Becoming an African Diaspora in Australia: Language, Culture, Identity [Hardcover]

Becoming an African Diaspora in Australia extends debates on identities, cultures and notions of race and racism into new directions as it analyses the forms of interactional identities of African migrants in Australia. It de-naturalises the commonplace assumptions and imaginations about the cultures and identities of African diaspora communities, and probes the relevance and usefulness of identity markers such as country of origin, nationality, ethnicity, ethnic/heritage language and mother tongue. Current cultural frames of identity representation have so far failed to capture the complexities of everyday lived experiences of transnational individuals and groups. Therefore by drawing on fresh concepts and recent empirical evidence, this book invites the reader to revisit and rethink the vocabularies that we use to look at identity categories such as race, culture, language, ethnicity, nationality, and citizenship, and introduces a new language nesting model of diaspora identity. This book will be of great interest to all students of migration, diaspora, African and Australian studies.1. Introduction and Conceptual Issues 2. Language and Identity in Australian Immigration Policy 3. Language(s) and Nationality: Prime Markers of Diaspora Identities? 4. Belonging and Attitudes toward Migrant Heritage Languages 5. Too Tall, Too Dark to be Australian 6. Being and Becoming Australian 7. Language Practices in Regional Settings  The Language Nesting Model 8. Conclusion: Alternative Imaginations of Diasporas  Insights from Decoloniality ?

'Theoretically, Ndhlovu's argument broadens how we conceptualize diversity, and moreover, it deepens theories of migration and diaspora studies.' - Ethnic and Racial Studies

Finex Ndhlovu is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of New England, Australia. Finex has held teaching and research positions at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa, Victoria University in Melbourne and Midlandsl¸