social order and are th!s not random b!t ordered.
The concepts that 4 introd!ced earlier in this book also represented an attempt towards
encaps!lating this intrinsic historicity o% lang!age ob>ects. The notion o% orders o% inde+icality
e+plicitly aimed at describing the %orms o% social order that de%ine normati#ity in lang!age
!se. 4n that sense the concept necessarily re%ers to historical patterns and processes in which
lang!age"ideological perceptions o% 9desired; stability and predictability o% lang!age %orms
emerged 9some o% which are e+empli%ied in -gha 2::/;. The same goes %or the concept o%
polycentricity it represents an image o% a world in which power and a!thority are shared by
#ario!s concrete actors = centers = %rom whom normati#e g!idelines can be e+pected an are
being adopted. The di%%erent centers operate at di%%erent scale"le#els 9another intrinsically
historical concept; and th!s represent di%%erent Horders( some o% which ha#e long histories
and are attached to relati#ely stable instit!tions while others are momentary %le+ible and
ephemeral. 4n each case howe#er there are connections between the present and the past and
people in%er %rom past e+periences and %rom their e+isting batteries o% reso!rces and skills
what is !se%!l %or the present task. The latter o% co!rse already shows that e#en more
widespread socioling!istic notions s!ch as Hrepertoire( ha#e an intrinsic historical dimension.
8#en i% we can obser#e repertoires only in their synchronic deployment we know that what is
there in the way o% reso!rces and skills %as there prior to the synchronic deployment and we
know that these reso!rces and skills got there beca!se o% personal biographies and the
histories o% social systems.
4 dwell on this point at some length beca!se it is %!ndamental. Too o%ten the historical
dimension o% socioling!istic phenomena is treated obli6!ely or is blandly o#erlooked and this
leads to the o#er"interpretation o% synchronic phenomena. e then see similarities and
di%%erences that may not be e+plicable synchronically or wo!ld recei#e a #ery di%%erent
e+planation i% addressed historically. 4n the conte+t o% globalization s!ch iss!es become more
and more di%%ic!lt to manage beca!se there is a prima %acie !ni%ormity to many c!lt!ral
globalization processes = the well"known HMcBonaldization(. e belie#e that we see
similarities all o#er the globe 9think o% the spread o% 8nglish or o% the !se o% the internet; and
we start interpreting them as similarities %or instance as e%%ects o% one and the same process
o% colonialism andIor ling!istic and c!lt!ral imperialism. The %act that similar e%%ects may
come o!t o% #ery di%%erent processes is then lost and the elementary socioling!istic task o%
addressing the partic!lar ways in which lang!age regimes are shaped and constr!cted inact!al societies and in act!al lang!age !se is le%t to itsel%. e then end !p with rather !seless
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and misleading notions s!ch as Horld 8nglish( 9?r!tt"Gri%%ler 2::2; that s!ggest a !ni%orm
ob>ect grad!ally b!t steadily de#eloping %rom a tool on a Hnational( scale to one on a Hworld(
scale. S!ch an analysis won(t do beca!se it o#erlooks the cr!cial di%%erences that s!ch
processes display where#er they occ!r and they also o#erlook the %o!ndational socioling!istic
task o% describing act!al reso!rces 9s!ch as 8nglish; in relation to e+isting repertoires. S!ch
things allow partic!lar le#els o% generalization b!t s!rely not absol!te generalizations.
This kind o% o#er"interpretation o% the synchronic plane o% socioling!istic phenomena
is a#oidable beca!se as we saw >!st now we can start %rom a reasonably well de#eloped
concept!al toolkit that allows and enables !s to Hread back( %rom synchronic lang!age !se into
historical backgro!nds and historical patterns o% meaning%!lness. 4 will try to ill!strate the
potential o% s!ch analysis in the remainder o% this chapter starting with an analysis that
addresses the prima %acie !ni%ormity o% c!lt!ral globalization processes and attempts to del#e
a bit deeper into that.
#.2. The worls of golf
Gol% is one o% -ppad!rai(s 91; Hideoscapes(. 4mages o% the sport ha#e o#er the past
decades become members o% the category o% Hinde+ical Diagra( 9Sil#erstein 2::3b; signs
whose inde+ical arrows point !p"!p"!p signalling achie#ement %ort!ne and membership o%
Deblen(s Hleis!re classes( or the more pop!larly known O!ppies. The s!ggestion is gol% is
practiced by wealthy and s!ccess%!l people = people who also dri#e e+pensi#e a!tomobiles
and wear Eole+ watches and sho!ld there%ore be seen as role models %or the rest o% society.
4nterestingly gol% is also a tr!ly global sign. Gol% players tra#el the world in search o% good
gol% co!rses and the membership o% prestigio!s gol% cl!bs is #ery cosmopolitan. Ma>or gol%
to!rnaments are global mega"e#ents and gol% stars s!ch as Tiger oods are global celebrities
o% the %irst order. Tapping into this imagery o% gol% th!s opens this inde+ical world o% s!ccess
and achie#ement. 0onsider Fig!re 1 now
9F4GCE8 1 58E8. 0-,T4*' HS48M8'S -BD8ET4S8M8'T(;.
This is an ad#ertisement in which Siemens presents an electronic comm!nication system. Thead#ertisement appeared in the ?elgian magazine 8nac& in 2:: and e#en tho!gh 8nac&
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p!blishes e+cl!si#ely in B!tch the te+t in the ad#ertisement is in 8nglish. 4t is a global
ad#ertisement one that aspires towards distrib!tion on a global scale"le#el. 4t also contains
some o% the global disc!rsi#e c!rrency o% b!siness s!ccess. e read abo!t the Hinno#ati#e
5i,ath real"time 4, system( abo!t Hser#ice( and Hsol!tions(@ and these !pwardly pointing
words are 6!oted %rom Hyo!r 4T Birector( and yo!r HBirector o% *perations(. The addressees
o% this message are clearly people who hold senior positions in large 9i.e. internationally
operating; corporations large eno!gh to ha#e an 4T Birector and a Birector o% *perations. -n
e+ample o% s!ch a corporation is gi#en the Marriott hotel chain has adopted the Hinno#ati#e
5i,ath real"time 4, system( and probably %o!nd it a sol!tion Has rare as a hole"in"one.(
Marriott is o% co!rse a prestigio!s brand name it stands %or the kind o% hotels and resorts that
the globalized b!siness elite tends to !se. -nd that brings !s to the dominant imagery in the
ad#ertisement gol%.
H5ole"in"one( is the gol% term par e$cellence and it designates the !ltimate 9and
there%ore #ery e+ceptional; achie#ement o% a gol% player. -nd rather than the prod!ct 9which
remains in#isible; the ad#ertisement shows !s a co!ple o% handsome yo!ng people playing
gol%. The b!ilding in the backgro!nd is identi%ied as the Marriott resort in *rlando Florida
and so the comple+ semiotics o% the ad#ertisement establishes a link between one o% Siemens(
c!stomers and a globalized imagery o% s!ccess elite"membership and wealth iconized in the
pict!re o% the gol%ing co!ple. 8#ery scale">!mping code is there now there is the globalized
code o% 8nglish the globalized disc!rsi#e code o% s!ccess%!l b!siness and the globalized
code o% gol% 9the image and the >argon term Hhole"in"one(; with its dense symbolism. The
ad#ertisement is tr!ly and %!lly global e#en i% it is p!blished in a local ?elgian 9and B!tch"
lang!age; magazine.
9F4GCE8 2 58E8. 0-,T4*' HG*F ,*ST8E ?84A4'G(;
'ow consider Fig!re 2 a pict!re o% a poster taken in a street in 0entral ?ei>ing -pril
2::/. The poster is biling!al and it ad#ertises a gol% to!rnament held in ?ei>ing in that month.
e see the same types o% imagery as in the Siemens ad#ertisement we see the global code
8nglish we see the logos o% corporate sponsors we get a bit o% the >argon o% gol% 9Hteeing
o%%(; and we see an image o% a skil%!l gol%er. The poster clearly draws %rom the same semiotic
and ideological wells as the Siemens ad#ertisement.2 This is the prima %acie !ni%ormity o%
globalization there is a layer o% mani%est similarity between signs that are being prod!ced in#ery di%%erent places in the world. e ha#e the %eeling that we percei#e something #ery
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similar something that taps %rom the same so!rces and res!lts in the same o!tcomes. 4t is this
%eeling that makes globalization s!ch a real e+perience %or many people the layer o%
similarity creates its own interte+t!ality and hence %amiliarity.
?!t we sho!ld look somewhat deeper and beyond this s!per%icial similarity. The poster
is biling!al and it is the prod!ct o% pro%essional design and man!%act!ring processes. -
prestigio!s e#ent s!ch as the gol% to!rnament organized by a shamelessly elitist co!ntry cl!b
and s!pported by corporate sponsors allows no shoddy comm!nication work and so we can
ass!me that this prod!ct re%lects considerable in#estments and attention %rom the ones who
made it. e see bea!ti%!l lettering a high"6!ality pict!re a balanced composition o% the
o#erall poster and an attempt to make the poster appeal to international a!diences as well by
means o% 8nglish. The two 0hinese phrases at the top o% the poster read Hpromote modern
sportsmanship( and Hb!ild a harmonio!s society(. The 8nglish !nderneath is not an e+act
translation@ instead we get a re%orm!lation in which we see some di%%erences with the
0hinese a transition in style %rom 0hinese Hpolitical slogan( style to estern Hcommercial(
style. The two phrases that were separate in 0hinese are now placed in a s!perordinate"
s!bordinate relation in which the creation o% new sportsmanship is done for the promotion o%
a harmonio!s society. -nd o% co!rse we get the gol% >argon term Hteeing o%%( = only meant %or
people who are %amiliar with gol% and who know 8nglish mainly %or the ?ei>ing"based
e+patriates in other words.
S!ch people wo!ld probably spot the rather dramatic typographic error in
Hconcio!sness(. 4t is an error reminiscent o% some o% the e+amples disc!ssed in earlier chapters
o% this book the act o% comm!nication is H!n%inished( beca!se o% problems with access to the
reso!rces re6!ired %or this act. For the one who typeset and proo%read this poster and %or the
printer the 8nglish spelling error went !nnoticed it was not spotted as an error d!ring its
prod!ction process. S!ch people may also wonder abo!t the connection between gol% and Ha
harmonio!s comm!nity(. The latter = b!ilding a harmonio!s society = is one o% the main
contemporary slogans o% the 0hinese 0omm!nist ,arty and the phrase Hharmonio!s
societyIcomm!nity( pops !p non"stop in all segments o% p!blic li%e. The slogan can be %o!nd
in n!mero!s p!blic inscriptions and 0hinese children wo!ld hold essay"writing speech and
debating contests on the topic. So while we see that considerable e%%ort has been spent in
trying to make this poster into a globalized comm!nication item = 4 ga#e a list o% %eat!res
abo#e = the typo and the 0omm!nist slogan tie it %irmly into the local and national scale"le#el.
4% we now compare the two e+amples we begin to see interesting di%%erences beyondthe similarities. hile the Siemens ad#ertisement can be said to ha#e #ery little local %la#or
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9e.g. it is in 8nglish while the magazine is in B!tch; and instead artic!lates a rather
pro%o!ndly global style and message the 0hinese poster aspires towards the global scale"le#el
b!t also displays important %eat!res o% the local and national scale"le#el. The Siemens
ad#ertisement blended global c!rrencies into a message that can be disseminated in identical
%orm in ?elgi!m the CK Switzerland -rgentina and so on. 4ts potential %or mobility is #ery
high. The 0hinese poster while addressing a global 9s!b"; a!dience in 8nglish and with the
icons o% gol% and corporate sponsorship also addressed local and national a!diences. -nd
while the Siemens ad#ertisement appears to draw its normati#e design %rom >!st one center =
global corporate enterprise = we see that the ?ei>ing poster is decidedly polycentric. The
organizers o% the gol% to!rnament orient towards the stat!s gro!ps that are !s!ally targeted
with s!ch imagery as well as to the world o% corporate b!siness@ b!t they also orient towards
the 0hinese state by adopting one o% the ,arty(s most important political slogans. e hear the
#oice o% the globalized elite o% 0hina as well as that o% the 0hinese 0omm!nist ,arty.
e see two historically di%%erent %aces o% capitalism here pro>ected onto two di%%erent
sets o% representations. 4n the Siemens ad#ertisement the corporate world is a sphere o% its
own #ery m!ch %ree and !nconstrained in its mo#ements in the global marketplace. 4ts
partners are other members o% the same corporate world and states are = ideologically at least
= not direct participants in the processes o% that world. 4n the 0hinese poster we see that
similar imagery is being !sed b!t that the message is polyphonic and that the #oice o% the
state appears alongside that o% the new globalized elites 9the Hb!siness leaders( mentioned on
,ine Dalley(s website;. The state is an acti#e partner in corporate c!lt!re in 0hina perhaps the
most acti#e one and the priorities o% the state need to be blended with those o% the b!siness
elites e#en i% that generates rather strangely heteroglossic messages = like when 0hina(s most
e+cl!si#e co!ntry cl!b makes an appeal %or a harmonio!s society.
The same images and semiotic materials were being !sed in both e+amples. e saw
pict!res o% gol% 9carrying #ery m!ch the same inde+ical #al!es o% s!ccess elite membership
and so %orth; we saw 8nglish and we saw gol% >argon. ?!t both e+amples instantiate di%%erent
histories o% becoming and we see di%%erent %orces at work in both. Gol% appears as global
c!rrency b!t in #ery di%%erent en#ironments = historically di%%erent en#ironments. -nd as a
res!lt the semiotic o!tcome in both cases is #ery di%%erent. There are di%%erent worlds o% gol%.
#.3. Long an short histories
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e saw #ery similar things in earlier e+amples in this book %or instance when 4 disc!ssed the
peripheral normati#ity that characterized 8nglish in a So!th -%rican township school. The
act!al reso!rces that were !sed there = the speci%ic #arieties o% 8nglish and o% literacy = had
their own histories o% arri#ing there and they arri#ed there thro!gh a combination o% the long
history o% -partheid 9where Standard 8nglish and ad#anced literacy were %irmly in the hands
o% white elites; and the shorter history o% post"-partheid So!th -%rica in which 8nglish
became a democratically distrib!ted item. The long history howe#er in%l!enced the shorter
history and so what became democratically accessible was the Hblack( stigmatizing #ariety o%
8nglish literacy not the elite #arieties.
hen we now consider repertoires synchronically 9and 4 said that we can only witness
them synchronically; we see what we co!ld call a synchronized repertoire. The di%%erent
elements o% the repertoire will appear as a relati#ely H%lat( >!+taposition o% Hlang!ages(
Hlang!age #arieties( or concrete Hcomm!nicati#e skills( as when someone says that he Hknows
8nglish French and B!tch( 9or when in a 6!estionnaire we ask Hwhich lang!age people !se
at schoolIin hospitalsIwith %riendsIin co!rt(;. ?!t when we disc!ssed the tr!ncated repertoires
that characterize contemporary m!ltiling!alism in the pre#io!s chapter we saw that s!ch a
%lat >!+taposition hides tremendo!s di%%erences between the act!al reso!rces that compose the
repertoire and that s!ch distinctions are o% capital importance they de%ine when people will
!se speci%ic reso!rces and how they will then !se them. They also e+plain why people don(t
!se all o% their reso!rces at the same time b!t appear to be e+perts in selecting the right bits
o% lang!age %or partic!lar comm!nicati#e tasks. S!ch distinctions between di%%erent reso!rces
represent as 4 said tra>ectories thro!gh which the reso!rces became part o% someone(s
repertoire@ they are there%ore also historical distinctions distinctions that harbo!r di%%erent
socioling!istic histories.
Synchronization is the way in which repertoires o%%er themsel#es %or inspection as
something which isn(t synchronic b!t is made synchronic d!ring certain proced!res s!ch as
metaling!istic inter#iewing or s!r#eying. 4n socioling!istic disco!rse we contin!ally
synchronize realities which in act!al %act are m!lti%iliar and display m!ltiple and #ery
di%%erent leads into people(s li#es and the histories o% the societies in which they dwell. 4t is an
e%%ect o% the Sa!ss!rean legacy in socioling!istics. The kind o% socioling!istics 4 ha#e in mind
here is one in which we de"synchronize and historicize socioling!istic phenomena looking
into the #ery di%%erent leads that r!n %rom the ob>ect to the processes that prod!ced it. Fig!re 3
can o%%er !s a handy graphic representation o% this proced!re.
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9F4GCE8 3 58E8. 0-,T4*' H8X"D*T* T-?8TS 4' A-,-'(;
e see a %orest o% small wooden tablets h!ng %rom a %rame near a Shinto shrine in
Tokyo. The wooden tablets are He+"#oto( messages re6!ests or e+pressions o% gratit!de to the
s!preme being %or certain %a#ors. They are instances o% a #ery old tradition in Aapan and the
way in which they are written and displayed emanates tradition they are not written on a
piece o% paper b!t on a wooden tablet and they are displayed p!blicly in one partic!lar spot in
the shrine. e see di%%erent kinds o% tablets too. hile most o% the tablets are in handwritten
Aapanese some contain drawings o% %lowers hearts or other emblems and some are copies o%
old block"prints o% deities or o% episodes %rom legendary tales. -nd some o% them are
handwritten in 8nglish too 9see Fig!re $;
9F4GCE8 $ 58E8. 0-,T4*' HB8T-4 *F 8X"D*T* T-?8TS(;
hat we see here 4 wo!ld s!ggest is a synchronized socioling!istic phenomenon the
components o% which ha#e #ery di%%erent origins. The phenomenon th!s is act!ally a #ery
layered one in which we see #ery traditional items 9e.g. the block"prints; as well as di%%erent
%orms o% Aapanese handwriting 9traditional and calligraphic #ers!s e#eryday and katakana
writing; that %ind their origins in the circ!lation o% Aapanese orthography thro!gh the
ed!cation system in di%%erent stages o% its e+istence which goes back to the nineteenth
cent!ry. The 8nglish inscriptions ha#e their origins in %ar more recent globalization processes
that bro!ght 8nglish within the realm o% adolescents as a code o% lo#e and sweet talk. *n the
same tablet howe#er the a!thor(s name is written in traditional and almost calligraphic
writing. The di%%erent codes that compose this synchronized mosaic ha#e di%%erent origins and
arri#ed here thro!gh di%%erent paths. Becoding the mosaic in#ol#es tracing the origins o% the
composite parts back into c!lt!re and society.
The distinction between long histories and short histories o% co!rse reminds !s o%
Fernand ?ra!del(s 91$ 1 see also allerstein 2::: chapter 1:; classic distinction
between slow time intermediate time and %ast time in history. Slow time 9the dur?e; was the
time o% the climate and o% social systems@ intermediate time was the time o% empires
dynasties etc. while %ast time was the time o% e#ents s!ch as battles or re#ol!tions 9the
?!?nements;. ?ra!del noted that there was a correlation between these types o% time on theone hand and h!man agency and conscio!sness on the other. Few people are aware o% the
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slow long time o% climate %l!ct!ations 9we now perhaps li#e in an era where people are 6!ite
conscio!s o% it; and de#elopments at this le#el are !s!ally beyond the reach o% indi#id!al
agency. The time o% empires has a higher le#el o% conscio!sness and agency and the %ast time
o% e#ents is within the reach o% h!man indi#id!al agency and conscio!sness. ,eople are more
aware o% a stock e+change crash than o% the cyclical %l!ct!ations o% modern capitalism %or
instance and they ha#e more direct impact on the %ormer than on the latter. ?ra!del(s claim
was that the distinction between di%%erent types o% time is essential %or !nderstanding
historical processes and 4 wo!ld say that it is essential %or !nderstanding socioling!istic
processes as well. e cannot !nderstand change when we do not keep an eye on contin!ity as
well and the opposite is also tr!e. e cannot %or instance !nderstand the patterns o% s!per"
di#ersity in the socioling!istic and semiotic landscapes o% c!rrent !rban centers 9as disc!ssed
in chapter 1; i% we %orget the more grad!al changes that occ!r in the %abric o% society and in
the socioling!istics o% s!ch areas.
This too is e+empli%ied in the ill!strations o% the e+"#oto tablets. e see di%%erent
layers o% historicity there and each o% them re%lects a layer o% change %rom tradition to more
modern to #ery modern. The e+amples incidentally can also be seen as e+amples o% lang!age
contact and lang!age mi+ing. e do see a >!+taposition o% two lang!ages Aapanese and
8nglish. e also see se#eral modes o% sign"making here pre"printed images little handmade
drawings handwritten calligraphic Aapanese and Hnormal( handwritten Aapanese and
handwritten 8nglish. So the images represent a m!ltiling!al and m!ltimodal comple+ and the
two dimensions are narrowly intertwined. 4t is important to realize that in considering s!ch
m!ltiling!al and m!ltimodal comple+es the constit!ent elements = lang!ages and modes =
ha#e arri#ed there #ia di%%erent historical tra>ectories and that these tra>ectories ha#e de%ined
the Ha%%ordances( o% the elements 9Kress and #an ee!wen 1; they de%ine what the
di%%erent elements can contrib!te in the way o% meaning and %!nction. The %act that we see
register"speci%ic !sage o% 8nglish here = Ho#e and Sweet( = is probably an e%%ect o% di%%erent
a%%ordances whereby the 8nglish deri#es a lot o% its #al!e and possible meanings %rom its
strong embeddedness in pop!lar yo!th c!lt!re. 4t has become one o% the instr!ments %or
e+pressing lo#e and %riendship in Aapan and this is a #ery recent de#elopment 9one we
associate with contemporary globalization processes;. 4ts occ!rrence is a translocal
phenomenon the same e+pressions co!ld e6!ally well occ!r in ondon ?r!ssels or ?angkok.
4t now occ!rs alongside religio!s and historical images that re%lect a pre"globalization history
9strongly connected to the emergence o% the Shinto tradition and o% Aapanese national
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conscio!sness; and the meaning and %!nction o% which is conse6!ently strongly local only
people %amiliar with this kind o% religio!s iconography ha#e access to its meanings.
-ll o% this has an e%%ect on what we !nderstand by inde+icality. 4nde+icality is
inherently interte+t!al it connects pre#io!s !tterances with c!rrent ones and grants an
inde+ical load to present !tterances that ha#e their origins in the e+isting social order. This
social order o% co!rse is in e%%ect a polycentric patchwork o% historically di%%erent elements
and its symbols = lang!age and semiotic %orms are important in this = carry traces o% these
histories. This is why we can see social processes thro!gh lang!age and comm!nication
patterns. They are ne#er H%lat( and smooth b!t display small di%%erences that lead !s to big
di%%erences. 4n ?o!rdie!(s words 911 3/; PeQ#ery speech act and more generally e#ery
action is a con>!nct!re an enco!nter between independent ca!sal seriesN. 4t is a ne+!s o%
di%%erent in%l!ences some o% which belong to indi#id!al tra>ectories some to collecti#e ones
and some ha#e short histories while others ha#e longer histories. This is why speaking a
standard #ariety o% a lang!age inde+ically o%ten and in many places %lags membership o%
ed!cated elites the standard #arieties are historically connected to social systems o% elite
prod!ction and reprod!ction as ?o!rdie! 91<$ 11; demonstrated. -nd shi%ting %rom
Standard B!tch into Standard 8nglish will conse6!ently prod!ce di%%erent inde+ical e%%ects
than shi%ting %rom a strongly regional #ariety o% B!tch into 5iphop 8nglish. hile the %irst
kind o% shi%t will probably signal elite membership the latter one may signal peer"gro!p
coolness and anti"elite attit!des. The reasons %or this 4 repeat are the di%%erent inde+ical loads
o% the elements that compose this partic!lar comm!nicati#e act@ s!ch di%%erences relate the
partic!lar act to di%%erent %orms o% interte+t!ality and conse6!ently to di%%erent histories. The
acceleration o% historical processes in the conte+t o% globalization predictably leads to more
comple+ %orms o% socioling!istic change and th!s re6!ires a more sophisticated approach to
s!ch %orms o% change. et !s consider an e+ample.
#.!. The chaotic shop
Mass to!rism is one o% the agents o% rapid change in many places in the world and it has
%ascinating socioling!istic e%%ects. 5eller 92::3; already showed how minority lang!ages
pre#io!sly threatened with e+tinction can s!ddenly ac6!ire a market #al!e and th!s a series
o% new %!nctions 9and a prospect %or s!r#i#al; d!e to heritage to!rism. 4n many other places
we see how the socioling!istic en#ironment 6!ite dramatically changes d!e to the presence o%lang!age materials designed %or the to!rist target a!diences. These are new %orms o%
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m!ltiling!alism o%ten e%%ecti#ely minimal in many cases the anno!ncement H8nglish
spoken( is the only e%%ecti#ely a#ailable 8nglish in the shop or resta!rant.
Typically pro%essionally made m!ltiling!al signs wo!ld attempt to pro#ide a
symmetrical pattern in which e#erything which is anno!nced in one lang!age wo!ld also be
anno!nced in the other lang!age 9a men! wo!ld be a typical e+ample;. This is the modern
orderly conception o% m!ltiling!al practices - is e6!i#alent to ?. The speed o% change
howe#er sometimes precl!des s!ch degrees o% elaboration and the e%%ect is then o%ten an
H!n%inished( prod!ct = we ha#e already seen se#eral e+amples o% that in the di%%erent chapters
o% this book. The town o% Saariselka located in the 'orthern Finnish Samiland has
!ndergone s!ch a rapid change o#er the past decade.3 From a small skiing resort mostly !sed
by Finnish domestic to!rists it has rapidly become an internationally oriented %ashionable
winter sports resort with hotels resta!rants and so!#enir shops selling Htypical( Sami goods.
The town has se#eral shops b!t one in partic!lar stands o!t. 4t is a h!ge shop which
apart %rom %oodst!%%s so!#enirs and te+tiles also harbors a resta!rant a li6!or shop and an
4nternet ca%J. The shop is ab!ndantly and e+!berantly m!ltiling!al. *n the banner in Fig!re &
we read 8nglish Finnish German Swedish French E!ssian and Aapanese.
9F4GCE8 & 58E8. 0-,T4*' HT58 05-*T40 S5*,(;
Fig!re & also gi#es !s a %la#or o% the goods on sale there the shop literally tries to cater %or
e#erything and %or e#ery taste incl!ding e+otic %ood. 4t is a tr!ly globalized shop. 4n the shop
howe#er no attempt has been made at constr!cting the kinds o% symmetrical and e6!i#alent
patterns o% m!ltiling!al in%ormation. Some goods are ad#ertised in Finnish only@ others in
Finnish and E!ssian still others in Finnish 8nglish and E!ssian 8nglish and German
Finnish and Aapanese Finnish 8nglish German and French or in 8nglish French German
and 4talian and so %orth. 9'ote that the Sami lang!ages are not present in the shop;. 'ot a
single ob>ect in the shop is ad#ertised in all the se#en lang!ages that the shop itsel% !ses to
ad#ertise itsel%. -nd while 8nglish wo!ld 9apart %rom Finnish; certainly be the most widely
!sed lang!age there is no clear hierarchy between the other international lang!ages. 4n that
sense the shop presents !s with chaotic m!ltiling!alism the di%%erent lang!ages are aro!nd
b!t in an H!nordered( manner.
9F4GCE8 58E8. 0-,T4*' H05-*T40 -''*C'08M8'TS(;.
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Fig!re pro#ides an e+ample o% that. e see a billboard o!tside the shop on which
9some o%; the shop(s goods are listed. e can discern two Hinternational( words Hresta!rant(
and Hso!#enirs(. e also see one Finnish e+pression te&stiili sport Hsport te+tiles( and the
remainder o% the billboard consists o% co"ordinated 8nglish and German e+pressions. The
H!n%inished( nat!re o% this sign is #isible in the lapidary organization o% the m!ltiling!al
reso!rces here as well as in the orthographic errors in deli&aties. Se#eral other e+pressions in
international lang!ages were somewhat shaky too re#ealing 6!ick translation work based on
the a#ailable reso!rces 9s!ch as dictionaries;.
The rapid pace o% change in emerging mass to!rist centers s!ch as Saariselka can be
read %rom signs s!ch as these. The many lang!ages in the shops signal the presence o%
c!stomers speaking s!ch lang!ages and while there appears to be no symmetry and
e6!i#alence among the signs the whole display probably re%lects the shop owner(s e+perience
with partic!lar gro!ps o% c!stomers. For instance the importance o% German signs in the %ood
section may re%lect the %act that many German to!rists rent a cottage and cook %or themsel#es@
the absence o% s!ch signs in the so!#enir section may re%lect the %act that most German
to!rists don(t b!y s!ch goods there. The presence o% Finnish"E!ssian signs in the canned %ish
section can re%lect similar patterns o% cons!mption among E!ssian to!rists. The chaotic co"
e+istence o% the di%%erent lang!ages howe#er showed that the shop doesn(t %ollow a seasonal
or cyclical pattern with %or instance more Aapanese signs when the Aapanese to!rist season is
on and more French ones when the French to!rist season is on. 8#erything they had was in
the shop str!ct!red in a #ery !nclear way = a >!+taposition o% lang!age reso!rces re%lecting
the e+tremely rapid changes %elt in a place like that where socioling!istic patterns may
change with e#ery new b!sload o% to!rists being o%%loaded in the town. The socioling!istic
ecology o% the shop de#eloped on the whimsical rhythm o% international mass to!rism.
e see something we ha#e already enco!ntered the ways in which socioling!istic
en#ironments %ollow and re%lect the histories o% places. Csing a geological metaphor we saw
in the Saariselka shop the di%%erent sedimented layers o% to!rist presence with a strati%ication
in which Finnish wo!ld be the Hs!bstrate( lang!age %ollowed by a thick layer o% 8nglish and
then by the chaotic >!+taposition o% se#eral other lang!ages. The third layer = that o% the
chaotic co"e+istence o% lang!ages = re%lects the shop owner(s willingness to mo#e on the
!ltra"%ast and changing rhythms o% the to!rist presence in Saariselka while the presence o%
8nglish re%lects a more end!ring layer o% internationalization and that o% Finnish re%lects the
national order and place. These di%%erent historical layers o#erlap in one space and time andlike be%ore what we see is a synchronized pattern o% the diachronic emergence o%
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m!ltiling!alism and m!ltimodality the constit!ent elements o% which are o% a di%%erent order.
e can only !nderstand the chaotic o!tcome i% we e+amine the constit!ent parts( origins and
tra>ectories beca!se the di%%erent parts do di%%erent things in the synchronic patterns we can
obser#e.
#.#. ;onclusion
Mobility is not >!st a spatial term it also applies to mo#ement in time and as 4 said be%ore the
two dimensions always occ!r together a mo#ement in space is also one in time. The mobility
o% certain socioling!istic reso!rces = think o% 8nglish = resides in their in#ocati#e 6!alities
they in#oke di%%erent histories o% meaning and %!nction and interte+t!ally pro>ect these
historical %eat!res onto c!rrent acts o% comm!nication. hen they are !sed in di%%erent places
they draw on locally a#ailable histories = 8nglish means something di%%erent in Bar es Salaam
than in 'ew Oork. -nd the co"occ!rrence o% di%%erent lang!ages and modes o% semiotic
prod!ction each time o%%er a synchronized >!+taposition o% di%%erent histories o% meaning and
%!nction that demands to be disentangled 9c%. also ?lommaert 2::& chapter ;.
The tra>ectory 4 ha#e %ollowed in this book so %ar has taken !s %rom paradigmatic
considerations in which 4 stressed the importance o% reso!rces rather than lang!ages 9chapter
1; to a #iew in which s!ch reso!rces were de%ined in terms o% mobility with all sorts o%
comple+ e%%ects on their meaning and %!nctions re6!iring new concept!al instr!ments
9chapter 2; and a #iew o% the str!ct!re o% the world"system and o% locality 9chapter 3; to
iss!es o% tr!ncated repertoires and the !n%inished character o% lang!age in globalization in
which we saw how o!r traditional socioling!istic conception o% reso!rces is a%%ected by
mobility 9chapter $;. e now also know that we need to !nderstand some o% the comple+ity
as re%lecting di%%erent histories o% reso!rces. Most o% the theoretical gro!nd o% this book has
by now been co#ered b!t we still need a perspecti#e on socioling!istic work. This
perspecti#e is that o% ine6!ality and 4 will doc!ment it in the ne+t chapter. 4t sho!ld be clear
that ine6!ality as the main e%%ect o% power is a historical prod!ct >!st like all the other
notions mentioned in this chapter. e will see how ling!istic reso!rces %all in historical
regimes o% ine6!ality and how this comple+ dynamics is being played o!t in the present.
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$. %l an new ine&ualities
$.1. -lobalization, the state an ine&uality
-ccording to ideolog!es o% this era s!ch as Francis F!k!yama 912; the post"0old ar
processes o% capitalist globalization prod!ce more wealth %or more people than any other era
in history. 4t is also an era in which the modern nation"state is on its way o!t and its power
9s!pposedly concentrated hitherto which is highly 6!estionable; is now dissipated anddistrib!ted o#er a wide #ariety o% actors and networks 90astells 1;. ,ower is now held and
e%%ecti#ely en%orced by transnational capitalist #ent!res international organizations media"
empires and in#isible hardly #isible 9and otherwise %ree %rom democratic control; consortia o%
decision"makers meeting each year in the Swiss ski"resort Ba#os and other places. There is
tr!th in both propositions = F!k!yama(s claim that the end o% history wo!ld also mark an
increase in global wealth and 0astells( and others( claim abo!t the nation"state now sharing
its power with other actors. ?!t both propositions also in#ite s!bstantial 6!ali%ication. 4
already 6!oted 5obsbawm in chapter 1 who a%%irmed that globalization has bro!ght abo!t a
dramatic growth in economic and social ine6!alities both within states and internationallyN
92::/ 3; and the least we can gather %rom his work and that o% many others is that
globalization generates immense wealth %or some and also immense misery %or others.
5obsbawm 92::/; also emphasizes the importance o% traditional state str!ct!res in
globalization. The nation may be on its way o!t b!t the state s!rely isn(t@ according to
allerstein contemporary capitalist globalization is hea#ily dependent on the e+istence o%
states
0apitalists need a large market 9L; b!t they also need a m!ltiplicity o% states so that
they can gain the ad#antages o% working with states b!t also can circ!m#ent states
hostile to their interests in %a#o!r o% states %riendly to their interests. *nly the e+istence
o% a m!ltiplicity o% states within the o#erall di#ision o% labor ass!res this possibility
9allerstein 2::$ 2$;.
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-nd this Ho#erall di#ision o% labo!r( is based on ine6!ality between states not e6!ality.
allerstein conse6!ently sees a perpet!ation o% e+isting ine6!alities in the age o%
globalization generally speaking those who were already poor will remain poor while those
who were 9almost; rich will become richer.
These de#elopments occ!r internationally as well as within the bo!ndaries o% states as
5obsbawm arg!ed. -nd the new patterns o% Hs!per"di#ersity( mentioned in the opening
chapter o% this book are likely to breed s!ch accent!ated ine6!alities between di%%erent gro!ps
within one society as an e%%ect o% new migration combined with a weakening o% that segment
o% the labor market con#entionally described as the working class. 5igh !nemployment in that
social strat!m and rising commodity prices p!sh people to the margins o% society or keep
those already marginalized in place and the gap between the ha#es and ha#e nots is widening.
S!ch %orms o% Hhard( socio"economic marginalization are o%ten accompanied by %orms o%
Hso%t( marginalization the marginalization o% partic!lar c!lt!ral %eat!res identities practices
and reso!rces s!ch as lang!age. The globalized state is as we shall see an important actor in
s!ch processes o% marginalization.
4n this chapter 4 will %irst present an analysis o% an asyl!m application case in the CK.
S!ch cases 4 belie#e ill!strate m!ch o% the real"world dynamics o% globalization and the
analysis will bring o!t the power o% the late"modern state in the domain o% migration.
4ne6!ality is the main prod!ct o% power power strati%ies categorizes and di#ides people in
contemporary societies. -nd lang!age c!rio!sly repeatedly crops !p as a core ingredient o%
the mechanisms o% state power in the %ield o% migration. 4n that sense globalization processes
now strengthen state power e%%ects in the domain o% lang!age@ it perpet!ates old %orms o%
ling!istic ine6!ality and creates new %orms in its stride. e will also see this in the second set
o% e+amples 4 shall o%%er %rom ?elgian lang!age immersion classes in which migrant children
learn B!tch. There too we will see how a state"organized instr!ment s!ch as ed!cation 9an
Hideological state apparat!s( in the terminology o% -lth!sser; imposes a p!niti#e e+cl!ding
and e+cl!si#e lang!age regime on children whose presence is an e%%ect o% s!per"di#ersity.
?oth e+amples are intended to ill!strate that globalization apart %rom people who bene%it
%rom it also co!nts many losers@ that the modern nation"state #ery o%ten %!nctions as the
instr!ment o% selection and e+cl!sion in this respect@ and that lang!age is becoming an
e+tremely sensiti#e and critical %eat!re in s!ch processes. ang!age is at the heart o% power
processes in en#ironments characterised by s!per"di#ersity.
$.2. Language, asylum, an the national orer
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4n 'he Age of Capital 91/&; 8ric 5obsbawm describes the parado+ o% the late nineteenth
cent!ry where the classic nation"states o% 8!rope were %ormed at a time when capital became
e%%ecti#ely globalized. hile the state became less and less o% a rele#ant scale le#el
economically it became more the most rele#ant political scale le#el and the e+pansion and
solidi%ication o% a transnational economic in%rastr!ct!re went hand in hand with the e+pansion
and solidi%ication o% a national in%rastr!ct!re new political systems ed!cation systems
comm!nication systems and military systems. 5igh modernism set in. The de#elopment o%
standardized national lang!ages was o% co!rse an important part o% this nation"b!ilding
process and when the disco!rse o% trade and ind!stry started con6!ering the globe it did so in
newly codi%ied and glori%ied national lang!ages.
,rocesses o% globalization ac6!ired that name abo!t a cent!ry later and while
globalization contrib!tes little new s!bstance to the processes o% worldwide economic
e+pansion it adds more intensity depth and #elocity to these processes and it e+pands the
range o% ob>ects in#ol#ed in these processes to incl!de people. The phenomenon o% re%!gees
and asyl!m seekers is a key ingredient o% the present stage o% globalization. 4 will arg!e that
globalization phenomena again appear to trigger an emphasis on the national order o% things.
4n the conte+t o% asyl!m application proced!res the imagination o% lang!age notably is
dominated by %rames that re%er to static and timeless national orders o% things. So while
asyl!m seekers belong to a tr!ly global scale"le#el o% e#ents and processes the treatment o%
their applications is bro!ght down to a rigidly national scale a #ery modernist response to
post"modern realities and something we ha#e already enco!ntered in pre#io!s chapters o% this
book.
4 will disc!ss at length one partic!lar case o% an asyl!m application in the CK. The
case is that o% a yo!ng man 4 shall call Aoseph M!tingira a re%!gee %rom Ewanda whose
application was re%!sed largely on gro!nds o% the partic!lar socioling!istic pro%ile he
displayed. This pro%ile the 5ome *%%ice arg!ed dis6!ali%ied him as someone H%rom Ewanda(.
Aoseph appealed against this r!ling and pro#ided a #ery long written testimony doc!menting
his li%e the incidents in which he was in#ol#ed and his escape reb!tting the arg!ments that
s!pported the r!ling. This doc!ment will be the main data 4 shall !se@ in addition 4 also ha#e
the written records o% the two inter#iews Aoseph did in the conte+t o% his application 9dated
respecti#ely 'o#ember 2::1 and A!ne 2::$; as well as a copy o% the o%%icial decision by the
5ome *%%ice o% 'o#ember 2::& on Aoseph(s case.1
4 will arg!e that Aoseph(s li%e history pro#ides all sorts o% cl!es abo!t his belonging and li%e tra>ectory. 5owe#er taken together
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these cl!es constr!ct a new socioling!istic pro%ile one that does not %it the traditional national
imagination o% Ewanda b!t one that %its the realities o% Ewanda d!ring and a%ter the 1$
genocide.2 The main point here is that the socioling!istic repertoire displayed by Aoseph is
indicati#e o% time not >!st o% space it connects to the history o% a region o#er the last two
decades not >!st to the region. Th!s socioling!istic repertoires inde+ %!ll histories o% people
and o% places not >!st instit!tionally genred Horigins( and the analysis 4 pro#ide here o%%ers
some additional s!bstance to positions s!bmitted in the chapters $ and &.
*oseph+s life history
Aoseph(s long a%%ida#it reads like a horror story and it grimly testi%ies to the pro%o!nd
distortion o% the social %abric in Ewanda in the 1:s leading to the genocide o% 1$. 5ere
comes a #ery elementary point we m!st read his li%e history against the backdrop o% what we
know abo!t that dramatic period in that region o% -%rica. 3 e m!st try to imagine his li%e
history as set in a real conte+t and imagine his li%e as a possible tra>ectory %ollowed by people
in that region at that time. 4% we don(t his li%e history makes no sense = and this %!ndamental
disbelie% in the possible realism o% s!ch descriptions was !nderlying to the re>ection o%
Aoseph(s asyl!m application in the CK. 4 s!ggest we accept and !se as an ass!mption that in
thoro!ghly distorted conditions o% li%e thoro!ghly distorted li#es can be realistic.
Aoseph says he was born in Kigali Ewanda in 'o#ember 1<. This as mentioned
be%ore was disp!ted by the CK a!thorities and we shall come back to the iss!e o% Aoseph(s
age %!rther down. 5e says he is a 5!t! e#en tho!gh his mother was T!tsi. 5is %ather was a
politician and his mother a b!sinesswoman whose acti#ities were mainly deployed in Kenya.
She took yo!ng Aoseph with her to Kenya where he attended an 8nglish"medi!m n!rsery
school and in between #isits home o%ten stayed with a %riend o% his mother(s in 'airobi with
whom he spoke 8nglish. 5e picked !p a %ew words o% Swahili %rom classmates. -t home in
Kigali his parents insisted that the children speak 8nglish too. The %amily li#ed in a
compo!nd s!rro!nded by walls and the %ather %orbade them %rom going o!t and socialize
with other children. The %amily had a ser#ant who spoke Kinyarwanda@ Aoseph learned some
Kinyarwanda %rom him. Disiting %riends spoke 8nglish Kinyarwanda and French.
4n 12 at the age o% %i#e Aoseph ret!rned to Ewanda with his mother. Shortly a%ter
their ret!rn his mother was m!rdered in circ!mstances !nknown to Aoseph. She was b!ried in
their garden and shortly a%terwards the ser#ant le%t the ho!se. -bo!t si+ months later theho!se was attacked at night. 5earing sho!ting and noise o% people breaking things Aoseph
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>!mped o!t o% the window and ran away. 5is %ather and the other children in the ho!se were
all killed d!ring the raid. Aoseph ended !p in a gro!p o% other people trying to escape %rom the
area where they li#ed. 5e told them that he had an !ncle li#ing in Gisenyi a town on the
border with the Bemocratic Eep!blic o% 0ongo 9BE0; and ne+t to the 0ongolese town o%
Goma. They took him on board o% a lorry and a%ter se#eral ho!rs dropped him o%% in Gisenyi
where he %o!nd the way to his !ncle(s ho!se. 4n that ho!se French and Kinyarwanda were
spoken most o%ten b!t Aoseph(s !ncle consistently spoke 8nglish with him. 5is !ncle told
him that his %ather was a politician that his %ather killed his mother beca!se she was a T!tsi
and that T!tsis m!rdered all members o% his %amily o!t o% re#enge. 4n his !ncle(s ho!se
Aoseph slept in the basement and hardly comm!nicated with anyone 9remember he was a
small child;. ?!t Aoseph saw many people #isiting his !ncle and heard them speaking
HKinyankole( 9E!nyankole; a lang!age similar to Kinyarwanda. Aoseph picked !p a bit o%
E!nyankole and started speaking it with his !ncle. Gi#en his !ncle(s pro%iciency in 8nglish
French Kinyarwanda and E!nyankole Aoseph s!spected that his !ncle had li#ed in another
co!ntry and gi#en the pro+imity o% Gisenyi to Goma he belie#ed it m!st ha#e been the BE0.
9E!nyankole is in %act spoken mainly in Cganda and the border areas o% Cganda Ewanda
and BE0 b!t as we shall see it is also a diasporic lang!age among Ewandan migrants and
re%!gees;. -%ter some time 9Aoseph was si+ years old; his !ncle started sending Aoseph on
errands. 5e had to carry a bag to a certain place where someone wo!ld tap on his sho!lder
and take the bag %rom him. Aoseph later came to belie#e that his !ncle was in#ol#ed with
people %rom another co!ntryN with whom he was plotting something. Gisenyi is ad>acent to
the 0ongolese town o% Goma which was the gateway to the 4nterahamwe rebel"dominated
Maniema and Ki#! regions in BE0 so this scenario 9in 12"13; is not !nthinkable 9e.g.
Dlassenroot 2::: Dlassenroot and Eaeymaekers 2::$;.
Aoseph did this %or se#eral yearsN !ntil one day in 1 94 think;N he was stopped by
E,F Go#ernment soldiers. They challenged him in Kinyarwanda b!t since his Kinyarwanda
was still #ery basic he answered them in E!nyankole. The bag was con%iscated and pro#ed to
be %!ll o% weapons and amm!nition. *ne o% the soldiers then interrogated him in E!nyankole
and they s!spected that Aoseph came %rom the other side o% the border and was a child"soldier
o% the 4nterahamwe. They arrested him and took him to his !ncle(s ho!se. They called his
!ncle o!t e+changed some words and then s!mmarily e+ec!ted him in %ront o% the 9now or
1: year old; boy. Aoseph was bro!ght to a detention camp where he was beaten e#ery day and
interrogated abo!t his in#ol#ement in rebel acti#ities abo!t other members o% his gro!p andso on. The interrogations were held in E!nyankole and the %act that Aoseph did not ha#e a
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%l!ent pro%iciency in Kinyarwanda was held against him as gro!nds %or s!spicion o% being a
%oreign Hin%iltrant(. -%ter some weeks he was bro!ght to a prison pres!mably in Kigali. 5e
%o!nd himsel% in a cell together with another older boy named 8mman!el. The latter had
been an 4nterahamwe member and he spoke E!nyankole as well as Kinyarwanda. ike the
prison g!ards 8mman!el %irst tho!ght that Aoseph came %rom another co!ntry gi#en his
pro%iciency in E!nyankole. Aoseph was ro!tinely and #ery br!tally tort!red@ in addition he
was repeatedly raped by 8mman!el. -%ter some yearsN Aoseph was p!t on a %orced labor
regime@ gi#en that the g!ards( orders were in Kinyarwanda he learned the lang!age to some
degree and he also learned the Kinyarwanda and Swahili songs they wo!ld ha#e to sing
d!ring work.
-%ter %o!r years in prison in 2::1 he recei#ed a #isitor a lady he #ag!ely
remembered. - short wile later d!ring work a g!ard told him to go in the b!sh and there he
met the same lady. She !rged him to %ollow her together with another boy in prison !ni%orm.
They got into a b!s@ a%ter a while the other boy got o%%. The lady and Aoseph contin!ed their
>o!rney to a coach station where they ca!ght a b!s that took them to another co!ntryN. There
people were speaking lang!ages 4 co!ldn(t !nderstandN. They got to an airport and the lady
prod!ced tra#el doc!ments %or Aoseph. Together they boarded a %light that took them to the
CK where the same tra#el doc!ments enabled Aoseph to enter the co!ntry. B!ring the whole
>o!rney the woman disco!raged Aoseph %rom speaking or asking 6!estions and in order to
gain and rea%%irm his tr!st she repeatedly mentioned the name o% Aoseph(s mother 9Aoseph
a%terwards tho!ght she was the Kenyan woman who took care o% him in Kenya d!ring his
early in%ancy;. They took a b!s got o%% at some place 9pres!mably central ondon; and the
lady #anished.$ -%ter se#eral ho!rs o% waiting %or her Aoseph started walking aro!nd asking
people %or help. *ne man took him to the 4mmigration Ser#ice. Aoseph was now abo!t 1$
years old. hen he stated his age to the o%%icial 9an -sian lady who spoke KinyarwandaN;
she called in a Medical *%%icer who a%ter the brie%est and most s!mmary o% e+aminations
concl!ded that Aoseph was o#er 1< and sho!ld conse6!ently be treated as an ad!lt. 5ere lies
the origin o% Aoseph(s Hdisp!ted( age.& *ne week later a %irst Hscreening( inter#iew was
cond!cted and Aoseph describes the e#ent as intimidating the o%%icials insisted on short and
direct answers did not make notes o% some o% his statements 9especially on his ling!istic
repertoire; and threatened to throw him in prison something which gi#en his backgro!nd
was to be a#oided at all costs. hen the inter#iewer asked him abo!t his Hmother tong!e(
Aoseph !nderstood this as his Hmother(s lang!age( and answered HKinyarwanda(. -Kinyarwanda interpreter was called in and in spite o% Aoseph(s insistence that he wo!ld be
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more com%ortable in 8nglish and notwithstanding his e+planations %or his lack o% pro%iciency
in Kinyarwanda 9not recorded in the #erbatim acco!nt o% the inter#iew; the inter#iew started
in Kinyarwanda. Aoseph(s restricted competence was 6!ickly spotted and a%ter he declared
that he also spoke E!nyankole an interpreter %l!ent in Kinyarwanda and E!nyankole was
called in and the inter#iew was contin!ed in E!nyankole. 4nterestingly 9and an implicit
acknowledgement o% Aoseph(s ling!istic repertoire; s!pplementary 6!estions were asked and
answered in 8nglish and noted down in the #erbatim acco!nt. Aoseph(s case was dismissed as
%ra!d!lent and both his age and his nationality were disp!ted.
4n 'o#ember 2::3 Aoseph(s case was reopened by the 5ome *%%ice and a second
inter#iew took place in A!ne 2::$. This inter#iew yielded the !s!al set o% Hcontradictions( in
comparison with the %irst notably with respect to Aoseph(s lang!age repertoires. 4n addition
Aoseph was not able to gi#e details abo!t Ewanda and Kigali 9he co!ld not %or instance
describe the nearest bank to his ho!se in Kigali;. 5e was also asked to pro#ide the n!mbers
%rom 1 to 1: in Kinyarwanda@ since no interpreter was aro!nd he was asked to write these
words Hphonetically(. 5e prod!ced a written list which was hal% Kinyarwanda and hal%
E!nyankole. The res!lt was easy to predict his application was re>ected again. Aoseph was
ascribed Cgandan nationality and was to be deported to Cganda.
,rom a strange life to no life
Towards the end o% his a%%ida#it Aoseph writes 4 may ha#e an !n!s!al history b!t this does
not make me a citizen o% a co!ntry 4 ha#e ne#er been toN. 0ertainly what transpires %rom the
s!mmary abo#e is that his li%e was dominated by a kind o% Shibboleth"predicament in which
his ling!istic repertoire contin!o!sly played against him. hen he was arrested his
pro%iciency in E!nyankole s!ggested to the soldiers that he was an agent o% the 4nterahamwe
%rom neighboring BE0@ to 8mman!el that pro%iciency s!ggested the same a%%iliation@ and in
the CK his knowledge o% 8nglish and E!nyankole were taken as strong e#idence that he is
%rom Cganda not %rom Ewanda 9where pro%iciency in Kinyarwanda and French wo!ld be
e+pected;. So his ling!istic repertoire = both positi#ely thro!gh what is there and negati#ely
thro!gh what is absent %rom it = perpet!ally gi#es him away categorises him and creates
con%!sion and s!spicion abo!t the #eracity o% his story. Aoseph(s lang!age repertoire is
contin!o!sly seen as inde+ical o% certain political and historical positions de%ined %rom within
the synchronic !ni#erse o% meanings social categories and attrib!ti#e patterns in which hisinterloc!tors operate. 5is pro%iciency in the partic!lar lang!ages and lang!age #arieties he
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knows contin!o!sly Hgi#es o%%( in%ormation abo!t him it allows his interloc!tors to make
6!ick interpreti#e >!mps %rom speech to society to pro#ide conte+t!ally loaded readings o%
his words and to b!ild an image o% Aoseph on the basis o% how he comm!nicates.
Life on an e$it strategy
The key to Aoseph(s !n!s!al historyN lies in his early childhood. Socioling!istically as well
as in more general ways Aoseph(s li%e becomes !n!s!alN right %rom the #ery beginning. -s
said %rom the o!tset we shall ass!me that Aoseph does not lie abo!t the main lines o% his story.
-nd i% we %ollow that story what becomes #ery clear is that his %amily was somewhat
aberrant. 5is %ather was a politician b!t 4 ha#e no knowledge o% what he didN@ in terms o% the
essentialized categories o% ethnic politics in Ewanda he was identi%ied as a 5!t! as well. The
%ather shielded his %amily %rom the o!tside world by prohibiting the children %rom playing
o!tside their compo!nd and by insisting on an 8nglish"only policy at home. -ccording to
Aoseph(s statement their %ather was #ery strict on the !se o% 8nglish at home and acti#ely
%orbade the !se o% other lang!ages %or his children the %ather tho!ght that speaking 8nglish
set !s apart %rom other people and showed that we were more ci#ilisedN. 4n his a%%ida#it
Aoseph s!ggests the %ollowing
ooking back 4 wonder whether my parents had li#ed abroad when they were yo!nger
and that is why they spoke 8nglish.
Gi#en the tro!bled history o% that region and gi#en his %ather(s prominence and #isibility in
p!blic li%e this may #ery well be tr!e. 4t is not !nlikely that his parents had li#ed abroad as
e+iles or re%!gees %or a while d!ring one o% the many periods o% crisis in Ewanda since
4ndependence. The %act that Aoseph(s mother appears to ha#e b!siness interests and networks
in Kenya co!ld be %!rther circ!mstantial e#idence %or that. Mamdani 92::: 3:/"312; shows
that large n!mbers o% so"called H?anyarwanda( 9Ewandans both 5!t! and T!tsi; were present
as labor migrants in Cganda since the 12:s. Many o% them were employed in the cattle"
herding -nkole region where E!nyankole is spoken. Ee%!gees o% the 1& and 1$ con%licts
also %o!nd their way to the same region. - n!mber o% these re%!gees got C'50E scholarships
%or schools in among other places 'airobi which became a center %or Ewandan e+iles 9the
e+iled king o% Ewanda resided in 'airobi;. Gi#en the en#y this generated among the local pop!lation in Cganda re%!gees o%ten had to pretend to be what they were not ?anyankole
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?aganda ?anyoroN 9Mamdani 2::: 312;. So"called ?anyarwanda were also prominent in
M!se#eni(s rebel army 9and prior to that in 4di -min(s secret police; !p to a 6!arter o% the
M!se#eni rebels who marched into Kampala in early 1< were ?anyarwanda 9Mamdani
2::: 321;. The point is the history and politics o% Ewanda ha#e since long been entangled
with those o% Cganda Kenya and other neighboring co!ntries. That Aoseph(s %amily had some
in#ol#ement in neighboring co!ntries and that E!nyankole may ha#e entered the %amily
repertoire 9e.g. his !ncle(s; sho!ld not be seen as something e+ceptional. 4n %act many
Ewandans 95!t! as well as T!tsi; who ha#e a diaspora backgro!nd are %l!ent in E!nyankole
and that incl!des the c!rrent Ewandan ,resident ,a!l Kagame who grew !p in the -nkole
region.
4t is th!s also not !nlikely that the %amily li#ed on an e+it strategy. The %ather = a
politician = m!st ha#e been aware o% the #olatility o% the political climate in Ewanda and
9gi#en Aoseph(s !ncle(s in#ol#ement in the 4nterahamwe; may ha#e been acti#e in partic!larly
sensiti#e and dangero!s 9radical 5!t!; politics the kind that co!ld ha#e warranted a
permanent readiness to escape %rom Ewanda and settle elsewhere in a co!ntry s!ch as Kenya
where 8nglish is widely spoken. Eemember The time"%rame described by Aoseph 91< the
year o% his birth !ntil his arrest in 1; co#ers the #ictory o% M!se#eni in Cganda 91<;
the E,F in#asion in Ewanda 91:; and the genocide o% 1$ an e+tremely t!m!lt!o!s
period in the region. The %act that Aoseph was p!t in a n!rsery school in Kenya adds weight to
that s!ggestion. -nd the %act that as Aoseph later learns his T!tsi mother was killed with at
least the passi#e in#ol#ement o% his 5!t! %ather also bespeaks deep and acti#e in#ol#ement in
5!t! radicalism. The T!tsi raid on Aoseph(s ho!se d!ring which the whole o% his %amily was
m!rdered and the ho!se is set alight also %its this pict!re = we see a %oreshadowing o% the
genocide o% 1$ here and radical 5!t! are already pitted against radical T!tsi gro!ps in
m!rdero!s incidents. Aoseph(s story makes eno!gh sense to be pla!sible.
hen Aoseph escapes to his !ncle(s place the pattern o% political in#ol#ement o%
co!rse becomes clearer. 5is !ncle keeps Aoseph o!t o% sight and contin!es the 8nglish"only
policy with him b!t he also recei#es many #isitors who speak French Kinyarwanda and
E!nyankole. e know that both 5!t! 94nterahamwe; and T!tsi 9E,F; rebels had their bases in
the neighboring co!ntries Cganda and BE0 9Mamdani 2::: Dlassenroot 2:::;. E!nyankole
as we know is spoken in Cganda 9and is part o% the HE!nyakitara( cl!ster along with
Kinyarwanda E!nyoro and other lang!ages; and with the perpet!al mo#ements o% gro!ps o%
migrant e+iled or re%!gee Ewandans its spread to partic!lar pockets in Ewanda and BE0 is agi#en. 4t e+plains why Aoseph meets so many people in Ewanda who speak E!nyankole apart
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%rom the people in his !ncle(s ho!se some o% the E,F soldiers and prison g!ards also speak
the lang!age@ so does 8mman!el 9an 4nterahamwe militant; as well as later in the CK the
second interpreter in Aoseph(s application inter#iew who was %l!ent 9like the Ewandan
soldiers and g!ards; in Kinyarwanda and E!nyankole. Th!s the H%oreignness( o% E!nyankole
is not a matter o% spatial distrib!tion o% the lang!age. Aoseph(s pro%iciency in E!nyankole is
interpreted 6!ite systematically and by all the people he describes in his narrati#e as a sign
o% being %rom another co!ntry as %ell as a sign o% membership o% a radical 5!t! mo#ement.
The lang!age is by those who in interaction with Aoseph pro>ect synchronic inde+ical
meanings onto it 9the soldiers 8mman!el the interrogators the prison g!ards; !nderstood as
a sign o% 5!t! rebel in#ol#ement imported %rom neighboring co!ntries. The geography o% the
lang!age is a political geography something which does not come as a s!rprise now that we
know something abo!t the history o% migration and rebellion in the region. e shall come
back to this below.
Aoseph(s childhood is likely to be spent in a %amily li#ing on an e+it strategy and
ac!tely aware o% the danger o% their times. et !s not %orget that most o% the critical period
described by Aoseph is indeed his childhood and that this childhood is spent in a deep
political crisis in Ewanda. -s a toddler he is raised in Kenya@ at the age o% %i#e 9too yo!ng to
enter school where French and Kinyarwanda wo!ld be the dominant lang!ages; he ret!rns to
Ewanda. Shortly a%terwards and a%ter an inter#al in which he in%ormally learns some
Kinyarwanda %rom the %amily(s ser#ant his mother is killed his %amily is m!rdered and he
%lees to his !ncle in Gisenyi where he li#es in hiding and th!s does not enter school at the
normal age o% si+. For all practical p!rposes he is dead and his !ncle probably banks on this
when he starts sending him on errands pro#iding arms and amm!nition to rebel gro!ps %rom
Goma. 5is comm!nicati#e network is e+tremely narrow. 5e still does not socialize with other
children and only meets his !ncle(s %ellow rebels with whom he interacts in E!nyankole. 5is
!ncle gi#es him some books to read in 8nglish mostly and some in Kinyarwanda 9this
pro#ides e#idence o% reading skills not o% writing skills;. ang!age learning howe#er
proceeds e+cl!si#ely thro!gh in%ormal channels. The bit o% Kinyarwanda he already knows
allows him to start picking !p some E!nyankole and the 8nglish he speaks is solely deployed
with his !ncle. The reading o% books pro#ides some back"!p to these learning tra>ectories b!t
o#erall they are in%ormal = that is they de#elop o!tside the collecti#e regimented and
literacy"based pedagogies o% the classroom. The latter may be part o% the e+planation %or why
he %ails the n!mber writing test 9and th!s m!st re#ert to Hphonetic( writing; d!ring his secondinter#iew in all likelihood Aoseph ne#er ac6!ired %!ll literacy in either o% the lang!ages he
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speaks and d!ring the inter#iew he is asked to write a lang!age which in his e+perience has
had #ery limited %!nctions and is 6!ite close to the lang!age which had more e+tended
%!nctions E!nyankole.
Aoseph was arrested at the age o% "1: and at that age he has not had any %ormal
schooling. 5is m!ltiling!al repertoire is constr!cted thro!gh in%ormal learning processes and
is highly Htr!ncated( i.e. organized in small %!nctionally specialized ch!nks 9?lommaert
0ollins and Slembro!ck 2::&a;. e shall ret!rn to this topic below. For the moment s!%%ice it
to note that Aoseph has had indeed an !n!s!al storyN b!t that s!ch a story may not ha#e been
all that !n!s!al in the Ewanda o% the early 1:s. This is not how the 5ome *%%ice saw it.
'he grounds for re1ection
The 5ome *%%ice in its re>ection anno!ncement letter o% 'o#ember 2::& saw Ewanda in a
#ery di%%erent light as a relati#ely stable and relati#ely !ni%orm nation"state characterized by
Hnational( %eat!res s!ch as a relati#ely stable regime o% lang!age 9Kroskrity 2:::;.
The letter begins by describing the ling!istic operations go#erning the inter#iew
proced!res 9in gi#ing these e+amples 4 shall not be concerned with the grammatical or
rhetorical consistency o% the te+t;
91; 4t is noted that yo! claim yo! were born in 9L; Kigali and that yo!r principal
lang!age is 8nglish. 5owe#er yo! say yo! also speak Kinyarkole PsicQ and a little
Kinyarwanda. 4t is noted that when yo! were s!bstanti#ely inter#iewed it was
cond!cted in 8nglish Pre%erence to the 2::$ inter#iewQ and when yo! were
inter#iewed by an 4mmigration *%%icer Pre%erence to the 2::1 inter#iewQ yo! started
the inter#iew speaking in Kinyarwanda then a%ter ten min!tes the inter#iew was
contin!ed in the Kinyarkole lang!age 9L;
This description is %ollowed by an a!thoritati#e statement abo!t lang!age in Ewanda
92; -ltho!gh 8nglish 9and Swahili; are spoken in Ewanda 8nglish is spoken by the
T!tsi elite who ret!rned %rom e+ile in Cganda post"1$. The ??0 orld Ser#ice
howe#er ad#ises that a gen!ine Ewandan national %rom any o% the ethnic gro!ps will
normally be able to speak Kinyarwanda andIor French. Kinyarwanda the nationallang!age is the medi!m o% instr!ction in schools at primary le#el while French is !sed
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at secondary le#el. Kinyarwanda is also spoken in the neighboring co!ntries o% BE0
Tanzania and Cganda. 9Ewanda co!ntry report -pril 2::$;. hereas E!nyankole is a
dialect mainly spoken in the est and So!th o% Cganda 9Cganda co!ntry pro%ile -pril
2::&;. 9L; ?ased on the in%ormation abo#e it is considered that the lang!age called
Kinyarkole !sed at yo!r screening inter#iew is more widely known as E!nyankole
there%ore E!nyankole will be re%erred in the rest o% this letter.
*bser#e %or the moment 9a; the re%erence to %ormal and instit!tional lang!age regimes s!ch
as the dominant lang!ages in the ed!cation system 9which as we know was !nknown to
Aoseph;@ 9b; The way in which lang!ages are seen as distrib!ted o#er countries@ 9c; the
so!rces o% e#idence !sed here the ??0 orld Ser#ice and two !nidenti%ied co!ntry reports@
9d; the %act that the 5ome *%%ice states that the lang!age 9or dialectN; HKinyarkole( is more
widely known as HE!nyankole(. Se#eral o% these points will be addressed more %!lly in the
ne+t section. 'ow as to Aoseph(s own per%ormance as a s!b>ect set in this tight and stable
nation"state instit!tional lang!age regime this is what the 5ome *%%ice obser#es
93; Eeasons to do!bt yo!r nationality can be drawn %rom the %act that yo! are !nable to
speak Kinyarwanda andIor French. -s already stated 9L; yo! were screened %or the
main part in the Cgandan dialect PsicQ and then were s!bstanti#ely inter#iewed in
8nglish. 4t is noted that yo! were able to answer a %ew 6!estions asked in
Kinyarwanda at the start o% yo!r screening inter#iew. 5owe#er in yo!r s!bstanti#e
inter#iew yo! were asked to state the n!mbers one to ten in Kinyarwanda 9L; and also
asked %or the phrases HGood Morning( and HGoodbye( yo! wrote yo!r answers down
phonetically beca!se yo! co!ld not write in the lang!age 9L;. P4Qt has been decided
that altho!gh written phonetically yo! did not get all o% them correct. 9L; Oo!r lack o%
basic knowledge o% the Kinyarwanda lang!age s!ggests that yo! are not a gen!ine
national o% Ewanda.
Aoseph had written some words in Kinyarwanda and others in E!nyankole. The 5ome *%%ice
contin!es hammering away at Aoseph(s ling!istic repertoire and per%ormance d!ring the
inter#iews
9$; hen asked how yo! were able to !nderstand Kinyarwanda i% yo! were ne#erta!ght it and only ta!ght to speak 8nglish 9L; yo! did not answer the 6!estion
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directly instead yo! said that yo! wanted to speak 8nglish b!t yo! can also
!nderstand Kinyarwanda and E!nyankole as well. 4t is belie#ed that i% yo! were able
to pick !p and speak %l!ent E!nyankole %rom yo!r !ncle with whom yo! alleged to
ha#e stayed %or %o!r years in Gisenyi yet !nable to pick !p Kinyarwanda e#en tho!gh
yo! claim to ha#e li#ed in Ewanda %or thirteen years PsicQ. Oo!r inability to gi#e the
correct 9phonetic; translations %or the general greetings in Kinyarwanda damages the
credibility o% yo!r claim 9L;. ?ased on this assessment it is not accepted that yo! are
a gen!ine Ewandan national as claimed.
ang!age is the key element in the arg!ment o% the 5ome *%%ice. ?!t it is not the only one
9&; 4t is noted that yo! were able to describe the old Ewandan %lag 9L; howe#er
when yo! were 6!estioned abo!t the basic geography o% yo!r home in 9L; Kigali yo!
were !nable to gi#e any in%ormation. For instance yo! were !nable to state any well
known landmarks sites places and b!ildings to yo!r home 9L;. Oo! did not know o%
the nearest bank to yo!r home 9L;. Oo! were also !nable to name any o% the ma>or
roads nearest to yo!r home in 9L; Kigali. 9L; 4t is not accepted that yo! ha#e
s!%%iciently demonstrated yo!r knowledge o% the basic co!ntry and local in%ormation
regarding yo!r alleged place o% birth as s!ch it is not accepted that yo! were born and
ha#e li#ed in Ewanda as claimed.
This then leads to the %ollowing concl!sion
9; 4t is the opinion that a Ewandan national sho!ld be e+pected to know something
abo!t their co!ntry o% origin and place o% birth. Moreo#er it is belie#ed that yo! co!ld
be a Cgandan national as res!lt o% yo!r knowledge and !se o% the E!nyankole
lang!age at screening 9L;. *r yo! co!ld possibly be a national o% a di%%erent 8ast
-%rican co!ntry where 8nglish is m!ch more widely spoken. Oo!r tr!e nationality
howe#er cannot be determined at this point in time.
There we are Aoseph(s !n!s!alN li%e has been reset in a di%%erent co!ntry and in a di%%erent
time %rame beca!se the 5ome *%%ice do!bts his age as well. From someone with a strange
li%e Aoseph has now been rede%ined as someone with no li%e at all.
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"efying the monoglot ideal
4n a seminal paper Michael Sil#erstein 91 2<&; disting!ished between a Hspeech
comm!nity( characterized by sharing a set o% norms or reg!larities %or interaction by means
o% lang!age9s;N and a Hling!istic comm!nity(. The latter is described as
a gro!p o% people who in their implicit sense o% the reg!larities o% ling!istic !sage
are !nited in adherence to the idea that there e+ists a %!nctionally di%%erentiated norm
%or !sing their lang!age denotationally 9L; the incl!si#e range o% which the best
lang!age !sers are belie#ed to ha#e mastered in the appropriate way.
0onscio!sness o% a standard 9the Hbest( lang!age; wo!ld typically be something that %alls
within the realm o% ling!istic comm!nities and while speech comm!nities are characterized
by bewildering di#ersity ling!istic comm!nities as a r!le pledge allegiance to a single norm
and de%ine s!b>ects as H9ab;normal( depending on their degree o% %it with that single norm.
This pattern o% categorization in which s!b>ects are placed Hin( or Ho!tside( normalcy
depending on how Hnormal( their lang!age repertoire is belongs to what Sil#erstein calls a
Hmonoglot ideology(. - monoglot ideology makes time and space static it s!ggests a
transcendent phenomenology %or things that de%ine the nation"state and presents them as
nat!ral ne!tral a"conte+t!al and non"dynamic as %acts o% nat!re. S!ch a monoglot ideology
is applied by the 5ome *%%ice in >!dging and categorizing Aoseph as a lang!age"!sing s!b>ect
and it is the %act that Aoseph de%ies this monoglot ideal that ser#es as the basis %or
dis6!ali%ying him and his claims.
4n what %ollows 4 shall try to decode this process in which two Hpro%iles( are opposed
to one another. 4n order to do that 4 shall ha#e to gi#e socioling!istic"analytic attention to two
di%%erent phenomena the lang!age"ideological work o% the ling!istic comm!nity !sed as a
concept!al backdrop by the 5ome *%%ice and the practical pragmatic repertoire displayed
and narrated by Aoseph and the speech comm!nities we can see thro!gh that.
'he national sociolinguistic horizon
et !s now ret!rn to some o% the %ragments %rom the 5ome *%%ice letter abo#e and obser#e
how strongly they de%ine lang!ages in terms o% national circ!mscription. 4n %ragment 92;abo#e %or instance we read
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9/; The ??0 orld Ser#ice howe#er ad#ises that a gen!ine Ewandan national %rom
any o% the ethnic gro!ps will normally be able to speak Kinyarwanda andIor French.
Kinyarwanda the national lang!age is the medi!m o% instr!ction in schools at
primary le#el while French is !sed at secondary le#el.
4n %ragment 93; we enco!ntered
9<; Oo!r lack o% basic knowledge o% the Kinyarwanda lang!age s!ggests that yo! are
not a gen!ine national o% Ewanda.
4n %ragment 9$; we saw
9; Oo!r inability to gi#e the correct 9phonetic; translations %or the general greetings in
Kinyarwanda damages the credibility o% yo!r claim 9L;. ?ased on this assessment it
is not accepted that yo! are a gen!ine Ewandan national as claimed.
-nd in %ragment 9; %inally we read that
91:; it is belie#ed that yo! co!ld be a Cgandan national as res!lt o% yo!r knowledge
and !se o% the E!nyankole lang!age at screening 9L;. *r yo! co!ld possibly be a
national o% a di%%erent 8ast -%rican co!ntry where 8nglish is m!ch more widely
spoken.
The space in which lang!ages are sit!ated is in#ariably a national space the space de%ined by
states that ha#e a name and that can be treated as a %i+ed !nit o% knowledge and in%ormation
9as in the Hco!ntry reports( 6!oted by the 5ome *%%ice;. 4t is also a !nit o% power control and
instit!tionalization as is e#ident %rom the %re6!ent re%erences to %ormal instit!tional
en#ironments 9s!ch as the ed!cation system; %or the proli%eration and distrib!tion o% the
lang!ages here mentioned.
e ha#e also seen how lang!age itsel% is totalized and strongly associated with le#els
and degrees o% pro%iciency Aoseph does not speak enough Kinyarwanda or doesn(t speak it
%ell enough his answers were not correct .
8#en i% part o% the %irst inter#iew was done inKinyarwanda and e#en i% Aoseph wrote some words down in Kinyarwanda that le#el o%
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pro%iciency is deemed to %all below the e+pectations o% normalcy associated with nationality.
-s a%%irmed by the ??0 orld Ser#ice 9reliably one ass!mes; a genuine Ewandan national
%rom any o% the ethnic gro!ps will normally be able to speak Kinyarwanda andIor FrenchN
and that means a lot o% correct Kinyarwanda and French. -nd gi#en the ass!mption that a
Hnormal( Ewandan national wo!ld ha#e gone thro!gh the national ed!cation system 9and
wo!ld th!s ha#e had e+pos!re to %ormal learning tra>ectories %or the national lang!ages;
Hspeaking( a lang!age e6!als Hspeaking and writing(. Aoseph is asked to %rite n!mbers in
Kinyarwanda as part o% an assessment o% whether he spea&s the lang!age. The highly
regimented nat!re o% literacy is simply o#erlooked regardless o% the %act that Aoseph had
clearly stated that he had not attended any schools in Ewanda and regardless o% the %act that
his problem with literacy had led the inter#iewer to ask him to write phonetically. The 5ome
*%%ice sho!ld ha#e known that they were %acing a yo!ng man %or whom literacy was a h!rdle.
-s the arg!ment contin!es since Aoseph knows that lang!age %ell enough and since
that lang!age is Ho%%icially( spoken 9as a Hdialect( according to the 5ome *%%ice; in Cganda
Aoseph co!ld be a Cgandan national. The %act that in Aoseph(s acco!nt many other Ewandans
were reported to !se E!nyankole and gi#en the %act that e#en in the 4mmigration -!thorities(
o%%ices the 5ome *%%ice had no problem %inding an interpreter %l!ent in both Kinyarwanda
and E!nyankole = all o% this is o#erlooked or disregarded. ang!ages can spill o#er borders
and s!ch phenomena are ri%e in regions where a lot o% cross"border tra%%ic e+ists@ s!ch cross"
border tra%%ic is %re6!ent in regions s!ch as that o% the Great akes where there are large
n!mbers o% Hold( and Hnew( re%!gees 9Mamdani 2::: also Malkki 1&;. ,eople there
conse6!ently can ha#e densely mi+ed polyglot repertoires. These are elementary
socioling!istic %acts that are not taken into acco!nt in the 5ome *%%ice(s !se o% lang!age as an
analytic o% national belonging. This is why we need to shi%t o!r %oc!s now %rom lang!age to
speech and towards the real practical reso!rces that Aoseph has.
A polyglot repertoire
-ll o% the abo#e is o% co!rse reminiscent o% ,ierre ?o!rdie!(s obser#ation in Language and
#ymbolic Po%er 911 $&;
To speak o% the lang!age witho!t %!rther speci%ication as ling!ists do is tacitly to
accept the official de%inition o% the official lang!age o% a political !nit. This lang!ageis the one which within the territorial limits o% that !nit imposes itsel% on the whole
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pop!lation as the only legitimate lang!age especially in sit!ations that are
characterized in French as more officielle 9italics in original;.
-nd he contin!es this state lang!age becomes the theoretical norm against which all
ling!istic practices are ob>ecti#ely meas!redN. The political !nit that is the target o% the 5ome
*%%ice(s Hob>ecti#e meas!rement( is Ewanda and Hthe( lang!ages o% Ewanda are 9normati#e
standardized and literate #arieties o%; Kinyarwanda and French. The 5ome *%%ice o#erlooks
the %act that when a state is in crisis 9like Ewanda %or most o% its post"colonial history and
certainly in the period co#ered in Aoseph(s story; symbols o% the state and its power s!ch as
the national lang!age may be 6!estioned as many nationals may no longer li#e by the
ideology o% the state. This can be hea#ily contested as well. 4n %act since speaking the
national lang!age may in itsel% be an e+pression o% political allegiance it may in
circ!mstances o% #iolent con%lict re6!ire dissim!lation or denial %or one(s own sa%ety. -s
mentioned earlier speaking a Hrebel( lang!age s!ch as E!nyankole ind!ces a political
semiotics./
Aoseph did not ha#e a repertoire that accords with the e+pected Ho%%icial( and Hnational(
one. ?!t what was his repertoire7 4t appears to ha#e been Htr!ncated m!ltiling!al( repertoire
composed o% %!nctionally specialized Hbits( o% lang!age9s; which he had picked !p in in%ormal
learning tra>ectories d!ring his li%e. Eemember o% co!rse that gi#en the partic!lar chronology
o% the e#ents in his li%e Aoseph did not attend school apart %rom the n!rsery school in Kenya.
The ling!istic repertoire he reports in his a%%ida#it is the repertoire o% a child or an adolescent
who grew !p in e+traordinary conditions o!tside any %orm o% Hnormalcy(.
Aoseph pro#ides lots o% in%ormation #ery detailed in %act on how he ac6!ired and
deployed the m!ltiling!al reso!rces he had. 4n %act gi#en the prominence gi#en to lang!age
iss!es by the 5ome *%%ice his a%%ida#it is replete with descriptions o% how and why he
ac6!ired his ling!istic reso!rces and how he relates to them. 5ere is a little selection o%
statements on lang!age %ollowing the biographical line reported in the a%%ida#it.
911; My %irst lang!age is 8nglish. This is the %irst lang!age 4 can remember speaking.
8#er since 4 was a small child as %ar back as 4 can remember my parents spoke to me
in 8nglish.
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912; 4t was #ery important to my %ather that we children always spoke 8nglish as he
tho!ght that speaking 8nglish set !s apart %rom other people and showed that we were
more ci#ilised.
913; The ser#ant wo!ld speak Kinyarwanda. 4 remember sometimes when my parents
were both o!t the ser#ant wo!ld tell !s little Kinyarwanda poems and sayings and so
4 picked some Kinyarwanda !p %rom him. 5e also !nderstood and spoke a little
8nglish b!t he was not %l!ent.
91$; -t school in Kenya we were ta!ght in 8nglish. -ll comm!nication was in 8nglish
and i% yo! spoke to the teachers yo! had to talk to them in 8nglish. 9L; Some o% the
children did speak to each other in Swahili or Kik!y! in the playgro!nd 9L;
91&; hen 4 had been to my !ncle(s ho!se with my parents they had spoken French
and Kinyarwanda b!t mostly Kinyarwanda. 5owe#er my !ncle had always spoken
8nglish to me and my brothers.
91; My !ncle spoke lots o% lang!ages. 5e was #ery good in 8nglish French
Kinyarwanda and Kinyankole. 9L; hen 4 %irst got to his ho!se 4 co!ldn(t !nderstand
the lang!ages he was speaking and 4 tho!ght he spoke a di%%erent lang!age with e#ery
person that came to his ho!se.
91/; 4 did not ha#e a lot to do and so 4 wo!ld listen to my !ncle and his %riends talking
and 4 began to learn some o% the words they were speaking. The lang!age
PE!nyankole A?Q is 6!ite similar to Kinyarwanda and so it wasn(t di%%ic!lt to learn
more since 4 already !nderstood some Kinyarwanda. 9L; 8#ent!ally 4 knew eno!gh
to speak a bit o% Kinyankole to my !ncle. 4 think he was s!rprised abo!t this. -t that
time 4 didn(t know the name o% the lang!age that my !ncle spoke. 4 knew he had li#ed
in another co!ntry beca!se my parents had told me that he li#ed in another co!ntry. 4
g!essed that this is why he spoke that lang!age. 4 didn(t know where the lang!age
come %rom PsicQ as 4 had ne#er heard the lang!age be%ore. 4 ass!med it was %rom a
nearby co!ntry. 4 tho!ght maybe it was a lang!age %rom the BE0 9\aire; b!t 4 had no
reason %or this e+cept that 4 knew it was a co!ntry which was ne+t to Ewanda.
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91<; -%ter 4 had been there a while 4 told him PAoseph(s !ncleQ that 4 wanted to learn
and so he bro!ght me a %ew books. Mostly the books were in 8nglish. Sometimes they
were in Kinyarwanda and some had both lang!ages in them.
91; PThe soldiersQ started 6!estioning me in Kinyarwanda asking me what was in the
sack. 4 !nderstood what they were saying to me b!t 4 co!ldn(t reply. 4 was #ery
shocked and 4 didn(t ha#e good eno!gh Kinyarwanda to e+plain and they were all
talking at once so 4 >!st %roze. 4 spoke to them in Kinyankole to reply to their 6!estions
beca!se that was the lang!age 4 was !sing most commonly at the time. The soldiers
called another soldier o#er. This soldier spoke to me in Kinyankole and asked me
6!estions. 9L; 4 now think that they tho!ght that 4 was a child who had been bro!ght
!p abroad and was part o% the 4nterahamwe who was training to come back to Ewanda
and %ight. 9L; The soldier who spoke Kinyankole wo!ld translate %or the others and
tell them what 4 said.
92:; 4 kept telling them Pthe prison g!ardsQ 4 didn(t know b!t they said that the %act
that 4 didn(t speak good Kinyarwanda was e#idence that 4 was a rebel.
921; 5e P8mman!elQ spoke Kinyankole and Kinyarwanda #ery well. 9L; 5e told me
that he had been working %or a 5!t! rebel gro!p and had been a soldier in a di%%erent
co!ntry. 4 tho!ght that this was BE0 or Cganda 9L; 4 think that is how he learned
Kinyankole.
922; e wo!ld be gi#en orders in Kinyarwanda. My Kinyarwanda was good eno!gh to
!nderstand what they said and so 4 wo!ld know what to do. There was no talking to
each other so 4 didn(t get to learn any more Kinyarwanda or talk to anyone. 9L; The
prisoners wo!ld sometimes ha#e to sing songs on the way 9L;. Cs!ally the songs
were in Kinyarwanda b!t sometimes they wo!ld sing Swahili songs.
923; 4 ha#e bad associations with the Kinyankole lang!age. 4 %eel that learning
Kinyankole has been a disaster %or me. 4 wish 4 had ne#er learned that lang!age. 9L; 4
want to keep mysel% apart %rom that lang!age. -nyway 4 do not speak Kinyankole as
well as 4 speak 8nglish. 4 can comm!nicate at a m!ch more basic le#el. 4 can makemysel% !nderstood and 4 can !nderstand what someone else says in Kinyankole b!t it
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is not like speaking in 8nglish which 4 %ind m!ch easier and which allows me to
e+press mysel% more clearly. 9L; My Kinyarwanda is not a good lang!age %or me to
comm!nicate in either. 4 do ha#e basic Kinyarwanda b!t 4 cannot speak it %l!ently.
hen someone talks to me in Kinyarwanda 4 can !nderstand what they mean b!t not
e#ery word that they say. 5owe#er 4 cannot reply easily.
Aoseph to be s!re is genero!s with in%ormation on how he ac6!ired lang!ages 9%ragments 11
13 1$ 1/ and 1<; as well as on the partic!lar skills he ac6!ired in these lang!ages
9%ragments 22 and 23;. ?!t he also gi#es !s rather precise micro"descriptions o%
socioling!istic en#ironments in which di%%erent people !se di%%erent lang!ages and !se them
in di%%erent ways o%ten incl!ding re%lections on how people ac6!ired the lang!ages they
mastered as well as elements o% the speci%ic genres in which the lang!ages were deployed
9%ragments 13 1$ 1& 1 1/ 1 21 and 22;. -nd %inally Aoseph also appears to be 6!ite
aware o% the inde+ical #al!es o% some o% these lang!ages 8nglish sets them apart and
s!ggests a s!perior le#el o% Hci#ilisation( 9%ragment 12; E!nyankole s!ggests an identity as a
%oreign 5!t! rebel 91 2: and 21; and he himsel% has #ery negati#e attit!des towards that
lang!age 9%ragment 23;. 5ere is the political geography o% the lang!age again E!nyankole in
the crisis"ridden Ewandan conte+t in which his story is set nat!rally signalled enemy
identities to those whom he enco!ntered on his way.
*bser#e how speci%ic and precise Aoseph is in all o% this. 5e speci%ies that he can
H!nderstand( people b!t not Hreply( to them in Kinyarwanda@ that he has a Hbasic( acti#e
knowledge in E!nyankole@ that Swahili was !sed in E,F songs s!ng in prison 9b!t not %or
commands which were in Kinyarwanda; and so on. Aoseph artic!lates a %airly well
de#eloped ethno"socioling!istics in which #ario!s highly speci%ic reso!rces = Hbits( o%
lang!ages = are assembled into a tr!ncated repertoire the Hbest( lang!age o% which is 8nglish
9which allows him to e+press himsel% more clearlyN than Kinyarwanda or E!nyankole;. e
see how Aoseph speci%ies lines Hinto( partic!lar lang!ages genres registers. These lines are
sit!ational and dependent on the highly speci%ic comm!nicati#e networks in which he gets
inserted. 5e grew !p Ho!tside( Kinyarwanda e+cept %or the poems and sayings he picks !p
%rom the ser#ant@ he ac6!ired 8nglish in a schooled and rigoro!s home conte+t@ his
E!nyankole came into e+istence by ea#esdropping on con#ersations between his !ncle and
#isitors in the ho!se and was later !sed in interactions with the soldiers and with 8mman!el.
-nd his Kinyarwanda 9as well as bits o% Swahili; de#eloped when he got into prison. -salready mentioned be%ore there are hardly any %ormal learning tra>ectories here 9e+cept
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minimally %or 8nglish; and he learns the partic!lar pieces o% lang!age in the conte+t o% a
deeply distorted li%e. The res!lt is a #ery distorted repertoire b!t a Hnormal( repertoire can
hardly be e+pected !nder s!ch conditions. et me !nderscore that this repertoire is not tied to
any %orm o% Hnational( space and neither to a national stable regime o% lang!age. 4t is tied to
an indi#id!al(s li%e and it %ollows the pec!liar biographical tra>ectory o% the speaker. hen the
speaker mo#es %rom one social space into another his or her repertoire is a%%ected and the end
res!lt is something that mirrors almost like an a!tobiography the erratic li#es o% people.
>unyan&ole or 8inyan&ole@
e ha#e seen that the 5ome *%%ice bases its arg!ments %or re>ecting Aoseph(s claims on his
partial knowledge o% Kinyarwanda and his 9!n6!ali%ied; knowledge o% E!nyankole. 4t is the
latter lang!age that sit!ates him in Cganda according to the 5ome *%%ice 9and in spite o%
e#idence that shows that the lang!age is also !sed by Ewandans incl!ding the 5ome *%%ice
interpreter;. 4n %ragment 23 abo#e we saw howe#er how strongly Aoseph 6!ali%ied his own
pro%iciency in E!nyankole 4 do not speak Kinyankole as well as 4 speak 8nglish. 4 can
comm!nicate at a m!ch more basic le#el.N 5e can make himsel% !nderstoodN and !nderstand
what other people say. 4n addition to the %act that he 9rightly; considers that lang!age to be
one o% the se#ere problems in his li%e he sel%"6!ali%ies as a non"nati#e speaker o% E!nyankole.
This is %!rther e#idenced by something that the 5ome *%%ice %ailed to pick !p in spite
o% the %act that they themsel#es mention it. e read in %ragment 2 abo#e
92$; ?ased on the in%ormation abo#e it is considered that the lang!age called
Kinyarkole !sed at yo!r screening inter#iew is more widely known as E!nyankole
there%ore E!nyankole will be re%erred in the rest o% this letter.
The !se o% the term HKinyarkole( in the 5ome *%%ice(s letter is strange and it does not re%lect
Aoseph(s own consistent !se o% HKinyankole(. The point howe#er is that the 5ome *%%ice
rede%ines what is named in the reports as HKinyankoleIKinyarkole( as HE!nyankole( = !sing a
di%%erent pre%i+ to the stem H"'yankole(. >unyankole is the o%%icial name o% the lang!age and
it is the name !sed %or the lang!age by its nati#e speakers.< Csing the pre%i+ HKi"H %or the
lang!age wo!ld mimic the !se o% that pre%i+ in lang!age names s!ch as HKinyarwanda(
HKir!ndi( and HKiswahili( and wo!ld rather ob#io!sly mark non"nati#e diasporic !sage andidenti%ication o% that lang!age. 4t wo!ld be a rather predictable >%andan way o% identi%ying
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E!nyankole. The !pshot o% this simple obser#ation 9b!t one missed by the 5ome *%%ice; is
that Aoseph(s consistent !se o% the name HKinyankole( places him o!tside the national
socioling!istic order o% Cganda where the lang!age wo!ld be called E!nyankole.
4t(s in a way an elephant in the room b!t s!ch elementary errors dis6!ali%y Aoseph as
a nati#e speaker o% E!nyankole and th!s 9in the logic o% the 5ome *%%ice; wo!ld r!le o!t
Cganda as his place o% origin. The !se o% Kinyankole in addition to Aoseph(s acco!nt o% his
limited pro%iciency in the lang!age wo!ld clearly point towards a position as a speaker o% a
local 9Ewandan or cross"border; ling!a %ranca diaspora #ariety o% the lang!age. 4t wo!ld in
e%%ect be e#idence %or a totally di%%erent socioling!istic image o% the region in which
lang!ages and speakers do not stay in their Horiginal place( b!t mo#e aro!nd on the rhythm o%
crises and displacements o% pop!lations. That image needless to say corresponds %ar better to
the historical realities o% the Great akes region a%ter independence.
Modernist responses
e ha#e reached the concl!sion o% the dist!rbing story o% Aoseph(s li%e and his asyl!m
application and what remains is to obser#e how in the %ace o% postmodern realities s!ch as
the globalized phenomenon o% international re%!gees %rom crisis regions to the est
go#ernments appear to %orm!late #ery old modernist responses 9see also Maryns 2::;. e
ha#e seen in partic!lar how in Aoseph(s case the 5ome *%%ice relied on a national
socioling!istic order o% things in assessing his ling!istic repertoire.
To begin with his repertoire was seen as indicati#e o% origins de%ined within stable
and static 9Hnational(; spaces and not o% biographical tra>ectories that de#elop in act!al
histories and topographies. The 6!estion as to which 9partic!lar and single; lang!age Aoseph
Hspoke( was a 6!estion that led to statements abo!t where he was born abo!t the point in the
world where his origins lie. The %act is howe#er that someone(s ling!istic repertoire re%lects
a life and not >!st birth and it is a li%e that is li#ed in a real socioc!lt!ral historical and
political space. 4% s!ch a li%e de#elops in a place torn by #iolent con%lict and dislodged social
and political relations a pristine image o% someone being born and bred in one comm!nity
with one lang!age as his Hown( is hardly !se%!l. 4n %act !sing s!ch a pristine image is !n>!st.
4% we accept that Aoseph led the li%e he doc!ments in his a%%ida#it then #ery little in the way
o% a Hnormal( socioling!istic pro%ile can in %act be e+pected. 4n other words i% the 5ome
*%%ice had ass!med that Aoseph may ha#e been a gen!ine re%!gee de#iance %rom a Hnormal(socioling!istic pro%ile wo!ld ha#e been one o% the key arg!ments in his %a#or. 4mposing s!ch
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socioling!istic normalcy 9with the deeper implications speci%ied by ?o!rdie! abo#e; amo!nts
to an a priori re%!sal to accept the possible tr!th o% his story. 4n %act it creates a catch"22 %or
Aoseph. 4% his socioling!istic pro%ile had been Hnormal( 9to the 5ome *%%ice; that wo!ld ha#e
been strong e#idence that the li%e history he told was !ntr!e. 4% he had had a command o%
schooled and literate #arieties o% Kinyarwanda and French this co!ld nat!rally ha#e meant
that the acco!nt o% his tro!bled childhood was a concoction.
-s we know s!ch imageries o% socioling!istic normalcy belong to the
instr!mentari!m o% the modern nation"state. 4n %act in the sort o% 5erderian twist o%ten !sed
in nationalist rhetoric it is at the core o% modern imaginings o% the nation"state and it re#ol#es
aro!nd a denial or re>ection o% what ?a!man and ?riggs 92::3; call ling!istic hybridity
imp!re and mi+ed systems non"standard %orms trans%ormed lang!age reso!rces. 9-bo!t this
see also \ygm!nt ?a!man(s 11 disc!ssion o% the relationship between modernity and
ambi#alence.; 4t comes with the monoglot package described by Sil#erstein 91 also 1<;
in which lang!age testing and emphases on literate Hcorrectness( ass!me a prominent place =
witness the little literacy test administered to Aoseph in order to ascertain his Hknowledge(
9totalized; o% Kinyarwanda 9see also 0ollins and ?lot 2::3;. The parado+ o% this modernist
reaction to post"modern realities is sketched abo#e in>!stice is almost by necessity its res!lt.
4mposing a strictly national order o% things on people who by their #ery nat!re are de"
nationalized and trans"nationalized is not likely to do >!stice to their case. 4n partic!lar it
prod!ces tremendo!s di%%ic!lties with coming to terms with
the logical intersection between mobile people and mobile te+ts = an intersection no
longer located in a de%inable territory b!t in a deterritorialized world o% late modern
comm!nication 9Aac6!emet 2::& 21;.
.
4t is %ar too easy to ra#e abo!t the ignorance or abs!rdity displayed by the 5ome
*%%ice in this case. The point that needs to be made is wider and gra#er than that. 4t is
!ltimately abo!t the way in which anomalo!s %rames %or interpreting h!man beha#ior = the
modernist national %rames re%erred to here = are !sed as instr!ments o% power and control in a
world in which more and more people no longer correspond to the categories o% s!ch %rames.
This problem is not restricted to asyl!m cases@ we can also see it in the %ield o% schooled
instr!ction 9e.g. 0ollins and ?lot 2::3; media regimes and #ario!s %orms o% lang!age
policing therein and so many other places and e#ents where instit!tions ha#e to addressc!lt!ral globalization. The dominant re%le+ to increases o% hybridity and deterritorialization
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!n%ort!nately too o%ten appears to be a rein%orced homogeneity and territorialization. e will
see #ery similar phenomena in o!r ne+t e+ample as well.
The theoretical 6!estions this raises are momento!s and we sho!ld pa!se to consider
one o% them. 4t is clear that a socioling!istics o% lang!ages doesn(t o%%er m!ch hope %or
impro#ement. 4t is precisely the totalizing concept o% lang!age which is !sed in cases s!ch as
these to dis6!ali%y people o%ten on the basis o% the %limsiest o% e#idence. hat is needed =
and here 4 reiterate one o% the main theoretical points o% this book = is a socioling!istics o%
speech and o% resources o% the real bits and ch!nks o% lang!age that make !p a repertoire and
o% real ways o% !sing this repertoire in comm!nication. Socioling!istic li%e is organized as
s!ch as mobile speech not as static lang!age and li#es can conse6!ently be better
in#estigated on the basis o% repertoires set against a real historical and spatial backgro!nd. 4t
is on the basis o% s!ch an analysis o% reso!rces that we were able to answer the lang!age"
based claims o% the 5ome *%%ice abo!t Aoseph(s national belonging. 4n work on these topics
we sho!ld keep track o% the strong de%initional monoglot e%%ect o% the modern state = o% the
way in which time and space are made 9literally; Hstatic( 9i.e. a %eat!re o% the state; in relation
to lang!age = and part o% any post"modern phenomenology o% lang!age and c!lt!re sho!ld be
de#oted to !nderstanding the #ery non"post"modern ideologies and practices that shoot
thro!gh post"modern globalized realities. e need to balance both and to !nderstand that a
totalized modern concept o% lang!age is #ery m!ch part o% post"modern realities.
$.3. 6ainstreaming the migrant learner
Aoseph(s li%e was meas!red against a Hmainstream( which was a re%lection o% the national
order. The ling!istic reso!rces he had bro!ght with him d!ring his escape and mo#e to 8!rope
lost weight and #al!e d!ring the >o!rney and by the time he o%%ered them %or inspection in
?ritain they had been t!rned into arg!ments that co!ld be !sed against him. This was done by
a state apparat!s the immigration a!thorities and we saw that their response to Aoseph(s
deterritorialized and mobile e+istence was a #ery modernist one stressing the national order
o% things as i% he had ne#er migrated. 4n the %ace o% s!per"di#ersity go#ernments appear to
ret!rn 6!ickly to the sa%e %ortresses o% modernism emphasizing homogeneity and !ni%ormity
across the pop!lation and !sing tools to categorize and discriminate in the process. ang!age
has become s!ch a critical tool.
Aoseph(s presence in 8!rope was part o% the new migrations we ha#e alreadyrepeatedly mentioned and as we know s!ch migrations in#ol#e a wide range o% nationalities
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dri#en by a wide range o% moti#es and !sing #ery di%%erent modalities o% migration. 0hildren
o% s!ch new migrants go to school and let !s now consider what happens there. 4 will draw on
work done in B!tch immersion classes in the Flemish part o% ?elgi!m in 2::2"2::3. 'ewly
immigrated children are de%ined as Hother"lang!age newcomers( 9anderstalige nieu%&omers in
B!tch; and are bro!ght into at least one year o% B!tch immersion prior to being
Hmainstreamed( in reg!lar classes. 'ote that there is a #ery strong political"ideological
!nderc!rrent that s!pports this immersion tactic in the conte+t o% migration the Flemish
Go#ernment increasingly emphasizes the importance o% B!tch as a prere6!isite to
Hintegration( into the host society 9see ?lommaert and Dersch!eren 1< %or a general
disc!ssion;. This phenomenon is another %ace o% globalization while the %low %rom center to
periphery is characterized by international reso!rces s!ch as 8nglish the %low %rom the
periphery to the center is trapped in localism and regionalism. 4n ?elgi!m immigrants ha#e to
learn B!tch and French not 8nglish@ they need to learn Swedish in Sweden German in
Germany Spanish in Spain and so on.
4n an earlier p!blication 9?lommaert 0re#e and illaert 2::; we pointed o!t that
immigrant children are being declared Hlang!age"less( and illiterate when they enter s!ch
immersion classes. Their o%ten intricate m!ltiling!al repertoires are not recognized and
certainly not !sed as e+isting and #al!able ling!istic"comm!nicati#e instr!ments and p!pils
%ind themsel#es in an H-"?"0( en#ironment in which lang!age and writing needs to be learned
%rom scratch. The proced!re and moti#ation are simple. hen a child does not speak B!tch
its ling!istic reso!rces are considered to be witho!t #al!e Hto li#e in o!r society( and children
so to speak ha#e to !n"learn their lang!ages and literacy practices replacing them with
B!tch"only ones. - strong Hmonoglot( image o% ling!istic and c!lt!ral homogeneity transpires
%rom these practices which are #ery o%ten e+ec!ted by highly moti#ated and well"meaning
teachers whose goal is gen!inely to promote the well"being o% their migrant p!pils in ?elgian
society and to impro#e their Hsocial integration( in ?elgian mainstream society. Teachers #ery
o%ten belie#e that writing is the best way to Hcorrectly( learn a lang!age. ?!t writing is
interpreted in a c!rio!sly restricted way as the prod!ction o% partic!lar forms of %riting4
0onse6!ently tremendo!s e%%orts are spent in ac6!iring highly speci%ic %ormal writing skills
s!ch as the graphic shape o% the Hs( symbol below 9the !nderlined %orm is the teacher(s
instr!ction;
9F4GCE8 1 58E8. 0aption HDis(;
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The climate in s!ch classes is hardly stim!lating. ,!pils painstakingly repeat the
writing e+ercises in attempts to Hgetting it right( and #ery little other learning goes on.
ang!age = B!tch in this case = has become an oppressi#e monolith something that is so
center"stage in the learning process that di%%erences between Hright( and Hwrong( de%ine the
learning tra>ectories. Boing it Hright( will 6!ickly lead to 6!ali%ications o% ed!cationally
s!ccess%!l 9i.e. Hintelligent( Hsmart(; children while doing it Hwrong( leads to 6!ali%ications o%
learning problems 9i.e@ the Hnot"so"smart( or Hstr!ggling( learner;. This regime obsc!res
backgro!nds or o#erlooks the many other learning processes that children e%%ecti#ely display
in s!ch classrooms. -nd in that sense they #ery o%ten miss the ways in which migrant
children deploy the totality o% their ling!istic and semiotic repertoires in creati#e and
prod!cti#e blends that re#eal real progress. The child who wrote the H#is( e+ample abo#e was
already literate. 5e already knew how to write. These writing skills were bro!ght along %rom
pre#io!s learning e+periences and the child writes in e%%ect a per%ectly ade6!ate #ersion o%
H#is(. 5is writing skills are howe#er dis6!ali%ied and he is now %acing the task o% writing the
word precisely in the way the teacher did. The point is the child already knew how to write
b!t he was con%ronting a task replete with ideological perceptions o% Hright( and Hwrong( in
which Hright( stands %or e$actly the way a ?elgian child wo!ld write H#is(. The real learning
that the child already possessed and which he deployed in this task were backgro!nded. 4
want to %oc!s now on one partic!lar piece o% writing prod!ced by a 12"year old boy %rom
?!lgaria whom we shall call Dladi 9a pse!donym;. Fig!re 2 is a page %rom his copybook in
which he practiced his writing o% dictated words.
9F4GCE8 2 58E8. 0aption HDladi(s copybook(;
Dladi(s writing shows signs o% !n%amiliarity with the writing con#entions o% B!tch.
e see the !nwarranted !se o% capitals 9HFiets( HlocomotieF(; and di%%ic!lties in se6!encing
the graphic symbols into one !ninterr!pted string 9as in H#is( abo#e; he writes separate
symbols. 'otwithstanding that Dladi(s writing is largely correct e#en when it comes to
realizing some o% the more tricky pec!liarities o% the B!tch orthographic system s!ch as the
do!ble symbols ui and au. The more interesting are the errors. Dladi pro#ides two #ersions o%
the B!tch word fiets Hbicycle( fiets and fits. -nd he also writes these two #ery pec!liar %orms
9F4GCE8 3 58E8. 0aption HTwo words %rom Dladi(s notes(;
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Transliterated these wo!ld read as zei!anent!intihi and enent%intiih. These are realizations o%
what in standard B!tch orthography wo!ld be ze!ent%intig Htwenty"se#en( and eenent%intig
Htwenty"one(respecti#ely.
These %orms are intensely interesting beca!se what Dladi writes here is a #ery
acc!rate graphic appro+imation o% the local Dutch accent of the teacher . Dladi(s school was
in -ntwerp and his teacher was an -ntwerp nati#e. 4n the teacher(s local accent the
distinction between long and short PiQ so!nds is !nnoticeable e#en i% they are represented by
two di%%erent graphemes i 9short PiQ; and ie 9long PiQ;. So in the teacher(s accent the PiQ in !is
and in fiets wo!ld so!nd identical 9P#isQ and P%itsQ; and this ina!dible di%%erence is re%lected
in Dladi(s !se o% both graphemes i and ie. This is e#en more o!tspoken in the case o%
zei!anent!intihi in the teacher(s local accent the word ze!enent%intig 9Pze#VnVntwntVjQ;
wo!ld be prono!nced as Pz#VnVntwintVjQ and this is precisely what Dladi writes he writes
the -ntwerp dialect accent that he hears %rom the teacher !sing the con#entional grapheme ei
%or PQ. Dladi is %reewheeling here. hile most other %orms he writes 9e.g. Hlocomotie%(; are
the res!lt o% %ormal learning he also e+periments in his copybook noting down new words he
has heard = ze!enent%intig and eenent%intig = or attempting to combine words with articles
as in het locomotief 9which sho!ld be de locomotief Hthe locomoti#e(;. 4n making these bra#e
attempts we see that Dladi e+ploits what he has already learned in the way o% orthographic
logic and that he sim!ltaneo!sly #ent!res into the many places where s!ch logic is absent. 4n
his enent%intiih he writes the initial long PeQ as e orthographically wrong b!t
!nderstandable beca!se long PeQ can also be written as e. 4n the same word the PwQ is
correctly written as % while in zei!anent!intihi he wrote the same so!nd as !. Together with
the %inal so%t PjQ the PwQ is notorio!sly hard to ac6!ire %or many non"nati#e speakers o%
B!tch@ the orthographic errors are th!s !nderstandable.
Dladi prod!ces #oice here the #oice o% an eager and enth!siastic learner who p!shes
the limits o% his learning by e+perimenting with the reso!rces he already has. 8#en i% his
writing skills s!%%er %rom basic imper%ections = his !se o% capitals etc. = we see that it o%%ers
him a capacity to start reprod!cing and e+panding the things he knows. 5is #oice is howe#er
that o% an immigrant he records the local accent probably witho!t an awareness that it is not a
standard %orm o% B!tch. -ny B!tch is B!tch %or those who do not know it 9like any 8nglish is
8nglish %or those who don(t know it;. The orthographic errors he prod!ces conse6!ently
re#eal his partic!lar position #is"R"#is B!tch that o% a non"nati#e learner in -ntwerp
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s!rro!nded by local nati#e accents and con%ronted with the compelling normati#ity o% a
standard orthography. 5is writing in short de%ines the immigrant learner.
The tension is easily sketched. Dladi(s writing re#eals Hsocial integration( in a real
socioling!istic en#ironment. 5e picks !p perhaps also reprod!ces in speaking the local
accent o% B!tch. 5e does that #ery well and in that sense his writing skills are e+cellently
de#eloped. ?!t his per%ormance as a lang!age learner will be >!dged not on the basis o% the
socioling!istic reality in which he %inds his place b!t on the basis o% a normati#e standard that
only e+ists %or him as a set o% %ormal writing con#entions 9which can be seen %rom his
alteration o% I%itsI and I%ietsI;. Simply p!t while his writing o% zei!anent!intihi is absol!tely
acc!rate as a replica o% socioling!istic reality it is >!st an error when seen %rom the normati#e
standard 9Hmonoglot(; #iewpoint. -nd so while %rom the %irst perspecti#e Dladi is %!lly
integrated he is not integrated %rom the second perspecti#e. Cnless we see his writing skills as
skills %or prod!cing an e+periential #oice we will be tempted to dis6!ali%y them as >!st Hbad
writing(. 8ntering the mainstream here means being able to reprod!ce a strictly regimented
set o% skills the %!nction o% which is >!st re%le+i#e to demonstrate that one can reprod!ce
them.
hat we see in these e+amples is how p!pils constr!ct #oice !nder se#ere constraints
on ling!istic choice. The p!pils had to work in a medi!m that was not theirs and they all
clearly str!ggled with some o% the basic skills they had to !se. The e%%ects o% literacy and
lang!age when percei#ed as normati#e and as #ehicles %or >!st a small set o% stereotypical
Hling!istic( %!nctions is that ling!istic prod!cts are silenced and made in#isible. The te+ts
disc!ssed in both e+amples are all #ery !nremarkable and easy to dismiss as >!st tri#ia
doc!menting a partic!lar stage in a learning tra>ectory. 4 pre%er to see them as little sites o%
str!ggle = a str!ggle to make sense and to make onesel% !nderstood !nder e+acting and
restraining conditions. S!ch conditions characterize m!ch o% what we !nderstand by
globalization %or many people who are part o% globalization processes they are disabling
rather than enabling e+cl!ding rather than incl!ding and repressing rather than liberating.
,rod!cing #oice !nder s!ch conditions is possible b!t detecting it re6!ires a tactic o%
e+amination that %oc!ses on implicit patterns on the poetics o% semiotic %orm rather than the
ling!istics o% str!ct!re. 4t re6!ires in other words a demanding and comple+ %orm o% analysis
= one howe#er which 4 belie#e to be #ery necessary i% we belie#e in e6!ity and e6!ality.
4 am not the %irst to de%ine schools as sites o% str!ggle@ indeed this #iew is %ar %rom
original and shared by generations o% ed!cational researchers. ?!t we also need to !nderstandschools as instit!tional en#ironments in which the elementary processes o% s!b>ecti#ity =
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making yo!rsel% heard and !nderstood by other people = can be and are problematic in an age
o% globalization. ,eople !se all there is to !se in making sense@ they !se e+plicit ling!istic
reso!rces as well as implicit socioc!lt!ral ones. 4% we solely %oc!s on the e+plicit reso!rces
and deny the e+istence o% the implicit ones chances are that their #oices are not identi%ied
recognised and heard.
$.!. The en of the state an ine&uality=
4n the disc!ssion in chapter 2 o% commodi%ied -merican accents 4 pointed o!t that the state
had to share its normati#e a!thority in the %ield o% lang!age with new commercial pro#iders
who !se the 4nternet %or their lang!age teaching b!siness@ 4 also pointed o!t how this created
partic!lar tensions between di%%erent orders o% inde+icality operating at di%%erent scale le#els.
4n the preceding analysis howe#er 4 hope to ha#e shown that s!ch a di#ision o% labor does
not mean that the state is Ho!t(. The %act that the state does not hold absolute power o#er
e#erything does not mean that the state doesn(t ha#e any power at all. 4t does ha#e close
control o#er %or instance immigration and lang!age plays an increasingly important part in
that dynamic o% power. 4n the %ield o% immigration we see that the state as a scale"le#el is still
o% cr!cial importance %or an !nderstanding o% contemporary globalization processes. 8+cl!de
or %orget the state %rom an analysis and the analysis will be incomplete. Migrants are drawn
reterritorialized and %irmly locked into a national scale"le#el. This shi%t between scale"le#els
we ha#e seen abo#e in#ol#es a wholesale reordering o% the %rames within which migrants are
treated and their stories analyzed. The histories they draw !pon in trying to make sense to
immigration inter#iewers are cast aside and replaced by a stable !ni%orm b!rea!cratic
TimeSpace horizon in which they o%ten do not make sense. The reso!rces they bro!ght along
which ha#e their origins in di%%erent TimeSpace %rames are s!b>ect to dis6!ali%ication or
Hmisrecognition( in the sense o% ?o!rdie!. 4t is with the static and timeless image o% the
lang!age = the Sa!ss!rean synchrony o% lang!age = that state a!thorities go to work on the
s!per"di#ersity that now characterizes their !rban centers. The instr!ment needless to say is
%!ndamentally %lawed and there is little hope that good things will happen with it.
This insight 4 hope is sobering %or those who belie#e that globalization only o%%ers
opport!nities. 4t s!rely does o%%er opport!nities to some people = think o% this a!thor = who
can deploy their mobile reso!rces across di%%erent spaces and scales. ?!t it is serio!sly
constraining %or many others who do not possess s!ch reso!rces or whose reso!rces do notmatch the orders that are imposed !pon them in the p!nishing %ormats o% immigration
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applications. 4t is also sobering 4 hope to those people who belie#e that globalization means
that the state becomes less and less rele#ant as a le#el o% political and economic agency. 4t
becomes less and less rele#ant %or people like the present a!thor who can s!r% the web and
tra#el the world on the strength o% his solid 8!ropean passport and his middle"class highly
ed!cated class %eat!res. 4t is e+traordinarily rele#ant %or those lower on the social ladder
whose well"being 9and indeed sometimes their li%e; depends on the goodwill o% state systems
%or immigration control and the control o% po#erty !nemployment !nsa%e ho!sing and so on.
The bottom line is that we see how ine6!ality becomes an engine o% a system o% globalization
o% which the state is one highly rele#ant scale"le#el. The %act that states all o#er the western
world these days employ #ery similar tactics %or immigration control 9see ?lommaert 2::1a
Maryns 2::; does not represent a %!ndamental problem here each state operates within the
partic!lar con%ines o% its national bo!ndaries and it acts there with absol!te oppressi#ely
absol!te control.
,eople s!ch as Aoseph are mobile people who in many ways epitomize globalization.
Their li#es are globalized li#es and this sho!ld teach !s a lesson abo!t what globalization is
abo!t. 4% we compare him to the c!stomers o% the -merican accent co!rses or to the a!thors
o% the email %ra!d messages in the pre#io!s chapter we see that Aoseph belongs to a speci%ic
strat!m o% globalization = to the bottom o% the globalization market so to speak. 5e is not
wanted or targeted as a c!stomer %or new 4nternet b!siness and neither is he the sa##y g!y
who sends o!t cle#er messages to cred!lo!s western addressees. 5e is not someone who
makes the most o% globalization. 5is position in the processes o% globalization is #ery
#!lnerable e#en i% his position is de%initional o% globalization. 5e is a #ictim o% globalization
and it is good to de#ote some attention to people s!ch as him too.
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'. "eflections
'.1. +ketch of a roa map
4n the pre#io!s chapters 4 ha#e de#eloped some concept!al tools %or a socioling!istics o%
globalization. 4 arg!ed that s!ch a socioling!istics o!ght to be a socioling!istics o% mobile
reso!rces and not o% immobile lang!ages. 4 showed how mobility a%%ects the phenomenology
o% lang!age and how we needed to think abo!t it in terms o% scales orders o% inde+icality and
polycentricity. 4 then tried to de#elop a perspecti#e on locality arg!ing that the socioling!istic
world needs to be seen in terms o% relati#ely a!tonomo!s comple+es ob#io!sly in%l!enced by
global %actors b!t still %irmly local. 4 arg!ed that thro!gh all o% this we needed to think o%
tr!ncated repertoires rather than o% Hcomplete( lang!ages in the traditional sense o% the term
and that we needed to see comm!nication in globalization as o%ten H!n%inished( as a
deployment o% incomplete comm!nicati#e %orms. -nd 4 o%%ered ine6!ality as a perspecti#e on
all o% this arg!ing that parado+ically perhaps in a so"called postmodern age the modern state
is #ery o%ten the engine behind m!ch ine6!ality. Together these arg!ments and concepts %orm
a kind o% cosmology %or the socioling!istics 4 ha#e in mind@ they sho!ld o%%er !s a sketch o% a
road map %or the poorly charted waters in which we now %ind o!rsel#es.
The shi%t %rom lang!age to reso!rces is cr!cial in all o% this. 4t is not a new item
abandoning str!ct!ral notions o% lang!age %or more phenomenological ones in which
lang!age e#ents and e+periences are central rather than lang!age"as"%orm"and"meaning has
been a key ingredient o% what is called pragmatics 9e.g. Dersch!eren 1<;@ it also !nderlies
contemporary ling!istic anthropology and se#eral branches o% disco!rse analysis 9?lommaert
2::& Aohnstone 2::<; and recent socioling!istics has e+plored it as well 9Eampton 2::@
Makoni and ,ennycook 2::/;. The conse6!ences o% that shi%t howe#er are not yet deeply
!nderstood. e m!st %or instance accept that abandoning a str!ct!ral notion o% lang!age 9a
ling!ists( constr!ct as we know; compels !s to replace it by an ethnographic concept s!ch as
!oice which embodies the e+periential and practice dimensions o% lang!age and which wo!ld
re%er to the way in which people act!ally deploy their reso!rces in comm!nicati#e practice.
Traditional notions related to m!ltiling!alism s!ch as code"switching then become moments
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o% #oice in which people draw reso!rces %rom a repertoire that contains materials
con#entionally associated with Hlang!ages(. The Hlang!age( dimension howe#er is not o%
paramo!nt importance in !nderstanding what s!ch people do and m!ltiling!al practices s!ch
as those wo!ld better be seen as heteroglossic practices in which di%%erent #oices are being
blended. -nd this can be done in con#entionally de%ined Hmonoling!al( as well as
Hm!ltiling!al( speech. 5eteroglossia is the de%a!lt mode o% occ!rrence o% comm!nication and
di%%erences in lang!age materials do not present a %!ndamental complication %or this it(s >!st
heteroglossic speech. The occ!rrence o% the tr!ncated reso!rces described in chapter $ = the
de%a!lt mode o% occ!rrence o% m!ltiling!al speech 4 wo!ld s!ggest = wo!ld then be
describable in terms that are %ar more sensiti#e to immediate and distant historical conte+t.
e then see how the a!thors o% the %ra!d email messages attempt to constr!ct the #oice o% a
tr!stworthy b!siness partner o!t o% the reso!rces that they ha#e at their disposal technological
reso!rces and skills c!lt!ral ones and ling!istic ones. -nd we see that d!e to the partic!lar
con%ig!ration o% these reso!rces se#eral #oices are being prod!ced that o% the tr!stworthy
b!siness partner along %ith that o% someone %rom -%rica writing 8nglish with an -%rican
accent 9a historical conte+t"%eat!re; the #oice o% a crook trying to l!re me into a tricky deal
and so %orth. e get in short a clearer image o% the real comm!nication that is attempted in
these messages.
So the shi%t %rom lang!age to reso!rces in o!r perspecti#e sho!ld not pose any serio!s
di%%ic!lties. ?!t there is a second shi%t one %rom a #iew in which lang!age is narrowly tied to
a comm!nity a time and a place 9the Sa!ss!rean synchrony also precipitated into notions o%
the speech comm!nity and related ones; and in which lang!age is primarily seen as ha#ing
local %!nctions to a #iew in which lang!age e+ists in and %or mobility across space and time.
This shi%t 4 wo!ld say is concept!ally %ar more momento!s than the pre#io!s one beca!se it
%orces !s to consider ling!istic signs detached %rom their traditional loc!s o% origin 9with a
speech comm!nity and with a speci%ic set o% local %!nctions; and instead re"placed so to
speak in #ery di%%erent loci o% prod!ction and !ptake = where the con#entional associati#e
%!nctions o% s!ch signs cannot be taken %or granted. e saw e+amples o% this in chapter 2
when we disc!ssed 'ina(s Berri)re and 4 arg!ed there that s!ch shi%ts %orce !s to abandon the
con#entional connections between lang!age and its ling!istic %!nctions the French was not
ling!istic French in Aapan it was emblematic French and it only became ling!istic French
when someone with a degree o% ling!istic competence in French walked by. The !pshot o% this
is that we need to think o% lang!age semiotically and not ling!istically i% we intend to capt!rewhat goes on in s!ch cases. More in partic!lar we need to think o% ling!istic signs as being
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inde$ically organized where inde+icality stands %or the pro>ection o% socioc!lt!ral %!nction
onto semiotic %orm. S!ch pro>ections o% %!nctions can be widely di#erse and the range o%
possible %!nctions %or ling!istic signs is %ar larger than >!st their con#entional ling!istic
%!nctions. Thinking abo!t s!ch signs ling!istically as lang!age obsc!res many o% these
%!nctions and p!ts !s on an !nprod!cti#e track o% 9con#entionally !nderstood;
m!ltiling!alism. 4t(s only when we think o% ling!istic signs as being #ery m!ch Hopen( signs
onto which se#eral %!nctions 9sim!ltaneo!sly; can be pro>ected that we can start to %ind
answers to the comple+ity and o%ten bewildering phenomenology o% lang!age in globalization
9see Sil#erstein 2::3a@ -gha 2::/ %or a broad disc!ssion o% these themes;.
hat 4 want to do ne+t is to show how the concept!al tools 4 ha#e de#eloped here can
be !sed to prod!cti#ely recast hotly debated socioling!istic iss!es and 4 will take the hottest
possible one 8nglish in the world. The topic o% 8nglish its spread and its many modi%ied
#arieties worldwide de%ines the socioling!istics o% globalization in its c!rrent %orm. -nd as
we ha#e seen repeatedly one #ery dominant paradigm in addressing this iss!e is that o%
ling!istic imperialism 9,hillipson 12; and ling!istic rights 9Sk!tnabb"Kangas 2:::;. This
paradigm s!bscribes to a socioling!istics o% immobile lang!ages = 4 ha#e disc!ssed aspects o%
this in chapter 2 = and ass!mes that where 8nglish occ!rs indigeno!s 9and especially
minority; lang!ages are threatened %irst with attrition and e#ent!ally with lang!age death 9the
so"called Hling!icidal( hypothesis within the ling!istic rights paradigm hence%orth abbre#iated
as E,;. 4 ha#e already repeatedly emphasized that this paradigm misses the point o% what
s!ch new globalized lang!age hierarchies mean 9e.g. ?lommaert 2::1b;. et me now try to
apply the instr!mentari!m o% a socioling!istics o% globalization to this 6!estion.
'.2. 9nglish in the periphery< imperialism re/isite
4 will do so by re#isiting some o% my own research on the regime o% lang!age in Tanzania
98ast -%rica;. 4 will di#ide my disc!ssion into three s!bsections. 4n the %irst one 4 shall
s!mmarize the main %indings o% a pre#io!s st!dy on state ideology and lang!age in Tanzania
9?lommaert 1b;. The o!tcome will be a parado+ the state(s attempt towards the
generalization o% Swahili at 9almost; all le#els o% society was a h!ge s!ccess@ its attempt
towards ideological hegemony howe#er was a %ail!re. The two s!bsections to %ollow will
o%%er e+planations %or this %irst by e+amining the position o% the state #is"R"#is de#elopments
both at higher and at lower scale"le#els and second by looking at some grassroots lang!age
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practices that may re#eal some o% the dynamics that ca!sed the parado+. Finally 4 will address
the way in which this case may in%orm a di%%erent approach to ling!istic rights and ine6!ality.
Thro!gho!t this disc!ssion my aim is to clari%y the theoretical re%lections made
elsewhere in this book and to demonstrate that they may ha#e some analytical p!rchase. More
speci%ically 4 hope to demonstrate that the !s!al E, ass!mptions can be s!pplanted by the
ones o!tlined abo#e and that this might lead to better more precise and more empirically
s!stainable o!tcomes. 4n E, the arg!ment o% ling!istic rights 9a; almost in#ariably in#ol#es
the promotion o% indigeno!s lang!ages as stat!s lang!ages at all le#els o% society and 9b; it
!s!ally identi%ies the state as a cr!cial actor in this process both negati#ely 9the state denies
rights to people; and positi#ely 9the state is the actor that sho!ld pro#ide and sec!re rights %or
people;. Tanzania is a case in point.
The Tanzanian parado!
The case is easily s!mmarized. The postcolonial Tanzanian 9then still Tanganyikan; state was
one o% the %irst to declare an indigeno!s lang!age Swahili the national lang!age o% the
co!ntry. 4t also became an o%%icial lang!age alongside the %ormer colonial lang!age 8nglish.
Swahili was immediately introd!ced as the medi!m o% instr!ction in primary ed!cation. The
real boost %or Swahili came when the state embarked on a massi#e campaign o% nation"
b!ilding in the mid"1:s. This nation"b!ilding campaign was an attempt towards
establishing socialist hegemony and Swahili was gi#en a cr!cial role in this. The lang!age
was de%ined as the lang!age o% -%rican"socialist 9971amaa* ; ideas and the generalized spread
o% Swahili wo!ld be a meas!rable inde+ o% the spread o% socialism across the pop!lation.
- %ew 6!ali%ications are in order here. First the ideal sit!ation en#isaged by the
architects o% the campaign was monoglot 9Sil#erstein 1;. The campaign wo!ld be a
s!ccess when the pop!lation wo!ld !se one language imbued %ith one set of ideological
loads those o% C>amaa. 5omogeneity was the target and the spread o% Swahili"and"C>amaa
wo!ld ha#e to go hand in hand with the disappearance o% other lang!ages"and"ideologies. The
%irst target ob#io!sly was 8nglish = the lang!age o% imperialism capitalism and oppression@
b!t the same went %or the local lang!ages which were seen as #ehicles %or traditional
precolonial c!lt!res as well as %or Hnonstandard( #arieties o% Swahili 9e.g. code"switching the
!se o% !rban #arieties; that were sensed to indicate the incompleteness o% the process o%
hegemony. The Hbetter( and Hp!rer( one(s Swahili wo!ld be the better a socialist Tanzanian
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patriot one wo!ld be. e ha#e here a typical 5erderian cocktail o% one lang!ageIone
c!lt!reIone territory as an ideal organization %or society.
Second not only the conception o% lang!age as a #ehicle %or a speci%ied 9politically
de%ined; set o% 5erderian ideological #al!es b!t the whole operational conception o%
lang!age was inherited %rom colonial predecessor regimes. e see a long history at work
here. Swahili was standardized and its main #ehicle was 9normati#e; literacy prod!ced
thro!gh %ormal ed!cation systems. Scholarly e%%orts concentrated on standardization
lang!age Hde#elopment and modernization( p!rism and so %orth@ in short on the constr!ction
o% Swahili as an arte%act o% normati#ity %oc!sed on re%erential %!nctions. There was a model
%or s!ch a degree o% H%!ll lang!ageness( 8nglish. Thro!gho!t the history o% postcolonial
ling!istics in Tanzania scholars kept re%erring to 8nglish as the kind o% le#el o% Hde#elopment
and modernization( that needed to be attained %or Swahili. -nd pending that H%!ll
lang!ageness( o% Swahili 8nglish wo!ld ha!e to be !sed in higher ed!cation in order to
prod!ce a class o% top"notch intellect!als needed %or specialized ser#ice to the co!ntry. Th!s
while Swahili was spread to all corners o% the co!ntry and was !sed in almost e#ery aspect o%
e#eryday li%e post"primary ed!cation remained 9and still is; a domain where 8nglish was
hegemonic.
Becades o% concentrated e%%orts towards the goal set %orth in the early 1:s res!lted
in the generalized spread o% Swahili. Socioling!istically Swahili and its #arieties ha#e
become the identi%ying code o% p!blic acti#ities thro!gho!t Tanzania. ?!t what did not
happen was the ideological homogenization o% the co!ntry = while Swahilization was
mani%estly a s!ccess the monoglot ideal was a %ail!re. 'either 8nglish nor local lang!ages
and Himp!re( #arieties o% Swahili disappeared. -nd the spread o% Swahili did not gal#anize the
hegemony o% C>amaa the one"party system collapsed in the late 1<:s and it was replaced by
a m!ltiparty liberal capitalist state"organization which ironically adopted Swahili as its
#ehicle %or nationwide comm!nication 9>!st as the postcolonial state had adopted Swahili as
an interesting instr!ment %or propaganda and grassroots organization %rom the ?ritish
colonialists be%ore them;.
4n s!m Tanzania is a case where the state granted prestige stat!s to an indigeno!s
lang!age. 4t also granted its citizens %!ll rights to ac6!ire that lang!age. -nd it was a state
where the %ormal colonial lang!age was certainly d!ring the 1/:s a stigmatized lang!age
that sho!ld !ltimately be completely replaced by Swahili. 4n terms o% E, e#erything seemed
to be in place. So what went wrong7
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The state in space and time
et !s begin by looking at how Tanzania %itted into larger pict!res. -s said earlier we ha#e to
concei#e o% the state as one scale"le#el in a strati%ied polycentric system. So what the state did
needs to be placed in a wider dynamic o% e#ents at other le#els. F!rthermore all o% this is
ca!ght in di%%erent historical processes and e#ery ingredient o% the process will show resid!al
elements o% these historical processes as well. From this #antage point se#eral obser#ations
can be made.
1. Tanzania was a space o% its own and the nation"b!ilding attempt was a typical state acti#ity
the range o% which was the territory controlled by the state. ?!t we clearly see a lot o%
moments where the state oriented towards higher"le#el transnational centers. -t the most
general le#el the constr!ction itsel% o% a national space was a %actor o% the international world
order o% the day which imposed the adoption o% colonial bo!ndaries onto the postcolonial
states and which also o%%ered models %or organizing the state b!rea!cracy and administration.
Tanzanians oriented towards a n!mber o% transnational ideals panafricanism and -%rican
liberation 9which sp!rred the !ni%ication o% Tanganyika and \anzibar and which also %orti%ied
socialism as a state ideology;@ the kind o% socialism championed by the organization o% 'on"
-ligned States 9in t!rn something which strongly oriented towards the 0old"ar %ramework;@
de!elopment ideals that e#ol#ed aro!nd s!stainable grassroots de#elopment 9an in%l!ence o%
Maoist 0hina;@ and standard western models o% %ormal education as cr!cial both to
de#elopment and nation"b!ilding.
2. Tanzania also oriented to transnational models o% lang!age and comm!nication. -s
mentioned earlier the state is o%ten the le#el where a modernist static homogeno!s and
rei%ied notion o% lang!age is constr!cted and !sed as something to which others need to orient
9?o!rdie! 11@ see also Ferg!son and G!pta 2::2;. Tanzania adopted earlier e+isting
models o% a monoglot regime o% lang!age %oc!sed aro!nd standard p!ri%ied and literacy"
dri#en #arieties o% Swahili 9c%. Fabian 1<@ 8rrington 2::1;. 4t also adopted a classic
nationalist model o% lang!age"and"ideology the 5erderian one. -nd it o%%ered these models as
normati#e to gro!ps in Tanzanian society both in e#eryday li%e in administration in
ed!cation and in scienti%ic work. 'e+t to this it also adopted e+isting worldwide ling!istic
hierarchies in which H%!lly de#eloped lang!ages( s!ch as 8nglish or French stood at the topand were the model %or Swahili 9de%ined in the same mo#e as somewhat lower on the ladder
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o% lang!age de#elopment;. 4n short Tanzania adopted a regime o% lang!age which was
transnational 9and which also de%ined the colonial era in the co!ntry; and inserted Swahili into
that regime.
3. Most o% what is said in 91; and 92; represents the dur?e dimension o% the Tanzanian
lang!age regime general conditions !nder which the Tanzanian state operates and which
o%ten become in#isible as soon as they are Hrepatriated( bro!ght into the national space as part
o% a national pro>ect 9that o% nation"b!ilding;. 4n its most simple %orms the transnational
models to which the state orients are trans%ormed into national models and o%%ered as points to
which s!b"national gro!ps o!ght to orient. The world system disappears o!t o% sight as soon
as the state brings it into the national space.
$. -t the same time this is not a static phenomenon and we need to consider the di%%erent
histories o% this phenomenon here. The position o% the Tanzanian state #is"R"#is higher le#els
shi%ts repeatedly thro!gho!t the postcolonial period. 4n general = and generalizing = three
periods can be de%ined 91; the shi%t o!t o% the colonial world order something which takes
the Tanzanian state a %ew years a%ter 4ndependence@ 92; the 0old ar i.e. the global world
order prior to 1:@ and 93; the post"1: world order i.e. the era o% contemporary
globalization and capitalist hegemony. 4n each o% these periods changes in the relati#e
inde+icalities occ!r. For instance with regard to the H#al!e( o% 8nglish it is clear that it shi%ts
%rom an ambi#alent stance in the %irst period 9being the lang!age both o% the %ormer oppressor
and the model %or organizing the independent state; to a markedly negati#e stance d!ring the
0old ar period and again to a moderately positi#e stance in the post"1: period. 8nglish in
each period 9b!t also Swahili and any other lang!age or #ariety; recei#es #al!e attrib!tions
that deri#e %rom scales #alid transnationally and the de#elopment o% lang!age e#al!ations
testi%y to the shi%ting alignments o% the Tanzanian state in the world system. 'ote too that the
three periods are not to be separated rather than breaks between one period and another we
see how resid!al aspects o% the #al!e system in pre#io!s periods still occ!r in later ones. 'ew
orders o% inde+icality are b!ilt o!t o% the r!bble o% earlier ones.
&. ?!t the state also responded to grassroots and ci#il society %orces notably with regard to
the relationship between Swahili and local minority lang!ages. ithin the normati#e %rame
%or which the state as a 9strong; center stood #ario!s gro!ps in society de#eloped co!nter"hegemonic disco!rses and practices. 4n its most #isible %orm people were !nwilling to
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replace their e+isting repertoires with the monoglot comple+ o% Swahili. 'obody act!ally
disp!ted the importance o% national ling!istic !nity b!t only a %ew people accepted the idea o%
indi#id!al monoling!alism. Most people allocated speci%ic %!nctions to the Swahili #arieties
they had adopted into their repertoires and enth!siastically shi%ted between #ario!s
ingredients in their repertoires 9Mekacha 13@ Msan>ila 1< 2::$;. F!rthermore especially
the emerging class o% pro%essional intellect!als while !s!ally strongly s!pporting
Swahilization la!nched themsel#es into debates abo!t %hat &ind of .socialist/ !alues the
lang!age was s!pposed to disseminate. The state was %orced into s!ch debates and the
general assessments o% lang!age policies were e%%ects o% s!ch debates between state and ci#il
society. To be precise the way in which the state(s actions were seen as either s!ccesses or
%ail!res was an e%%ect o% a national dynamic in which the transnational dimension was hardly
#isible = in itsel% e#idence o% the way in which the state %!nctions as a centering instit!tion
creating a Hnational( space and th!s e%%ecting clos!re to aspects o% the iss!e that transcend the
national space. For local intellect!als in s!ch debates the only center to which they oriented
was the state@ %or the state it was both the world system and ci#il society.
. The bottom line to all o% this is the state was an intermediate instit!tion responding both to
calls %rom abo#e and %rom below and the state to some e+tent got st!ck between these two
le#els. The state was not an a!tonomo!s actor b!t an embedded one one that in#ited #ery
di%%erent approaches dependent on the le#el %rom which one approached it. -dd to this the
heritage o% models o% lang!age and lang!age in%rastr!ct!res = the monoglot p!rist standard
5erderian comple+ = handed down as part o% the way in which Tanzania had to %it into the
world order 9and de#eloped %or Swahili by colonial ling!istics; and we end !p with a
strangely contradictory general image. The state was e+tremely power%!l as the actor that
de%ined the national space and some critical ingredients o% it and as the actor that had
absol!te control o#er an in%rastr!ct!re that led to generalized lang!age spread. ?!t at the same
time it was e+tremely weak beca!se the instr!ments with which it co!ld work were both
de%icient in scope and capacity 9Tanzania was and is a #ery poor co!ntry; and hand"me"
downs %rom transnational le#els that co!ld ne#er answer the ambitions o% the state itsel% nor
those o% local gro!ps in ci#il society. To p!t it in its cr!dest 9and hence o#erstated; %orm the
state had adopted socioling!istic models and ideals that were recipes %or ine6!ality where#er
they were applied while these models were at the same time always o%%ered as recipes %or
progress modernization and de#elopment. The state adopted cr!cial orders o% inde+icality o%a capitalist society and attempted to apply them in the constr!ction o% a socialist state.
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,ooling around with language
e ha#e now described the awkward position o% the state. et !s now mo#e down thetemporal and spatial scale le#el to that o% e#eryday li%e in !rban Tanzania and ask what did
people e%%ecti#ely do with lang!age7 -gain we ha#e to keep the general model in mind a
strati%ied polycentric system in which people orient to a #ariety o% 9hierarchically ordered;
systemically reprod!ced inde+icalities. The state pro#ided s!ch a set o% inde+icalities and it
did so with considerable %orce aplomb and determination. ?!t let !s not %orget that
4t is entirely possible 9L; that in the ordinary co!rse o% their history comm!nities will
come to di%%er in the degree and direction in which they de#elop their ling!istic means
9L; The same ling!istic system as !s!ally described may be part o% di%%erent let !s
say socioling!istic systems whose nat!re cannot be ass!med b!t m!st be
in#estigated 95ymes 1/$ /3 emphasis in original;.
To the e+tent that we re6!ire e#idence to back this !p ?en Eampton(s work on
Hcrossing( and Hstyling( 91& 2::; is a ready candidate. Eampton demonstrates how ondonadolescents o% a #ariety o% ethnoling!istic backgro!nds create ways o% speaking that orient to
new peer"gro!p or pop!lar yo!th c!lt!re inde+icalities and th!s allow Hcrossing( into
ethnoling!istic inde+ical spaces not c!stomarily theirs 9e.g. white -nglo kids adopting
Aamaican 0reole;. 4n practice Hc!stomarily( here stands %or inde+icalities that are #alid at
higher le#els and are prod!ced by other centring instit!tions s!ch as ed!cation neighborhood
norms or national norms o% Hstandard( and Hs!bstandard( or prestige and stigma. Th!s what
co!nts as a prestigio!s lang!age #ariety %rom the point o% #iew o% the school system can be a
stigmatized #ariety %rom the point o% #iew o% the p!pils and #ice #ersa 9e.g. Easta slang can
be a prestige code;. ing!istic reso!rces can indeed %!nction in #ery di%%erent socioling!istic
systems to adopt 5ymes( terms and they can do so sim!ltaneo!sly.
This 4 wo!ld arg!e is the le#el at which we ha#e to look i% we want to !nderstand
what people act!ally do with lang!age what lang!age does to them and what lang!age
means to them in what partic!lar ways it matters to them. -nd i% we want to make ling!istic
rights more than >!st a trope in political"ling!istic disco!rse this is where we sho!ld start.
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4n#ariably alas we end !p with a rather complicated image. et me gi#e a %ew e+amples %rom
Tanzania.
Public "nglish
Oears ago 4 started noticing the o%ten pec!liar #arieties o% written 8nglish !sed in all kinds o%
p!blic displays in !rban Bar es Salaam. S!ch #arieties wo!ld come to me in the %orm o% signs
on doors and walls o% shops bars and resta!rants inscriptions on the small pri#ately operated
b!ses that pro#ide mass transportation ad#ertisements in newspapers or on billboards road
signs and so %orth. The most striking aspect o% these p!blicly displayed %orms o% 8nglish
literacy was the density o% Herrors( or rather !ne+pected t!rns o% phrase in them. 5ere is a
small sample
" )und rising dinner party 9on a banner in central Bar es Salaam;
" Disabled 8ios& 9the name o% a Hkiosk( = a con#erted container that ser#es as a small
shop = operated by a disabled man;
"(hole sallers of hard%ere 9sign at a hardware shop;
"#he&ilango -escaf? 9the name o% a ca%J on Shekilango road in s!b!rban Bar es
Salaam;
"ne% #i&inde tea .room/ 9the name o% a ca%J note the brackets;
"#liming food 9in an ad#ertisement %or a health shop;
"Con )ord 9written on a b!s;
" Appro$i Mately 9written on a b!s;
"#leping Coach 9written on a long"distance b!s;
0learly these inscriptions are packed with in%ormation. They re#eal a problem with
the distrib!tion o% ling!istic reso!rces standard 8nglish with its codi%ied re%erential meanings
on the one hand normati#e literacy con#entions %or 8nglish on the other. Seen %rom the angle
o% monoglot normati#ity the people who wrote and !sed these inscriptions display incomplete
insertions in economies o% ling!istic %orms. 4n that sense they testi%y to some o% the cr!cial
problems o% lang!age policy in Tanzania the lasting prestige %!nctions attrib!ted to 8nglish
combined with the e+tremely restricted access to its prestige"bearing standard #arieties 9the
latter being completely conditioned by access to post"primary ed!cation;.
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?!t there are other aspects to this. 4t is clear that the prod!cers 9and cons!mers; o%
these signs orient towards the stat!s hierarchy in which 8nglish occ!pies the top. This is an
orientation to a transnational global hierarchy rein%orced by the state(s ambi#alent and
meandering stance on 8nglish. There is an orientation to 8nglish as a code associated with
core #al!es o% capitalist ideas o% s!ccess entreprene!rship mobility l!+!ry and %emale
bea!ty. The !se o% 8nglish is sensed to inde+ all o% this. ?!t at the same time it inde+es this
not in terms o% internationally #alid norms 9e.g. standard #arieties o% written 8nglish; b!t in
term o% local diacritics. The man who commissioned the disabled &ios& sign probably did not
imagine himsel% as an international b!sinessman b!t he did imagine himsel% as a b!sinessman
in Bar es Salaam 9or e#en more speci%ically in the Magomeni neighborhood o% Bar es
Salaam;. -nd at this point a new space o% meaning"attrib!tion is opened. e ha#e an act o%
comm!nication which at once orients towards transnational inde+icalities and to strictly local
ones and the e%%ect is that the 8nglish !sed in these signs has to make sense here in
Magomeni = b!t as "nglish i.e. as a code s!ggesting a Hmo#e o!t( o% Magomeni and an
insertion into transnational imaginary networks.
This is a repatriation o% sign"comple+es which o%%ers a tremendo!s semiotic potential
%or !sers they can prod!ce strictly local meanings o% great density and e%%ect. The man who
wrote Con )ord on his b!s was sim!ltaneo!sly ad#ertising the brand o% his #ehicle all!ding
to the %olk"category o% Hconmen( = smooth talkers and ladies( men = and boasting the
standards o% com%ort in his b!s while also displaying his wit and capacity to per%orm word
play in 8nglish. The same goes %or the owner o% the #he&ilango -escaf? an anchoring in the
local geography goes hand in hand with a display o% knowledgeability o% prestigio!s
8!ropean brand names 9'esca%J; a s!ggestion o% a degree o% sophistication and 8!ropean"
to!ch"o%"class %or his b!siness and a %lair %or %inding well"so!nding names %or things. -nd as
%or the a!thors o% fund rising or sliming food they target an a!dience who wo!ld percei#e the
total #al!e o% the 8nglish display rather than its normati#e correctness and so o%%er them a
space %or identi%ying with high"class internationalized categories o% acti#ities. 4t is the #al!e
o% 8nglish and o% literacy in Dar es #alaam that has to be p!t central.
So contrary to what a certain literat!re wo!ld s!ggest we are not really witnessing an
in#asion o% an Himperialist( or Hkiller( lang!age here. hat we are witnessing is a highly
comple+ intricate pattern o% appropriation and deployment o% ling!istic reso!rces whose
#al!es ha#e been relocated %rom a transnational to a national set o% inde+icalities. 4t is a
'anzanian bo!rgeois 9or bo!rgeois"aspiring; reso!rce.
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'ough tal& and its norms
4n the mid"1:s 4 started to note the emergence o% a hip"hop scene among yo!ngsters in Bar
es Salaam. *ne thing led to another and 4 soon %o!nd mysel% in the company o% yo!ng people
willing to initiate me into their ways o% li%e. 4t started with a girl telling me that her brother
now spoke is%ahili i.e. the pl!ral o% HKiswahili( = m!ltiple Swahilis at the same time. The
boy was called and he prod!ced some phrases to me in the presence o% his %ather who
disappro#ingly said that Hthis was not Swahili( and told me that the boy anaongeza chum!i =
Hadded salt( e+aggerated went too %ar. E!les had been broken. 9'ote that at this point we
already ha#e two metapragmatic 6!ali%ications %or the talk o% the boy one that re%ers to a
pl!rality o% Hlang!ages( another marking He+centricity(.;
The girl and her brother bro!ght me in contact with a gro!p o% appro+imately 1$
yo!ng people all li#ing in the neighborhood and all between 1$ and 2: years old. The gro!p
consisted o% si+ male core members and a second circle o% boys and girls. 4n terms o% ethnic
backgro!nd as well as social class the gro!p was highly heterogeneo!s some o% the members
were poorly paid waiters or messengers one worked as an aide to a shoe repairman while
some others were children o% middle"class %amilies and had access to prestige goods 9clothes
shoes m!sic cassettes; and cars. Oet there was clearly a Hgro!p( here.
"Bespite class di%%erences all o% the members wo!ld de%ine their o!tlook on li%e in
terms o% deep %r!stration = an awareness o% being on the margins o% the world
e+pressed thro!gh mottos s!ch as 1ua &ali Hb!rning s!n( or Hhard heat( 9a metonym %or
the general condition o% po#erty and misery in Tanzania; or machungu sana Hm!ch
bitterness( 9i.e. %r!stration; and marked re%erences to places displaying an awareness
o% sit!atedness in a world system ma1uu Hthe est( 9literally Hthe things !p there(;
Jahanam Hthe third world( 9literally H5ell(; or motoni Hthe third world( 9literally Hin the
%ire(;.
"F!rthermore the core members had adopted nicknames and insisted on being called
by these names in the conte+t o% the gro!p. The names again re#eal #ario!s
orientations to stat!s comple+es andIor identity categories. Some were modelled on
-%rican"-merican acronyms 8J another copied the name o% a well known Eeggae
artist 'oshi 9,eter Tosh; another was called blazameni = a local #ersion o% Hbrother
man(. Oet another was called msafiri Hthe tra#eller( 9the boy had spent some time inSo!th -%rica working in the mines = an e+perience con%erring considerable prestige;
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and %inally the oldest member o% the gro!p was called 1ibaba Hlittle %ather( 9he had
%athered a child;.
"The gro!p also identi%ied themsel#es as belonging to a larger category o% !rban
yo!ngsters %ahuni Hcrooks( Hbandits( the Swahili e6!i#alent o% the HGangsta( o%
-merican 5iphop c!lt!re. 4t was 6!ickly pointed o!t to me that this label sho!ld not
%righten me %or there were se#eral categories o% %ahuni. They reass!red me with
statements s!ch as and sisi hatuibi Hwe don(t steal( 9in other words Hwe are not real
criminals(;.
"The gro!p had its own meeting places a container con#erted into a bar in %ront o%
which the shoe repairman who employed one o% the members had his small shop 9a
small stall with one bench;. -nother hango!t %or the gro!p was a soccer %ield a %ew
h!ndred meters %!rther where they co!ld meet in plenum. There was a distinct locality
to the gro!p = a barrio awareness.
-lready we see how the gro!p organized itsel% in re%erence to m!ltiple centers the
world system and their own marginalized position therein was one s!ch #ery salient %oc!s o%
orientation@ it pro#ided a %rame o% re%erence in which 8nglish hip"hop slang Easta slang and
tra#elling co!ld ac6!ire partic!lar emblematic #al!es to be e+ploited in naming and
6!ali%ying practices. They shared some aspects o% their gro!pness with other %ahuni in Bar es
Salaam = a generic %ahuni scene being another center the %oc!s o% which were the star rap
gro!ps o% Bar es Salaam 9gro!ps with names s!ch as II Proud and Da Dee3plo%3matz and
with colossal prestige. 0apitalizing on the stardom o% the rap gro!ps two weekly tabloid
magazines had started to !se bits o% &ihuni in their attempt to reach the yo!ng !rban readers;.
This le#el was in t!rn s!perimposed by transnational 9b!t essentially -%rican"-merican;
HGangsta( c!lt!re notably %oc!sed on international rap stars s!ch as T!pac. -nd %inally the
neighborhood = their barrio = was a power%!l %oc!s o% orientations. *ther %ahuni gro!ps
were all identi%ied in re%erence to Bar es Salaam neighborhoods the %ahuni o% Manzese o%
Magomeni o% Cb!ngo and so %orth.
The gro!p o% %ahuni spoke &ihuni the lang!age o% the bandits and the !is%ahili
earlier mentioned to me. 4 started recording con#ersations with the gro!p and in#ariably s!ch
con#ersations took the shape o% !nilateral displays o% &ihuni in the %orm o% single words or
phrases. The gro!p !ns!rprisingly was deeply committed to the creation and maintenance o%
an Hantilang!age( shared by the whole o% the Bar es Salaam %ahuni scene. 4t consisted o% ba%%ling instances o% ling!istic mi+ing borrowing and rele+i%ication in Swahili 8nglish and
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other lang!ages and so!nd play. 0onsider the %ollowing e+amples loosely categorized as
8nglish 9rele+i%ied; borrowings@ rele+i%ications %rom Swahili@ borrowings %rom other
lang!ages@ so!nd play !ifupi 9shortened %orms; and so on
8nglish borrowings
"&u&ipa to lea#e to take o%% 9 Hto keep(;
3&utos to lea#e alone 9 Hto toss(;
"macho balbu eyes wide open in amazement or %ear 9balbu HPlight"Qb!lb(;
"mentali %riend 9 Hmental( re%ers to Hmental %it(;
" 8rezi %riend 9 Hcrazy(;
"&umaindi to want something 9 Hmind(;
"&u&rash to disagree 9 Hto crash;
"de%a&a man"o%"all"trades 9 Hday worker(;
"bati bl!e >eans 9 Hboard( corr!gated iron roo% plates;
" pusha dr!gs dealer 9 Hp!sher(;
Eele+i%ications %rom Swahili 9HSS( standard Swahili;
"unga cocaine 9SS Hmaize %lo!r(;
"mzigo marih!ana 9SS Hbag( Hl!ggage(;
"chupa cha chai 9also thermos; small plane 9SS Htea %lask( Hthermos %lask(;
" pipa big plane 9SS Hoil dr!m(;
"&u&ong*otea to stalk 9SS &u&ong*ota Hto hit( Hto beat(;
"&upiga bao to ha#e se+ 9SS Hto o#ertake a #ehicle(;
?orrownings %rom other lang!ages
"m%ela police man 9 Maasai;
"&ulupango >ail 9 !ba &u lupango;
"gan1a marih!ana 9 Aamaican 0reole Easta Slang;
"&aya marih!ana 9Aamaican 0reole Easta Slang;
So!nd play etc.
3&upasha k!pata to recei#e
3zibiliduda a girl who plays hard to get 9also gozigozi;"&ibosile a rich man 9Hboss(;
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"&ishitobe a girl with a large backside 9re%ers to the name o% a Greek cargo #essel;
" 8*oo Kariakoo 9a neighborhood;
" Bese Manzese 9a neighborhood;
" Migomigo: Magomeni 9a neighborhood;
" Jobegi Aohannesb!rg
The dynamics o% &ihuni are not e+ceptional #ery similar phenomena will be met
elsewhere in similar kinds o% gro!ps. 'either is the domain distrib!tion o% &ihuni s!rprising.
Terms co#er domains s!ch as crime dr!gs se+!al interco!rse with girls %emale genital
morphology tra#el po#erty #s. wealth the city the gro!p and its networks.
?!t more interesting is the normati!ity in which all o% this is co!ched. 8ihuni had its
own centers its own bodies o% codi%ied norms the rap stars and the tabloids that !sed &ihuni.
The gro!p spontaneo!sly %ormalized its sessions with me t!rning them into a kind o% %ormal
instr!ction into the lang!age. 4 a!dio"recorded what went on b!t they also insisted that 4
sho!ld ma&e notes o% the words and phrases they o%%ered me. -nd while 4 was making notes
they wo!ld watch care%!lly how 4 noted the words and phrases and they wo!ld occasionally =
rather #igoro!sly = correct me whene#er what 4 wrote down did not correspond to what they
tho!ght it sho!ld be. 4 re#erted to a pattern o% e+plicit checking what 4 had written asking
hi!yo@ 9Hlike this7(; and showing them my notes. *rthography mattered. For instance a
%re6!ently !sed term was toto = a se+!alized term %or Hgirl( deri#ed %rom Swahili mtoto
Hchild(. The pl!ral o% toto is totoz instead o% adding a ?ant! pl!ral pre%i+ 9%a3toto; the gro!p
!sed a 5ip"hop slang pl!ral s!%%i+ H z ( tying the !se o% the term %irmly to transnational
Gangsta c!lt!re by e+ploiting the morphology and orthography o% Swahili.
hat this means is that remarkably &ihuni is a literate code = or at least that written
images o% &ihuni terms mattered in the process o% trans%erIinitiation in which 4 was in#ol#ed.
The code trans%erred to me needed to be correct and in their #iew o% what a lang!age sho!ld
be this meant that it was s!b>ect to standards o% written %orm %or control o#er written
#arieties o% &ihuni o%%ered opport!nities %or semiotic alignment with the local and the
translocal. This %le+ible hermetic s!bc!lt!ral code dismissed by parents and others as Hnot
Swahili( was concei#ed o% as a H%!ll lang!age( by its !sers = as one o% the many !is%ahili
controlled by apparently 6!ite strict 9Hperipheral(; norms and r!les.
A!st like in the case o% the 8nglish inscriptions disc!ssed earlier the pict!re we get
here is one o% relocation and appropriation = in other words o% semiotic opport!nity = ratherthan o% deterioration o% standards lang!age loss or any other simple metaphor o% 8nglish
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imperialism. There is not one single comple+ o% inde+icalities attached to the highly Himp!re(
blend o% whate#er ling!istic material these kids co!ld get hold o%. The inde+icalities are
m!ltiple and again like in the cases disc!ssed earlier re#ol#e aro!nd the capacity to s!ggest
the transnational while %irmly remaining within the national the regional e#en the strictly
local it is a repertoire that allows them to Hget o!t( o% Bar es Salaam culturally to c!lt!rally
relocate their local en#ironments in a global semiotics o% class stat!s blackness
marginalization. -nd i% we look %or the #al!e the code has %or the kids themsel#es it is their
language capt!red in normati#e perceptions and acti#ities as soon as someone %rom the
o!tside intends to ac6!ire it. 4t is treated as i% it were a H%!ll( lang!age with a name 9&ihuni; a
set o% spoken norms and registers and e#en an orthography.
$hat went wrong
4% we now combine the elements disc!ssed in this section we can begin to see what went so
dramatically wrong in Tanzania = in the eyes o% its own lang!age planners. The key to
!nderstanding this is the %act that Tanzania was not an a!tonomo!s space that it was
encaps!lated in di#ergent processes both at a higher and at a lower le#el. The state was not an
a!tonomo!s actor and it co!ld not operate in total %reedom it had to operate !nder conditions
that were both historically and synchronically constraining. -t the same time it was the actor
!pon which e#erything con#erged it was the centring instit!tion in the process. The %ail!re o%
its own de%inition o% hegemony lies in the %act that the state was so weak because it was so
strong. The cr!cial center did what it had to do be the cr!cial center@ b!t it had to do that
!nder constraints that precl!ded s!ccess.
The e%%ect was the creation o% a space in which a h!gely !ne6!al pattern o% distrib!tion
o% ling!istic reso!rces occ!rred and started to operate 9#ery di%%erent %rom ?o!rdie!(s !ni%ied
ling!istic market;. Dernac!lar Swahili was generally spread with some degree o% literacy in
Swahili %or a rather large gro!p o% the pop!lation. 4n a di%%erent stream 8nglish contin!ed to
be a prestigio!s reso!rce beca!se o% its embeddedness in a class"organizing system o%
reprod!ction higher ed!cation which %or a long time was the only ticket to the elites. This
order o% inde+icalities in which 8nglish standard and literate lang!age #arieties stood on top
and #ernac!lar Swahili and local ethnic lang!ages were way below was a national order b!t
it was ob#io!sly permeated by transnational orders. -nd the #ario!s scale"le#els at which
s!ch inde+icalities operated = the transnational the national the regional the strictly local =co!ld all be oriented to by speakers. ?y !sing one way o% speaking #ers!s another they co!ld
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Hplace( themsel#es in relation to images c!lled %rom the #ario!s le#els the combination o%
which was a strongly local semiotics o% identity probably only %!lly !nderstandable = %!lly
Hsocial( = to people %rom that place as we saw in chapter 3.
This s!rely is a %eat!re o% ine6!ality the capacity to Hmo#e o!t( by means o% speci%ic
semiotic reso!rces is de%initely one o% the elements o% what we !nderstand by Hempowering(
while reso!rces with a Hplacing( e%%ect = keeping speakers Hin place( = wo!ld be a %eat!re o%
disempowerment. 4% the !se o% a partic!lar %orm o% 8nglish %ails to t!rn yo! into an
international b!sinessman b!t rather makes yo! more than e#er the small"time shopkeeper
%rom Magomeni then the mapping o% %orm o#er %!nction needs to be looked into care%!lly.
?!t the point is that s!ch mappings occ!r locally that the Hsocioling!istic system( re%erred to
by 5ymes cannot in any way be e6!ated to some s!pposedly internationally #alid system in
which 8nglish is always empowering or disempowering and similar simplicities are applied
to indigeno!s lang!ages = the socioling!istic system consists o% the local orders o%
inde+icality. hat is disempowering in the case o% Tanzania is the whole historical process o%
being ca!ght in a marginal position in the world system. This whole process go#erns the #al!e
o% the ling!istic reso!rces it go#erns what people can do with them and what they do to
people. 4n the case o% Tanzania ine6!ality resides in the %act that the %!nctions o% ling!istic
reso!rces controlled by speakers are primarily local and this goes %or local lang!ages Swahili
and 8nglish alike. -s soon as they get mo#ed o!t o% the local en#ironment and get circ!lated
translocally they lose %!nction at a rapid pace. The strong"weak state has le%t its mark. 1
"iscussion
et me now try to mo#e this disc!ssion back to the iss!e o% ling!istic rights. 4 shall %irst
s!mmarize my case. 4 ha#e tried to show that i% we adopt an ethnographic #iewpoint on the
iss!e o% lang!age in society we need to %oc!s on how ling!istic reso!rces are act!ally
employed and !nder what conditions in real societies. 4n order to arri#e there we can !se a
%ramework in which lang!age !se is seen as oriented towards m!ltiple b!t strati%ied centers
that constr!ct and o%%er opport!nities to reprod!ce inde+icalities. S!ch inde+icalities
determine the Hsocial( in lang!age !se and they are the basis o% interpreti#e work. The way in
which they are organized is the loc!s o% ine6!ality.
4n order to !nderstand real processes o% ine6!ality the di%%erent processes need to be
sit!ated. 4n contemporary scholarship no analysis o% national phenomena can a%%ord too#erlook the global le#el which de%ines or constrains a lot o% what can be done nationally.
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This is where we need a %resh look at the state as an actor in this %ield e#en i% the state
appears to be weak its position #is"R"#is global %orces remains cr!cial as does its position
#is"R"#is grassroots and ci#il society processes. e m!st look howe#er not e+cl!si#ely at the
state(s concrete performati!e actions s!ch as legislation en%orcement o% regimes o% lang!age
in ed!cation and b!rea!cracy and so %orth b!t also at its role as a center a point o% re%erence
contrast and comparison which o%ten de%ines the #al!e and rele#ance o% actions !ndertaken by
other actors. ooking at socioling!istic phenomena %rom this angle might help !s !nderstand
the real role and %!nction o% lang!age practices %or people = their #al!e"attrib!tions and their
!nderstandings o% s!ch practices. For i% we belie#e we can do something abo!t ine6!ality we
need to know its loc!s its real mod!s operandi its str!ct!re and ob>ects. -nd this 4 wo!ld
arg!e re6!ires an ethnographic o!tlook in%ormed by history and general socioling!istic
insights.
-pplying this as in the case o% Tanzania may yield dist!rbingly comple+ and
ambi#alent b!t solidly realistic res!lts. 4n the Tanzanian case 4 cannot be led to belie#e that
8nglish is only an agent o% oppression or minorization. The #arieties o% 8nglish spread across
society enter a local social"semiotic economy and so o%%er opport!nities %or localizing
transnational inde+icalities to speakers the e%%ects o% which are highly meaning%!l locally.
The problem is they are only meaning%!l locally they do not co!nt as H8nglish( as soon as
translocal norms are imposed on them. The kinds o% 8nglish we ha#e seen in o!r disc!ssion
abo#e 9and in #ario!s e+amples in the pre#io!s chapters; are what we co!ld call Hlow"
mobility( %orms o% 8nglish they only co!nt as 8nglish in that partic!lar en#ironment. So the
story o% the Hkiller lang!age( 8nglish becomes considerably more complicated 9and
interesting 4 wo!ld s!ggest;. There are #ery di%%erent 8nglishes at play at #ery di%%erent
scale"le#els and with #ery di%%erent e%%ects and %!nctions.
'either can 4 be led to belie#e that Swahili an indigeno!s lang!age has only been the
key to progress and liberation %or the Tanzanians. -gain it isn(t that simple. Swahili was
d!ring its heyday as the national lang!age o% 71amaa Tanzania as e%%ecti#e an Himperial(
lang!age as 8nglish E!ssian or Mandarin 0hinese. 4t was imposed as a monoglot standard
with its own prestige #arieties and it was promoted together with strong enco!ragements to
stop !sing other lang!ages. The introd!ction o% Swahili in primary ed!cation in the early
1:s may be seen %rom one angle as a liberating and re#ol!tionary act which eroded the
!n6!estioned hegemony o% 8nglish in the co!ntry. Seen %rom another angle o% co!rse it
meant the elimination o% the h!ndred"pl!s other indigeno!s lang!ages as media o% %ormalinstr!ction@ and %or those speaking these other lang!ages the new medi!m o% instr!ction was a
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foreign lang!age = a %oreign prestige lang!age a lang!age o% power and control = that needed
to be ac6!ired. 9et !s not o#erlook the simple %act that a lang!age is not less H%oreign(
beca!se it is one(s neighbors( lang!age.; 4% indigeno!s minority lang!ages ha#e disappeared
in Tanzania since the 1:s Swahili is most likely to be one o% its killers to adopt %or a
moment the E, line o% arg!ment.
The point is howe#er that single Hlang!ages( attached to single collections o%
attrib!tes #al!es and e%%ects will ne#er do as a %ramework %or thinking abo!t these iss!es.
8thnographically we will always see comple+ blending mi+ing and reallocation processes in
which as said at the o!tset the di%%erences between Hlang!ages( are altogether >!st one %actor.
4ne6!ality has to do with modes of language use incl!ding >!dgments passed on s!ch !se not
with lang!ages and i% we intend to do something abo!t it we need to de#elop an awareness
that it is not necessarily the lang!age yo! speak b!t ho% yo! speak it %hen yo! can speak it
and to %hom that matters. 4t is a matter o% !oice not o% lang!age.
'.3. ;onclusion
4 hope this long ill!stration clari%ies the potential o% the di%%erent approach 4 ha#e tried to
sketch in this book and pers!ades others to e+plore the opport!nities it appears to o%%er. S!ch
opport!nities 4 wo!ld #ent!re lie in se#eral domains o% socioling!istic in6!iry. -s 4 said at
the o!tset socioling!istics is traditionally more at ease while st!dying a #illage than while
st!dying the world. St!dying the world has become ine#itable now and what is re6!ired %or
that is a di%%erent socioling!istics one that has recast its %o!ndations so as to %it the c!rrent
phenomena and processes. S!ch phenomena and processes are messy as we ha#e seen and
many o% the traditional concepts o% socioling!istics will ha#e to be sacri%iced in %a#o!r o%
more open and %le+ible ones capable o% capt!ring the !npredictability o% socioling!istic li%e
in the age o% globalization.The main sacri%ice %or socioling!istics is the old Sa!ss!rean synchrony the idea that
lang!age phenomena can be e+amined witho!t taking into acco!nt their spatial and temporal
sit!atedness. There is no room %or s!ch a synchrony in the socioling!istics o% globalization
that 4 ha#e sketched here. 4 ha#e arg!ed that the obser#able socioling!istic phenomena and
processes = synchronic in traditional >argon = are in e%%ect synchronizations o% tremendo!sly
complicated series o% historical and spatial processes. 8#ery synchronic snapshot o%
socioling!istic reality represents a moment in a process o% temporal and spatial mobility and
we can !nderstand this synchronized reality only when we consider the mobility dynamic in
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which they are encaps!lated. 4t is the end o% the Sa!ss!rean synchrony that makes this shi%t
paradigmatic. 4t is a shi%t in the %o!ndations o% the st!dy o% lang!age in society not >!st in its
methods or #ocab!lary. The %!ndamental image o% lang!age now shi%ts %rom a static totalized
and immobile one to a dynamic %ragmented and mobile one and it is %rom this %!ndamental
image that we now ha#e to start working.
This work is only beginning and this book has only >!st scratched the s!r%ace. 4 ha#e
tried to de%ine the paradigmatic shi%t that we need to make emphasizing the %oc!s on mobile
reso!rces rather than on immobile lang!ages. 4 ha#e tried to de#elop a little #ocab!lary %or it
with terms s!ch as orders o% inde+icality scale and polycentricity at its core. 4 ha#e tried to
show that we need to !nderstand the socioling!istic world as one in which lang!age gets
dislodged and its traditional %!nctions distorted by processes o% mobility. 4 ha#e arg!ed that
we need to see the socioling!istic world as a system o% relati#ely a!tonomo!s local systems
each with their own historicity and patterns o% e+perience and normati#e cond!ct. 4 ha#e
arg!ed that socioling!istic reso!rces and repertoires conse6!ently appear in a di%%erent shape
and need to be !nderstood as Htr!ncated( and H!n%inished(. This 4 e+plained by looking at the
historicity o% lang!age phenomena arg!ing that we need to look at synchronic realities as
synchronized realities in the sense o!tlined abo#e. -nd 4 %inally tried to demonstrate how
contemporary socioling!istic realities o% globalization artic!late old and new patterns o%
ine6!ality and so make lang!age into a problem %or many people. Globalization is something
that has winners as well as losers a top as well as a bottom and centers as well as peripheries
and thro!gho!t the book 4 ha#e o%ten %oc!sed on the periphery as the loc!s %rom which we
need to look at globalization. This 4 belie#e is essential part o% the shi%t we need to make is
also a shi%t away %rom a metropolitan perspecti#e on globalization stressing the !ni%ormity o%
s!ch processes towards a perspecti#e that does >!stice to H#ernac!lar globalization( to the
myriad ways in which global processes enter local conditions and circ!mstances and become
a localized reality.
This wo!ld be especially bene%icial %or st!dies on the topic that de%ines socioling!istic
globalization 8nglish in the world as 4 ha#e demonstrated in the pre#io!s section. 4 hope to
ha#e con#incingly arg!ed against the shortcomings o% approaches that capt!re this
phenomenon merely in terms o% oppression and imperialism. S!rely there is oppression and
perhaps there is imperialism b!t s!ch patterns wo!ld occ!r in certain segments o% society
only and so be locked into speci%ic scale"le#els. 8lsewhere in society realities may be
pro%o!ndly di%%erent and it is o!r task to take these realities into acco!nt as well.Socioling!istics has e#erything to win by being comprehensi#e n!anced and balanced in its
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acco!nts and >!dgments o% lang!age in society and by pro#iding the right diagnoses %or social
in>!stice and ine6!ality. 4n times o% globalization this becomes an e#er more pressing
challenge beca!se as we saw in the pre#io!s chapter there are people whose %ate may depend
on s!ch diagnoses acco!nts and >!dgments. The world is not a nice place %or e#eryone and
socioling!istics has the capacity to show in great detail and with an !nparalleled amo!nt o%
precision how lang!age re%lects the predicaments o% people in a globalizing world. 4t has the
capacity to read the in%initely big %eat!res o% the world %rom in%initely small details o% h!man
comm!nicati#e beha#io!r = at least when it takes on the challenges o!tlined here.
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(otes
(otes to chapter 2
1. The re%erence date %or the 4nternet data !sed in this section is 1& Aan!ary 2::<.
2. *bser#e also the inde+ical c!rrency o% a!thenticity e+pressed in Hthanks to God(
Sanaz is 4ranian there%ore he is M!slim and M!slims !se e+pressions like that.
3. 4t is interesting that none o% the websites here mentioned o%%ers Hplain speech( that
most Htypical( -mericanist symbolic speech economy embodied by p!blic %ig!res
ranging %rom Aoe Mc0arthy yndon ?. Aohnson and Eonald Eeagan to George .
?!sh. See Sil#erstein 92::3b; %or a disc!ssion on ?!sh(s Hplain( rhetoric. The speech
o%%ered by these websites is clearly technical high"brow and sophisticated aimed at
insertion in elite 9not Hplain(; networks.
$. 'ote the c!rio!s statement that -merican pron!nciation is di%%erent %rom spellingN.
*bser#e also that none o% the websites in addition makes re%erence to
multilingualism as an o!tcome o% learning -merican accent. The %act that the typical
c!stomer wo!ld not be a Hnati#e speaker( and that logically the learning e+perience
o!ght to res!lt in new m!ltiling!al repertoires is nowhere thematized. The #ision
artic!lated here is clearly monoglot -merican accent is more than eno!gh and the
only lang!age that really matters here 9Sil#erstein 1;.
(otes to chapter 3
1. Mzalendo the sing!lar %orm o% %azalendo was also the name o% a prominent
go#ernment"sponsored newspaper in C>amaa Tanzania.
2. *ne co!ld >!st think o% the partic!lar ring to names s!ch as ,aris the Kremlin Tien an
Men S6!are the hite 5o!se. The inde+icalities tied to s!ch places are o%ten the basis
%or their metonymic !sage in e#eryday or instit!tional speech. Th!s H?r!ssels( in
8!rosceptics( disco!rse means more than Hthe capital o% ?elgi!m(.
3. Fieldwork in esbank 5igh was done in A!ly"-!g!st 2::$ and contin!ed in A!ly"
-!g!st 2::& by teams o% st!dents %rom Ghent Cni#ersity. 'athalie M!yllaert and
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Marieke 5!ysmans are responsible %or the data disc!ssed here and their inp!t is
grate%!lly acknowledged.
(otes to chapter !
1. See %or a basic s!r#ey o% the terms o% re%erence
httpIIen.wikipedia.orgIwikiI0ommon8!ropeanFrameworko%Ee%erence%orang
!ages
2. The -lmighty may e#en work in close concert with 40T technology. 5ere is a
%ragment %rom another message not incl!ded in the corp!s 4 then came across yo!r
address on the 4nternet as 4 was browsing thro!gh a 0hristian site and as a matter o%
%act it is not only yo! or yo!r ministry that 4 picked on the 0hristian site initially b!t
a%ter my %er#ent prayer o#er it then yo! were nominated thro!gh di#ine re#elation
%rom God so that was how 4 recei#ed s!ch a di#ine re#elation %rom the ord how 4 got
yo!r contact in%ormation and 4 then decided to contact yo! %or the %!nd to be !sed
wisely %or things that will glori%y the name o% God.N
3. Messages 4 recei#ed on other occasions were sent by the relati#es o% almost e#ery
dictator known to man Mob!t! Sese Seko Marcos Sani -bacha Saddam 5!ssein
warlords %rom iberia and Sierra eone and so %orth.
(otes to chapter #
1. The #ario!s contrib!tions in ?lommaert 9ed. 1; !sed the Hdebate( as a !nit %or
historical"socioling!istic analysis beca!se debates are historical moments in which
identi%iable actors engage in speci%ic lang!age"ideological practices with 9!s!ally;
clear o!tcomes and res!lts.
2. 4t was also a distinctly elite e#ent. Tickets were sold at &::: O!an an e6!i#alent o%
&:: 8!ro and the a#erage ann!al income o% a %armer in 0hina. The game was
organized by ,ine Dalley Gol% resort and 0o!ntry 0l!b described on its own website
as [the most e+cl!si#e pri#ate cl!b in 0hina %or b!siness leaders and the elite o%%ering
members and g!est the highest international standards in prod!cts and ser#ices %or
their leis!re as well as their b!siness entertainment[
9httpIIwww.pine#alley.com.cnIenI:::1.asp;. 'at!rally this is 6!ite ironic in light o%the appeal towards a Hharmonio!s comm!nity( disc!ssed below.
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3. The %ollowing re%lections are based on a %ieldwork trip to Finnish Samiland in -pril
2::<. 4 thank Sari ,ietikainen and Eob Moore my partners on this trip %or #ery
#al!able inp!t.
(otes to chapter $
1. 4n the CK the inter#iew record is handwritten by the inter#iewer and is called
H#erbatim acco!nt(. Eegardless o% the act!al lang!age o% the inter#iew howe#er the
record is in 8nglish 9and th!s re%lects the instit!tional #oice;. 4t contains both the
6!estions and the answers. 4n the %irst inter#iew record o% the Hscreening inter#iew( in
'o#ember 2::1 Aoseph initialled all the answers written down by the inter#iewer as a
token o% agreement tho!gh he later arg!ed that the inter#iewer presented the
initialling ro!tine as >!st a matter o% pro#ing that the inter#iew had e%%ecti#ely taken
place. The %irst inter#iew was cond!cted partly in Kinyarwanda partly in E!nyankole@
the second one was cond!cted completely in 8nglish. 4n the second 9Hs!bstanti#e(;
inter#iew as well as in the o%%icial #erdict letter Aoseph(s nationality and his date o%
birth are 6!ali%ied as Hdisp!ted( or Hdo!bted(.
2. 4 am deeply grate%!l to the man 4 call Aoseph M!tingira here as well as to his legal
co!nsel -nna %or allowing me to p!blish elements %rom his case. 4 came across these
materials in the spring o% 2:: when 4 was asked to pro#ide an e+pert report %or the
appeal case on the treatment o% lang!age in Aoseph(s application.
3. - #ery good so!rce %or this is 0olette ?raeckman(s 91; book 'erreur Africaine.
$. Aoseph(s acco!nt o% the lady(s in#ol#ement is #ag!e and e#asi#e. 4t is not !nthinkable
that he deliberately tried to shield her %rom the probing eyes o% the 5ome *%%ice. 4t is a
common problem %or asyl!m applicants that they ha#e to narrate the details o% their
escape as this may endanger persons who assisted them in their escape andIor e+pose
#al!able networks o% migration s!pport. -t the same time #ag!eness and
contradictions in this part o% their story work hea#ily against them in the asyl!m
proced!re 9see Maryns 2:: %or e+amples and a detailed disc!ssion o% this problem;.
&. 4% Aoseph had been accepted as a minor the application proced!re and the legal
%ramework in which he wo!ld ha#e %o!nd himsel% wo!ld ha#e been signi%icantly
di%%erent and %ar more lenient. The way in which Aoseph was declared an ad!lt is a
gross #iolation o% his rights o% co!rse.
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. e see a %orm o% go#ernmentality here in which Horder( 9here national order; is
policed all the way down to the microscopic 9or Hcapillary(; le#els o% pron!nciation
and writing. This %orm o% policing to Fo!ca!lt wo!ld %it in a system o% sec!rity
9Fo!ca!lt 2::/;.
/. This makes the position o% interpreters in asyl!m applications 6!ite precario!s. 0ases
ha#e been reported in which 9go#ernment"appointed; interpreters identi%ied applicants(
accents as being a Hrebel accent(.
<. ang!ages o% that cl!ster in the Great akes region o%ten carry the pre%i+ HE!"H s!ch
as E!nyoro E!haya E!nyakitara and so on or the related H!"H pre%i+ s!ch as in
H!ganda(.
. The 5ome *%%ice did not display m!ch sensiti#ity to -%rican lang!age %eat!res in
general in this case. Th!s the name o% n!rsery school in Kenya which Aoseph
mentions is systematically written as HKinyatta( whereas it is no rocket science to
know that the school wo!ld #ery likely be called 8enyatta a%ter Kenya(s %irst
president and independence hero.
(otes to chapter '
1. 4n that sense the Tanzanian state played a role e6!i#alent to the French state described
by ?o!rdie! 911; and ?o!rdie!(s thesis that the state is the central actor in shaping
the ling!istic market remains #alid e#en %or Hstrong"weak( states s!ch as Tanzania.
The o!tcome howe#er need not be a H!ni%ied( ling!istic market@ it can be a highly
di#ersi%ied market. Eemember also the disc!ssion in chapter .
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the (orld3#ystem: 1:/"12<. ondon Macmillan
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1 Linguistic Minorities in Late Modernity. ondon ongman
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1</ 'he Age of "mpire2 F3H=. ondon -bac!s
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1 Two types o% ling!istic relati#ity 9with e+amples %rom -merindian ethnography;. 4n
?right . 98d.; #ociolinguistics: Proceedings of the 7CLA #ociolinguistics
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Pragmatics < $/&"&::
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1 HBe!tsch( in 4nner ondon and the animation o% an instr!cted %oreign lang!age.
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