Youth Language in Africa and Europe as Examples of a Glocal Perspective

Abstract

At the center of this article are two different perspectives on the structure of youth language: homogeneity and heterogeneity. Anecdotal discussions of youth language may give the impression, especially on the basis of dictionaries of youth language, that youth language is a homogeneous phenomenon, whereas scientific research considers youth language to be heterogeneous. In this article, both perspectives on youth language will first be critically re-examined. Secondly, a different viewpoint will be proposed to describe the structure of youth language, mixing homogeneous and heterogeneous elements. Using examples from French youth language and Cameroonian youth language, the aim is to show that youth language should be considered as a glocal phenomenon; global, because there are certain global commonalities between the different varieties of youth language, and local, because each variety of youth language has its own characteristic features.