Lingala's indexicalities in the diaspora: linguistic repertoires of mobile Congolese in the Rhine-Main region

Title data

Dombrowsky-Hahn, Klaudia:
Lingala's indexicalities in the diaspora: linguistic repertoires of mobile Congolese in the Rhine-Main region.
In: Nassenstein, Nico ; Kunzmann, Janika (ed.): Lingala: Current Topics / Sujets d'actualité. - Köln : Köppe , 2025 . - pp. 191-214 . - (Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung ; 47 )
ISBN 978-3-946537-94-6

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Abstract in another language

Congolese migrants have chosen Lingala as their lingua franca in the diasporas all over Europe. Recent research among Congolese migrants in a protestant community in Frankfurt (Germany) and other speakers belonging to the same network in the Rhine-Main region confirms the choice of Lingala as an index of Congolese-ness in their new home region. The status of Lingala is even strengthened in the diaspora by the willingness of Congolese who do not speak the language upon arrival to learn it in Germany. Further, Congolese of the second generation decide to acquire Lingala as they become young adults.
This paper studies the contradiction between the use of Lingala in the diaspora and the multiple language ideologies concerning Lingala, either explicitly articulated or deduced from the speakers’ experiences recited in language biographical narratives. The group of first generation migrants participating in the Rhine-Main project qualify Lingala as a simple and rude language and consider its speakers as impolite. This judgment can be explained by the social class of the participants in the study, all of whom have completed university education within the French speaking education system and acquired Lingala at one stage of their migration trajectory.