The function and significance of code-switching in South African poetry

Abstract

This article is an extension of earlier work by the author which explored the function of code-switching in the canon of English poetry (2011. ‘The function and significance of bilingual code-switching in English poetry with a special focus on the work of Eliot and Pound’. The English Academy Review 28 (1): 23–38). Given the dearth of research in this field, especially within the South African literary context, the current article examines the use of code-switching in South African poetry, drawing on the theoretical framework and the findings of the previous study. It begins by examining the use and function of non-English titles in the work of Sepamla, Cronin and Gwala, where the matrix language of the poems is English. This is followed by a comparison of the use of code-switching in Selepe's poem ‘My name Nomgqibelo Ncamisile Mnqhibisa’ with Sepamla's poem ‘My name is’. After a short consideration of code-switching in songs, the study moves on to a brief consideration of the use of quotations from non-English literary works in South African English poetry. The study reveals numerous functions of code-switching as a rhetorical device: it can be used for dramatic, lyrical or humorous effect, to bring out irony, to express solidarity, to make social or political commentary, to add local colour and to change perspectives.