Introduction: Situating the imminent cultural Genocide in the African context

Abstract

The edited book entitled ‘Resuscitation of African languages: Theorising the battle against the imminent sociocultural genocide’ is premised on the Critical Language Policy theory’s assertion that societies are administered politically, economically and socioculturally through language. This places language at the heart of every society, and, in that regard, this chapter introduces the book by presenting a detailed background that contextualises the subject of language and the imminent sociocultural genocide in the African context. It begins by demonstrating the critical role of African languages as mother tongues of the entire continent before proceeding to highlight the factors making the extinction of the very languages imminent. It then discusses some of the possible avenues for resuscitating the dying languages before concluding by introducing the book chapters falling into three sections. Section A focusses on African Languages and the African Continent, Section B on Media and Education Case Studies, and finally, Section C on Politics-related Case Studies.