Rastafarian-herbalists' enregisterment of multilingual voices in an informal marketplace

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dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Quentin
dc.date.accessioned22/04/2017 12:44
dc.date.available22/04/2017 12:44
dc.date.issued2016
dc.description.abstractWhat do we mean when we talk about "multilingual voice" in the post-apartheid sociolinguistic context of South Africa? In this paper, I explore this question by reporting on an ethnographic fieldwork project that involved the participant-observation of Rastafarian-herbalists trading goods in an informal marketplace. I focus in the paper on Rastafarian-herbalists' language practices and participation in ideological debates surrounding the ethics of Rastafarian religious practices as they navigate the complex yet regimented linguistic landscape of the informal marketplace in which they trade their goods. Furthermore, I explore in the paper how the marginalized trading lives of the Rastafarian-herbalists are characterized by the daily negotiation of power and diversity discourses as they try to define their voices. Their engagement with diverse multilingual populations, I argue, not only provides them with excellent opportunities to expand their multilingual repertoires, but also teaches them to manage strategically "multilingual voices" in interaction in order to sell their products. I argue further that although we cannot take stock of all types of marginalization, we should develop sociolinguistic approaches that are not only sympathetic to the marginalization of people and languages in the everyday, but also attune our methodologies to accurately capture experiences in small places such as the ones where Rastafarian-herbalists trade.en_US
dc.identifier.citationWilliams, Q. (2016). Rastafarian-herbalists' enregisterment of multilingual voices in an informal marketplace. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 49: 279-299en_US
dc.identifier.issn2224-3380
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10566/2749
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.5842/49-0-674
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterFALSE
dc.publisherDepartment of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University.en_US
dc.rightsThis journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
dc.status.ispeerreviewedTRUE
dc.subjectMultilingualismen_US
dc.subjectVoiceen_US
dc.subjectInformal marketsen_US
dc.subjectEthicsen_US
dc.subjectRastafarian-herbalisten_US
dc.titleRastafarian-herbalists' enregisterment of multilingual voices in an informal marketplaceen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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