at Google ScholarTitle data
Anchimbe, Eric A.:
Digital Narratives of Belonging as Anglophone or Francophone in a Cameroon Online News Forum.
In: Open Linguistics.
Vol. 2
(2016)
Issue 1
.
- pp. 511-527.
ISSN 2300-9969
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2016-0027
Abstract in another language
Using readers’ comments on an online news forum (The Post newspaper), this paper describes patterns of belonging to the historical (colonial) linguistic in-group anglophone and out-group francophone in Cameroon. These groups emerged from the British-French colonisation of the country after WW1, with anglophones representing the former British colony and francophones the French. My focus is on the use of eight plural pronouns and how they index in-group or out-group belonging. Four of the pronouns, we, our, us and ourselves are used inclusively to create a solid anglophone in-group through the narration of a common (colonial) history, linguistic background (the use of English) and experiences. The other four, they, them, their and themselves refer predominantly to francophones as an out-group that must be differentiated from the close-knit anglophone in-group. I illustrate how, in defending the boundaries of these groups, the commentators autobiographically narrate the life trajectories of their in-group, highlight its values and interrogate the moral stance of the out-group. They benefit from the digital space which provides anonymity and closes the geographical distances between them. Overall, the anglophone in-group narrative emerges as an autobiographical narrative within the bigger (national) autobiographical narrative of the country, into which it often opens and is sometimes integrated.
Further data
| Item Type: | Article in a journal |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Additional notes: | In Dayter, Daria & Susanne Mühleisen (eds.): Personal Narrative Online. Special issue of Open Linguistics |
| Keywords: | narratives of belonging; inclusive pronouns; exclusive pronouns |
| Institutions of the University: | Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature > Chair English Linguistics > Chair English Linguistics - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Susanne Mühleisen Faculties Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature > Chair English Linguistics |
| Result of work at the UBT: | Yes |
| DDC Subjects: | 400 Language > 400 Language 400 Language > 410 Linguistics 400 Language > 420 English, Old English languages |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jan 2020 08:43 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2020 08:43 |
| URI: | https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/53734 |