Meanings of money: national identity and the semantics of currency in Zambia and Tanzania
Abstract
In addition to practical, pragmatic functions, both money and language fulfil symbolic functions. The designation, design and language use of currencies, like choices about language policies and national languages carry symbolic weight and reflect different conceptions of national identity. In independent Africa, different approaches to language policy and currency terms are found, and the interaction between the two often reflects specific historic-political circumstances and the public and official portrayal of nationhood. Tracing language and currency choices in Zambia and Tanzania shows that the situations in the two countries stand in an inverse symmetrical relation: In Zambia, language choice was primarily pragmatic, and currency terms carry high symbolic function. In contrast, in Tanzania, the choice of Swahili as national language was highly symbolic, while the choice of currency terms was pragmatic. Although the relations between language and currency terms identified in the case studies are specific to Zambia and Tanzania, the study shows how symbolic functions of money and language are embedded in discourses about national identity more generally.