%0 Journal Article
%T Trans-nationalizing the African Public Sphere: What Role for Trans-border Languages?
%A M Barro
%J Africa Development
%D 2010
%I 
%X At a time when the notion of ¡®trans-national public spheres¡¯ is gaining more and more currency in academic circles, the role played by languages, and trans-border languages in particular, cannot be ignored in our attempts to rethink the African public sphere. In the African context, language has been a major factor in determining cultural and ethnic identity among various groups, whether they live within the same nation-state or are territorially dispersed. This situation problematizes the idea of a Westphalian citizenry resident in a national territory, and challenges the assumption that languages map onto states. This paper focuses on the Fulfulde language ¨C a trans-border language spoken across several national boundaries in West Africa ¨C and assesses ways in which trans-border languages contribute to the emergence of a transnational public sphere in Africa.
%U http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ad/article/view/70193