“Coconuts” and “oreos”: English‐speaking Zulu people in a South African township

TLDR

The pervasiveness of the “dangerous power of English” has been a central topic in South African sociolinguistics. By juxtaposing English with isiZulu, the paper investigates how labels such as “coconut” and “oreo” illuminate the links between language, culture, identity, and ethnicity in South Africa. Using a triangulated empirical approach that blends quantitative and qualitative methods, the study examines how subjective meanings and emic categories shape isiZulu speakers’ identity perceptions in a township setting. The findings reveal that English functions as a powerful tool for creating ethnolinguistic boundaries, with those who adopt it as their primary language viewed as outsiders despite its economic advantages.

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The pervasiveness of the “dangerous power of English” ( de Kadt, 1993 ) has been variously discussed in the sociolinguistic dynamics of the South African context. By juxtaposing English with the indigenous African language isiZulu, this paper explores how such labels as “coconut” and “oreo” bear testimony to the intriguing relationship between language, culture, identity, and ethnicity in South Africa. Against the background of the unique sociolinguistic profile of the province of KwaZulu‐Natal, and by considering South Africa's inhuman history of apartheid, the paper interrogates the ethnolinguistic constructions of identities among isiZulu mother‐tongue speakers in a township environment. Based on a triangulated empirical approach that combines quantitative and qualitative research methods, the paper discusses how subjective individual meanings and inherent emic categories guide participants' views of who they are in relation to languages (isiZulu vis‐à‐vis English). The study reveals, among other things, that English is a powerful device in the creation of ethnolinguistic boundaries between individuals in the investigated South African township community. While participants recognize the economic power of English, those that adopt the language as the main medium of communication are perceived as outsiders of the township community.