Decolonisation of the Zimbabwean linguistic landscape through renaming: a quantitative and linguistic landscaping analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The language question is topical in Africa because of colonial hegemonies by colonial and languages of global communication such as English, French, and Portuguese. English hegemony in dominant domains fosters the coloniality of language in liberated territories such as Zimbabwe. Part of the decolonising agenda in Africa was to rename the public space so that it reflected the character and heritage of the liberated Africans. This paper establishes the coloniality of culture as expressed through language and heritage displayed in toponyms. The research argues that the renaming process in Zimbabwe did not produce equality or African bias on names used to name and re-name towns, suburbs, and airports. While some elements of the Zimbabwean linguistic landscape were renamed as a decolonising process most of the new names still bear colonial forms as colonialism affected even African identities that are used in the renaming. Renaming in Zimbabwe was biased towards correcting names than changing them, and this process has concentrated on Shona names at the exclusion of other languages and cultures. Conclusions from the paper are important for policymakers as they seek to decolonise names through re-naming. The nexus between toponyms and identity opens up opportunities for further research.