Historicizing the Socio-Politics of Shona Language Hegemony in Zimbabwe

Mainstream socio-linguistic discourses on the language ecology of Zimbabwe are largely characterized by nascent condemnations of the unequal power relations between English and the African indigenous languages. Such academic debates exclusively focusing on English hegemony have neglected the power imbalances existing between the Shona language on the one hand and minority languages, on the other. This article is a detailed critique of Shona language hegemony and how it has contributed to the marginalisation of the majority of Zimbabwean languages. The overarching argument of this essay is that the superior status of the English language in Zimbabwe is no longer a contested issue and what constitutes a new question worthy of study, is the hegemonic preponderance of the Shona language over the socio-politically weak African language varieties.