Strategic language crossing as self-styling: the case of black African immigrants in South Africa

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the ways in which black African immigrants (BAIs) in Johannesburg claim ethnic identities through strategic practices involving multiple affordances that go beyond language competence. Drawing on a qualitative study consisting of data from interviews with BAIs, this article argues that BAIs claim specific ethnic identities through self-styling, for instance, wearing clothes they perceive to be ‘ethnic’ style markers and in some cases bleaching their skin as part of their in-group identity work. Extending the idea of language crossing, the article contends that although these practices resemble elements of crossing, BAIs are not necessarily taking on out-group ethnic identity markers as would be the case in language crossing; instead, these practices are for in-group self-identification and extend beyond tokens to other affordances. These self-styling practices do not necessarily represent solidarity or identification with a particular group per se, but rather, are indicative of a strategic choice necessitated by the state of precarity which BAIs face in South Africa. The conclusion drawn from these practices is that self-styling disarticulates the close relationship between language and ethnicity, allowing BAIs to claim an ethnic identity even in instances where they have limited or no proficiency in the relevant language.

KEYWORDS:

• Styling
• self-styling
• crossing
• embodiment
• ethnicity
• black African immigrants
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Busi Makoni is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the African Studies Program and Department of Applied Linguistics at Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests are in linguistic and sociocultural anthropology, with a focus on language, selfhood, belonging, and borders. She has also published work in language and gender, language and law, language policy and planning, linguistic human rights, and feminist critical discourse analysis. Some of her most recent work has appeared in the International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Discourse & Communication, Feminist Studies and the Heritage Language Journal.

Notes

1. Some may argue that this is a form of translanguaging. Indeed, this may be so, but I prefer to call it self-styling.

2. Violence targeting black foreigners is also not a phenomenon limited to post-apartheid SA; however, in earlier periods, the violence was confined to the mining communities.

3. The term means ‘jabber’ or the sounds of birds.

4. The term means a tuneless sound from a drum.

5. See Carruthers (2017b) for a similar practice in Malaysia.

6. Dark-skinned South Africans have also been arrested on suspicion of being foreigners. See https://mg.co.za/article/2013-12-30-tito-mbowenis-foreigner-son-threatened-with-deportation/.

7. In terms of the South African Citizenship Act, CJ is eligible to be a South African national by parentage. Since CJ did not apply for citizenship based on his parentage, however, he remained, legally, an immigrant.

8. Zandile’s surname is Khumalo and Mntungwa is her totem.

9. SA slang for fake.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Penn State African Studies Research Grant.