Language and identity construction on the French Guiana-Suriname border

What is it about?

We explore how traditional emic social distinctions, modern states’ language ideologies and emerging discourses in the urban context shape Maroon’s practices and identities in the border zone. We explore people’s alignment with national language ideologies and the nature of distinctive ideologies, identifications and practices that can be observed in the border zone.

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Why is it important?

The Guyana Plateau in Northern South America is a hybrid social space due to historical and recent cross-regional migration, forced population movements under slavery and indentured labour schemes during colonial times. The same or closely related population groups and languages are now part of two or more modern nation states, often straddling the borders of these states. This raises the question of the effects of national borders on language and identity in such transnational contexts and in the border area where national norms and conceptualisations may be weaker.

Perspectives