Bulawayo linguistic landscaping as representative of power relations and dynamics

Abstract

Bulawayo is the second city in Zimbabwe and the birth place of black political consciousness. It has long been the industrial base for the country. The city is at the heart of Matabeleland, a predominantly Ndebele-speaking area. Linguistic landscaping is the use of language on public spaces, especially as toponyms, hodonyms, oikonyms, names of businesses and advertisements. This chapter avers that the Bulawayo linguistic landscape can be a window through which political, economic, ethnic and social power dynamics in the city and the country can be analysed. The naming of places and streets within the city is a reflection on who has the political power, and some of these names have been changing to reflect the political movements and languages of power. Those with the political power have the linguistic power to name public spaces within the city, and the language and diction of the politically powerful is used on the linguistic landscape. Ethnic majority power dynamics can also be seen in naming some public spaces in Bulawayo city. However, when it comes to economic power in business, the owners of the businesses tend to use their names and languages to linguistically landscape their business premises in Bulawayo.

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