Contemporary Language Development: Lessons from African Literature for Repositioning and Revitalization of Indigenous African Languages in South African Higher Education

Abstract

In South African higher education, the dominance of English and Afrikaans continues to raise concerns about the marginalization and development of indigenous African languages. Consequently, strategies are being sought on how to revitalize indigenous languages in the higher education sector. This study argues that critical lessons for addressing these challenges and achieving the desired goals can be drawn from African literature. Therefore, this study aims to examine how African literature contributes to the development of indigenous African languages and explore strategies from African literature that can effectively revitalize and promote indigenous African languages in South African higher education. The study is a qualitative study that involves a review of African literary texts. Furthermore, thematic analysis was conducted to identify how African literature contributes to the development of indigenous African languages. Practical lessons and strategies that can inform the revitalization of these indigenous languages within higher education were identified. The identified strategies that were adopted by African literary writers in promoting indigenous languages include: documentation, codification and standardization, vocabulary expansion and modernization, cross-linguistic translation, and hybridization, and code switching. All these would require strong institutional commitment and intellectual investment. Through drawing on lessons from African literature, universities can cultivate a linguistic landscape that preserves indigenous languages and empowers them as vehicles for knowledge creation, innovation, and cultural expression.