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Language and Social Space in Nelson Mandela Bay

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Handbook of the Changing World Language Map

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Abstract

This chapter explores the relationship between language and social space in the city of Nelson Mandela Bay. Established in 2000, Nelson Mandela Bay (which includes the previous municipalities of Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, and Despatch) is one of eight post-apartheid metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. Using a series of maps that draw on South African census data (2011), the chapter explores the continuing high levels of social inequality in the city. Inequality in Nelson Mandela Bay remains highly racialized, and the map-based analysis focuses particular attention on the complex intersections of language, race, education, and geographic place. The empirical analysis is prefaced with a brief spatial history of the Port Elizabeth region, which sketches the development of the city during the colonial and apartheid periods. A critical linguistic ontology frames the sociolinguistic analysis: “languages” are conceptualized as political constructs, not objectively discrete and autonomous entities. The methodological corollary of this theoretical position is a cautious orientation to the use and interpretation of census data on the 11 official South African languages. The analysis emphasizes the historical co-production of the official categories for language, race, and urban geography and uses these categories to provide an overarching sense of socioeconomic inequality in the city.

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Acknowledgments

The South African Census-based research used in this chapter formed part of a project – Language and Urban Social Space (2014–2016) – funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa (Grant 91563).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Lloyd Hill

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  1. Lloyd Hill
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Correspondence to Lloyd Hill .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Kentucky Department of Geography, Lexington, KY, USA

    Stanley D Brunn

  2. Deutscher Sprachatlas, Marburg University, Marburg, Hessen, Germany

    Roland Kehrein

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Hill, L. (2019). Language and Social Space in Nelson Mandela Bay. In: Brunn, S., Kehrein, R. (eds) Handbook of the Changing World Language Map. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73400-2_132-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73400-2_132-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73400-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73400-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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