The human species is divided into more than five thousand language groups that do not understand each other. And yet these groups constitute one coherent world language system, connected by multilingual speakers in a surprisingly powerful way. The chances of a language thriving depend on its position in the system. There are thousands of small, peripheral languages, each connected to one of a hundred central languages. The entire system is held together by one global language: English. A language is a ‘hypercollective' good: the more speakers it has, the higher its communication value for each one of them. Thus, when people think that a language is gaining new speakers, that in itself is a reason for them to want to learn it too. That is why, in an age of globalization, only a few languages remain for transnational communication and these often prevail even in national societies.
This important book discusses a number of specific constellations in detail: India, Indonesia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa and the European Union. De Swaan concludes by providing a sober but illuminating view of language policy in multilingual societies. This book will be essential reading for those studying sociology, communication studies and linguistics.
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"...de Swaan's view is original and rich to the extent that it sheds new light on this problem...De Swaan's analysis is definitely new and fruitful for an understanding of the relations of power and language" Anais Bokobza, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
"De Swaan's study is an impressive tour de force; it presents an original and refreshing social science perspective, is rich in empirical detail, rigorous in its theoretical elaboration, and written in an elegant and accessible style: a path-breaking study of language change and human communication in an age of globalisation." Johan Heilbron, Multilingual Matters
"...this book is an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship among languages of the world in the era of globalisation. It is a good addition to the growing body of texts used in increasingly popular courses on 'World English(es)'. Alamin Mazuri, The Ohio State University, USA
1. Introduction: The Global Language System.
1.1 The Global Language System: a Galaxy of Languages.
1.2 A Historical Atlas of the World as a Language System.
1.3 Supercentral Constellations in the Present Language System.
1.4 Scope and Approach of the Book.
1.5 Plan of the Book.
2. The Political Economy of Language Constellations.
2.1 Languages as 'Hypercollective Goods'.
2.2 The Communication Potential of a Language: the Q-value.
3. Language, Culture and the Unequal Exchange of Texts.
3.1 Texts as Commodities in International Exchange.
3.2 Protectionism and Free Trade in Cultural Exchange.
3.3 Monoglossia, Polyglossia and Heteroglossia.
3.4 Discussion.
4. India: The Rivalry between Hindi and English.
4.1 Characterization of the Indian Constellation.
4.2 State Formation, Nation-Building and Language Unification.
4.3 The Vicissitudes of Language Policy in India.
4.4 Discussion.
5. The Triumph of Bahasa, Indonesia.
5.1 Gandhi's Dream.
5.2 The Rise of Malay.
5.3 The Demise of Dutch.
5.4 The Rejection of Javanese.
5.5 Discussion.
6. Africa: The Persistence of the Colonial Languages.
6.1 A Two by Three Comparison.
6.2 Three Francophone Constellations below the Sahara.
6.2.1 Rwanda, 6.2.2 Senegal, 6.2.3 Congo/Zaire.
6.3 Three English-Centered Constellations below the Sahara.
6.3.1 Botswana, 6.3.2 Tanzania, 6.3.3 Nigeria.
7. South Africa: The survival of the old language regime.
7.1 The language regime under Apartheid.
7.2 Language policy after Apartheid.
7.3 The dynamics of the constellation.
7.4 Discussion.
8. The European Union: The More Languages, the More English.
8.1 Civil Europe (1): Language Unification in National Constellations.
8.2 Civil Europe(2): Q-values in the European Union.
8.3 Institutional Europe (1): the Public Level.
8.4 Institutional Europe (2): the Bureaucracy.
8.5 Discussion.
9. Conclusions and Considerations.
9.1 Conclusions.
9.2 Considerations.
Notes.
References.
Index.
