A socio-cultural and linguistic analysis of postcolonial christian naming practices in Zimbabwe
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The study of African personal names has interested a number of researchers from
diverse fields. Focus on Christian beliefs in the postcolonial period and on the
linguistic forms and the meanings communicated through these forms provides
revealing insights to the relationship between language use and its sociocultural
context, itself the concern of anthroponomastics. Zimbabwe’s political
independence in 1980 represented a more robust Christian tradition and provided
a framework for linguistic freedom that resulted in dynamic and creative
ways of expressing Christian faith. Naming assumed exciting dimensions. The
present study reveals the revitalisation of the traditional culture where naming
is a specific, conscious and deliberate linguistic act intimately linked with values,
traditions, hopes, fears and events in people’s lives. The data discussed in this
article shows how black Zimbabwean parents communicate messages reflecting
these dispositions through names that they create for their children
in insightful, inventive and systematic ways in the postcolonial period.
Description
Keywords
Post-colonial christian, Zimbabwe
Citation
Mashiri, P., Chabata, E. & Chitando, E. (2013). A socio-cultural and linguistic analysis of postcolonial Christian naming practices in Zimbabwe. Journal for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(2): 163-173.