Language Policy and Identity Conflict in Sudan

Abstract

The Sudan, as it stands today, has clearly and definitely failed to form a united country. It has been involved in an internecine civil war. The war has not merely been a war of resistance against economic marginalization of the south, but one of racial or ethnic resistance to the dominant discourse in the north which lays claim to being racially and culturally superior. The violent political conflict that led to the secession of southern Sudan and the ongoing conflicts in some parts of the Sudan are legacies of the past. These legacies cannot be understood unless the tensions are placed in historical, political, and educational perspectives. This article attempts to describe Sudanese language policy and show its complexity, arbitrariness, and fluctuation. It aims to engage with issues of hegemony, language ideology, identity conflict, power asymmetries, and social inequality in language policy in the Sudan. The Arabic language has acquired dominant status while other languages have been marginalized in the process. This article also considers the historical diffusion of Arab identity and analyzes the relevance of the latter for civil conflicts and the cessation of the South. Finally, it closes with a discussion of the present day situation in Sudan and provides some critical reflections.