“Jokko Sa faami” (“get onboard if you understand”): language, online media, and political consciousness within Mauritania’s Halpulaar community

Abstract

Despite the extensive marginalization of the Pulaar language within Mauritanian national society, Pulaar speakers have taken advantage of digital media spaces to enact a vibrant sphere of communication and discursive exchange through the collective knowledge and affective capacities that their own language engenders. Contemporary digital media, with their available access and ability to facilitate oral genres of linguistic expression, provide Pulaar speakers with easy paths of engagement as they draw on the verbal artistry of their mother tongue. This article focusses on the Halpulaar community of Mauritania, examining the stakes of mother tongue usage within a national context where Arabic and French predominate. Through an analysis of two social media texts that use Pulaar to engage with and comment upon the political realities of the country, the discussion will foreground the vitality of the Pulaar language within contemporary media. These media texts highlight the intersection between language and online media as a source of potential agency for Mauritanian Halpulaar in their efforts to achieve inclusion and more equitable treatment. This intersection also has the potential to forge greater connections with the global community, as Pulaar speakers seek to draw attention to their plight from beyond the borders of Mauritania.