This chapter focuses on Shangani language speakers in Zimbabwe, tracing their language, culture and evolution from the colonial era to the contemporary community. Through various initiatives, the Shangani people as a minority have learnt to coexist with the dominant ethnolinguistic groups while maintaining their cultural inheritance. Thus, this chapter expounds on how the Shangani people use Avuxeni FM, a community radio station, to foster coexistence through multilingualism, cultural resistance and identity reaffirmation. The study is based on the cultural resistance theory, which suggests that culture can be used to contest and combat dominant power. The study utilises qualitative methodology and tools such as interviews and ethnographic observation to highlight the strategies of coexistence among the Shangani people, including multilingualism on Avuxeni FM. According to the research findings, the Shangani people have learnt to utilise multiple languages to survive in an environment dominated by Shona and Ndebele. They have maintained their cultural identity through efforts of cultural resistance. The chapter argues that when cultural groups face the threat of domination and erasure, they often develop strategies to resist and revitalise themselves for more productive coexistence.

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Multilingual Minorities and Cultural Identity Reaffirmation: A Case of the Shangani on Avuxeni FM

  • Nyasha Cefas Zimuto

摘要

This chapter focuses on Shangani language speakers in Zimbabwe, tracing their language, culture and evolution from the colonial era to the contemporary community. Through various initiatives, the Shangani people as a minority have learnt to coexist with the dominant ethnolinguistic groups while maintaining their cultural inheritance. Thus, this chapter expounds on how the Shangani people use Avuxeni FM, a community radio station, to foster coexistence through multilingualism, cultural resistance and identity reaffirmation. The study is based on the cultural resistance theory, which suggests that culture can be used to contest and combat dominant power. The study utilises qualitative methodology and tools such as interviews and ethnographic observation to highlight the strategies of coexistence among the Shangani people, including multilingualism on Avuxeni FM. According to the research findings, the Shangani people have learnt to utilise multiple languages to survive in an environment dominated by Shona and Ndebele. They have maintained their cultural identity through efforts of cultural resistance. The chapter argues that when cultural groups face the threat of domination and erasure, they often develop strategies to resist and revitalise themselves for more productive coexistence.