Zulu Ethnolinguistic Nationalism

Language is more than just a communication medium; it exists within interrelated social and political processes. Therefore, language never appears by itself; it always represents a system of social and political interests, reflecting the prevailing discursive and ideological strategies. The current chapter investigates the notion of “Zulu ethnolinguistic nationalism” as a language ideology in South African television. Having watched a series of television programs in South Africa and utilizing the corpus linguistic approach, the author asserts that there is a clear dominance of isiZulu in South African television. Ultimately, this dominance created a language ideology that privileges isiZulu over other indigenous languages on South African television.