The sociolinguistics of nationalism in the Sudan: the politicisation of Arabic and the Arabicisation of politics

Language management in the regional conflicts in the Sudans

“…Also, positions harden and available differences between protagonists are exploited to serve the opposed interests, including aspects of language management (as also argued by Garri and Mugaddam, forthcoming). 2 The Nilecentered, Islam and Arabicfocused government of Sudan has cre ated a selfjustifying narrative and ideology (Abdelhay et al 2011). In reaction, identities from elsewhere in the country have been sharpened, and positions have been formulated in response.…”

“…(I am by no means the first person to discuss this issue, cf. Sharkey's forcefully argued paper ElFatih 2008;Miller 2006;Abdelhay et al 2011) People who speak also other languages than Arabic live in these conflict areas, circling an area with its center at the convergence of the Blue and White Niles, yet, the capital city Khartoum located at their confluence now has a popu lation among whom possibly most inhabitants know to use other languages than Arabic at some level of competence or other (not counting English, as it may have been acquired by education). Nevertheless, and although increasingly linguisti cally complex (Mugaddam 2002;Idris 2007), Khartoum and an area extending northsouth in the center of the country can today be regarded as the Arabic speaking center, not in the sense of an onlyArabic speaking one, not in the sense of Arabic not being known and spoken elsewhere in the state's territory, but in the sense among those who have so elected of a proArabic language sentiment of individual identity, and of rhetoric and ideology.…”

“…What matters is that recognition of an ideal Arabic norm and that a requirement of acquisition and use of Arabic are upheld as principles in topdown language management by the central government of Sudan. (Abdelhay et al [2011] present an indepth anal ysis of the Arabicization of Sudanese politics. )…”

Language Policy and Conflict as Learning Barriers: The Plight of Linguistic Minority Schoolchildren in Darfur, Sudan

“…While in many African countries language policies embraced in the post-colonial regimes appeared to be a reactionist to the pre-colonial practices (Babacie-Wilhite, 2015b), it does not seem to be the same practice in Sudan, for Arabic -which is not a native language -was officialised to spearhead the fight against both the colonial linguistic hegemony and the powerless native languages (Abdelhay et al 2012). Pioneered by successive Arab-dominant regimes, the ideology of Islamising and Arabising Sudan was factored into conflating Arabic and Islam as inseparable components in the making of Sudan's identity and culture (Sharkey, 2007).…”