Project description
Youth social identity construction in postcolonial Africa
What is the role of language and cultural practices in the construction of youth social identities in postcolonial Africa? The EU-funded YouthLangCult project will answer this through the study of urban youth styles in Duala, Cameroon. It will explore gender identities and how these are constructed using Camfranglais, a hybrid youth language. Another objective is to reveal the discursive processes of creating boundaries between ideological constructs such as 'languages' or 'styles' in young people's reflexive discourses about language practices. The project will combine sociolinguistics, language contact, linguistic and semiotic anthropology, visual anthropology, anthropology of youth and globalisation, as well as postcolonial studies, race, and gender studies and disseminate findings via an ethnographic film.
Objective
Focusing on the case of urban youth styles in Duala, Cameroon, this research project will analyze the role of language and cultural practices in the construction of youth social identities in postcolonial Africa, at the crossroads of gender and race power relations. It will also analyze the forms and meanings of subaltern cosmopolitanisms at work in these multilingual and multicultural practices. My research will take three different angles. First, I will describe how gender identities are constructed through the use of Camfranglais, a hybrid youth language, while taking into account the multilingual and multi-semiotic dimensions of youth language practices. Second, I will analyze the construction of subaltern cosmopolitanisms through these youth linguistic, bodily, cultural practices, and their social meanings in the context of postcoloniality and globalization. I will show how, through processes of 'whitening', these young people can negotiate in interaction among a variety of racialized and gendered subjective positionings. Third, I will analyze the discursive processes of creating boundaries between ideological constructs such as 'languages', 'registers' or 'styles' in young people's reflexive discourses about language practices. I will also shed the light on the tensions between these discourses and youth semiotic practices observed in situ. Thus, I will propose a more in-depth understanding of the ambivalencies of racialized and gendered youth subjectivities as produced by postcolonial power relationships in a globalized economy. Methodologically, this project is highly innovative in that it combines Sociolinguistics, Language Contact, Linguistic and Semiotic Anthropology,Visual Anthropology, Anthropology of Youth, Anthropology of Globalization, Postcolonial Studies, Race and Gender Studies. The dissemination of research results outside academia through an ethnographic film will improve understandings of African languages and cultures among a large audience.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology gender studies
- social sciences sociology anthropology
- social sciences other social sciences development studies development theories global development studies globalization
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75214 Paris
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.