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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Meanings of money: national identity and the semantics of currency in Zambia and Tanzania
Authors:Marten, LutzISNI
Kula, Nancy C.ISNI
Year:2008
Periodical:Journal of African Cultural Studies
Volume:20
Issue:2
Pages:183-198
Language:English
Geographic terms:Tanzania
Zambia
Subjects:language policy
national identity
language usage
currencies
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13696810802522361
Abstract:In addition to practical, pragmatic functions, both money and language fulfil symbolic functions. The designation, design and language use of currencies, like choices about language policies and national languages, carry symbolic weight and reflect different conceptions of national identity. In independent Africa, different approaches to language policy and currency terms are found, and the interaction between the two often reflects specific historic-political circumstances and the public and official portrayal of nationhood. Tracing language and currency choices in Zambia and Tanzania shows that the situations in the two countries stand in an inverse symmetrical relation. In Zambia, language choice was primarily pragmatic, and currency terms carry high symbolic function. In contrast, in Tanzania, the choice of Swahili as national language was highly symbolic, while the choice of currency terms was pragmatic. Although the relations between language and currency terms identified in the case studies are specific to Zambia and Tanzania, the study shows how symbolic functions of money and language are embedded in discourses about national identity more generally. App. (official language and currency term in African States), bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract]
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