Decolonising the media : the use of indigenous African languages in South African television advertisements

Advertisements in African languages are generally confined to radio, and in that medium are factual, dialogic and direct. When used in television advertising, however, South Africa’s indigenous languages play a less informative role, being employed rather to index a concretised African essence, African identity, urban style, or a particular reified postapartheid togetherness and cultural mobility. In this dissertation I analyse six television advertisements, all using African languages or language varieties, broadcast over the years starting 2010 through to 2014. I reflect on how and why the African language is used and to what extent African languages are no longer seen by television advertisers as carriers of information but as exploitable symbols of trustworthiness, multiculturalism, belonging and innovation. Methodology includes interviews with agencies, sociolinguistic analyses of the varieties used, detail on brands and products represented by the language and a small pilot study with viewers to ascertain their responses to the six selected advertisements.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

African Languages and Literatures

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Grier, Lara Anne

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Dowling, Tessa
• Smouse, Mantoa

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13659

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13659