The Dialogic Nation of Cape Verde Slavery, Language, and Ideology [Hardcover]

M?rcia Rego delivers an impressive account of how?language defines, unites, and divides the Cape Verdean nation. She writes with warmth and perceptiveness, connecting the?subtleties of everyday language use to overarching issues of identity and power.Dialogic Nation is a study of language use and ideology in Cape Verde. It weaves together historical, linguistic, and ethnographic research on the Cape Verdean Kriolu and its relation to Portuguese, showing how the legacies of slavery structure contemporary language practices, which in turn inform the imagining of a sovereign, creole nation.The Dialogic Nation of Cape Verde: Slavery, Language, and Ideology is an ethnographic study of language use and ideology in Cape Verde, from its early settlement as a center for slave trade, to the postcolonial present. The study is methodologically rich and innovative in that it weaves together historical, linguistic, and ethnographic data from different eras with sketches of contemporary lifea homicide trial, a scholarly meeting, a competition for a new national flag, a heterodox Catholic mass, an analysis of love letters, a priests sermon, and a death in the neighborhood. In all these different contexts, M?rcia Rego focuses on the role of Kriolu (the Cape Verdean Creole) and its relation to Portuguesethat is, on the way people live through speaking. The Dialogic Nation of Cape Verde shows how, through the dialogic give-and-take of the two languages, Cape Verdeans wrestle with deep-seated colonial hierarchies, invent and rehearse new traditions, and articulate their identity as a sovereign, creole nation.List of FiguresAcknowledgmentsGlossary of TermsIntroductionChapter1Kriolu OriginsChapter 2Speaking of KrioluChapter 3Postcolonial Kriolu NationChapter 4Mingling Tongues and the Breaching of HierarchyChapter 5Speaking of Self and FamilyChapter 6The Language of DeathChapter 7Rewording ResistanceChapter 8Spreading the WordFinal RemarksAppendix: The ALUPEC AlphabetBibliographyIndexAlsª