The Latest Breaking News from Languages

In the 2016 science fiction movie Arrival, a linguist is faced with the daunting task of deciphering an alien language consisting of palindromic phrases, which read the same backwards as they do forwards, written with circular symbols. As she discovers various clues, different nations around the world interpret the messages…

Language has always been used as a political football in South Africa. This can be traced back to the competing English and Dutch colonisers, from the 17th to the early 20th centuries, each group trying to assert linguistic as well as economic and social control.

Ove the last few days, I gave two talks on immigration in Switzerland. Here are some reflections on that experience.

African book publishing is in a rare moment of transformation, according to a new report. It’s an industry that has historically survived at the mercy of multinational publishing houses and donor funding. These arrangements, subject to the dictates of capitalism or aid, have not been sustainable.