Decolonial Linguistics

Decolonial linguistics aims to understand how coloniality has shaped practices and concepts in linguistic research and to question the epistemic hierarchies that shape Western ways of knowing. In particular, it highlights the need for critical reflection on the way in which knowledge is produced, disseminated and integrated into linguistic studies, particularly in relation to the global South. In calling for a paradigm shift in the way linguistics is viewed as a field, it draws a distinction between the field, in the sense of ethnographic terrain, and the field, in the sense of an institutionalized academic discipline generating historicized knowledge (Deumert & Storch 2020). First, in its field-based approach, decolonial linguistics points out that the process of documenting 'native' languages is part of an artefactual ideology, analysed in particular by Bloommaert (2008) when he relates the methodological apparatus deployed to describe 'a language' to the production of a discourse ‘on language'. Second, in its disciplinary approach, decolonial linguistics calls for a rethinking of what is considered to be knowledge and scholarly texts, thereby challenging the logocentrism of academic research and its links with the neoliberal conception of knowledge as a marketable commodity (Deumert & Makoni 2023).

These two fields will be the focus of presentations by guest researchers and doctoral students in linguistics and anthropology. Participants who have an interest in the epistemological foundations of decolonial linguistics, or who are grappling with epistemic and practical challenges in their future field but are unfamiliar with the concepts and theories mobilized, will be able to read the preparatory texts to prepare themselves to step outside their disciplinary framework in order to gain a better understanding of the diversity of situated knowledge.

This two-day extra-muros doctoral school offers a unique opportunity for Swiss-based PhD students to participate in a vital international discussion on decolonization in academia, with a particular focus on linguistics.

 

Invited Instructors:

  • Prof Ana Deumert, Department of African Studies and Linguistics, University of Cape Town (South Africa)
  • Prof Virginia Zavala, Department of Linguistics and Literature, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru)
  • Dr Djouroukoro Diallo, Initiative Afrique, Universität Bern (Switzerland)

 

Instructors

Prof. Ana Deumert

Ana Deumert is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Cape Town. Her research program is located within the broad field of sociolinguistics and has a strong transdisciplinary focus. Over the years she has engaged consistently with anti-colonial and anti-capitalist thought, exploring its contribution to rethinking sociolinguistics and practices of research in the social sciences. Her publications include Colonial and Decolonial Linguistics – Knowledges and Epistemes (with Anne Storch and Nick Shepherd, 2020), Multilingualism and Linguistic Citizenship: Education, Narrative and Episteme (with Quentin Williams and Tommaso Milani, 2022), and From Southern Theory to Decolonizing Linguistics (with Sinfree Makoni, 2023). 

Prof. Virginia Zavala

Virginia Zavala is Professor of Sociolinguistics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) in Lima. Her research examines the intersections of language and inequality through critical, ethnographic, and interdisciplinary approaches, with a particular focus on the Andes and Quechua. She is co-editor of Racialization and Language: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Peru (Routledge, 2018) and the Handbook of Multilingualism (2nd ed., Routledge, 2024). She also co-authored, with Harshana Rambukwella, the lead article for the special issue Decolonising Decoloniality: Commentaries and Extended Conversations (International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2025). Professor Zavala has extensively published in both Spanish and English; and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and the University of Pennsylvania. From 2022 to 2024, she served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sociolinguistics.

Dr. Djouroukoro Diallo

Djouroukoro Diallo graduated with a PhD in Applied Linguistics at the University of Bern. He works as coordinator of the platform Initiative Afrique at the Vice-Rectorate of Research and Innovation, University of Bern. He is also an Associate Researcher at the Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS) at the same University, and a Lecturer for Applied Linguistics as well as German and French as Foreign Languages. His research focuses on Multilingualism and Language Policy in Africa, Discourse Analysis, Text Analysis, Media Analysis, and Intercultural Communication. Diallo is a member of several scientific organizations such as the Malian Society for Applied Sciences (MSAS), Swiss Society for African Studies (SSAS), Gesellschaft für Interkulturelle Germanistik (GiG) and the Edinburgh Circle on the Promotion of African Languages. He is the editor of the newly launched journal Language Policy in Africa (LPiA), hosted at CSLS.