Is Fanakalo still valid today?
Frank Herbert had a word that he appropriated from the Germans in his Dune books. He called it; SPANNUNGSBOGEN: "The self-imposed delay between when one begins to desire something and when one attempts to achieve or acquire it." This matters contextually, somehow... But lest we get carried away.
Now, there is a discussion going on on our Facebook and it involves the patois dialect known as Fanakalo in South Africa. This patois was developed, some say, in the kitchens of Apartheid South Africa. A lingua of necessity between master and servant. Some point to the mines and/or the prisons of (you guessed it) Apartheid South Africa as the birthplace of this pidgin language. There is a decent Wikipedia article about it, although I have the creeping suspicion that it was written by a White person.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanagalo
Now, if you are South African, your relationship with this pidgin Zulu is very loaded. More so if you are Black. I think a quote will do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanagalo
Now, if you are South African, your relationship with this pidgin Zulu is very loaded. More so if you are Black. I think a quote will do.
"Adendorff describes two variants of the language, Mine Fanagalo and Garden Fanagalo. The latter name refers to its use with servants in households. It was previously known as Kitchen Kaffir. The word "Kaffir" is the Arabic word for an unbeliever, i.e. non-Muslim, and was used by Arab slavers to refer to the indigenous black people of Africa. It thence became a common word used by early European settlers to refer to the same people, and in the 19th century was a term for the Nguni languages, as well as an inclusive term to describe South African shares on the stock-market. Through time "Kaffir" tended, in Southern Africa, to be used as a derogatory term for black people, and is now considered extremely offensive."
This Writer opines that there is nothing progressive or constructive in the pidgin known as Fanakalo. it was a tool of oppression and still remains so. The dialectic of Fanakalo never has served the needs of the oppressed and when it is used, is not applied for any Black conscious needs. WE can expand this debate, but take a look at how it panned out this morn? And if you feel up to it, google pic search "Fanakalo" and tell me what you see.
My question was basic and was in 2 parts. Below follows the Facebook conversation. Think, Dear Reader.
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Khaya Maseko:
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Khaya Maseko:
#SeriousQuestion.
White South Africans: Do you speak isiFanakalo to your White friends.family, etc.?
Black South Africans: Do you speak isiFanakalo to your Black friends, family, etc.?
White South Africans: Do you speak isiFanakalo to your White friends.family, etc.?
Black South Africans: Do you speak isiFanakalo to your Black friends, family, etc.?
Darryn Smith-Robertson i
speak all kinds of shit, some Fana mixed with some tsotsi, mixed with
my prison certified afrikaans, and my own forms of africanised and
reverse engineered colloqiul englishs , this i apply to all i come in
contact with yes. 
:)
:)
Darryn Smith-Robertson Diversity is the spice to life , dem said.
Kholeka Kho Ngcobo fuck no
Bandy Mkyze I hate that patronizing shit.
Khaya Maseko Well,
please forward this status/question to your friends, both Black and
White, Indian and Coloured. Let's see what the opinion is.
Matthew Grant Phillips don't know the language would love to learn it though
Alan Muller Never under any circumstance to another living (or even dead) person. It's patronising bullshit.
Darryn Smith-Robertson its not wat you say its how you say it .
Bandy Mkyze Regardless. It still possesses patronizing undertones that quite frankly I could do without.
Darryn Smith-Robertson any of us work underground ?
Darryn Smith-Robertson i
worked on the mines in Rustenburg in my youth it iwas used among
workers of all races especially for the Mozambicans and Zimbabweans (zim
cats were better at zulu and xhosa tho, but the xhosa weren't always so
good at tswana) potentially i am willing...See more
Khaya Maseko Bandy Mkyze
This is my argument. That it was formed under oppressive circumstances
and only use oppressively. " It still possesses patronizing undertones
that quite frankly I could do without." is straight to the point. it has
never been used to empower.
Darryn Smith-Robertson and
yes the mines were created during aparthied, that is bleak but wat must
we do the mines are there and the language has a use :/unfortunately it
formed nontheless, the conditions for its formation are wat they were,
but today it is somehting else. evolution
Darryn Smith-Robertson many languages of today were formed similarly and when people speak them they are not patronizing anyone .
Darryn Smith-Robertson of
coarse you will find it patronizing , as you have never been in a
position where it is been used between all races to complete a days
work successfully, working underground is quite stress full patronizin
others doesnt fly .
Darryn Smith-Robertson and
i dont se how its a serious question its a stupid question , lol ,, of
course none of Khayas friend are gonna come home and speak fanK to thier
mothers 
:/ HAAHHAHAHAA
:/ HAAHHAHAHAA
Darryn Smith-Robertson unless
their mother is working underground with them hahahahah, i didn't come
home speaking fank to my mom either ... but it was necessary to all of
us at work, for all denominations . No one comes outta prison and speaks
the nommer to their family or ...See more
Alan Muller Darryn,
you seem to be completely cut off from life above ground. Language and
its uses or manipulations have subtle (and not so subtle) politics that
you seem to be unable to grasp. I heard isiFanakalo on a daily basis in
Durban (where there are no mi...See more
Darryn Smith-Robertson Wow ,you come full circle to my very point, there are 2 sides to the language :) well done buddy , all your years above ground have served you well ! PEACE
:) well done buddy , all your years above ground have served you well ! PEACE
Write a reply...
Khaya Maseko I request permission to reblog this conversation.
Alan Muller Permission granted.
Bandy Mkyze Go for it.
Write a reply...
Wade Munsamy I
know a guy from Mozambique, his language is Xixope, he says he loves
isiFanakalo, even after he went on to learn proper isiZulu. That really
confused me until I realised there are many types of isiFanakalo, and
that the type spoken by people of different
African countries is very different from isiFanakalo sasepulazini or
sasekhishini, which is the type we all think of, the patronizing and
racist type.
But it is very telling that this person I know ALSO speaks isiShangana, isiZulu, Sepedi, Xixope, isiPutukesi and many other languages. It shows he knows the value of knowing the /real/ languages that the "creoles" are made of.
But it is very telling that this person I know ALSO speaks isiShangana, isiZulu, Sepedi, Xixope, isiPutukesi and many other languages. It shows he knows the value of knowing the /real/ languages that the "creoles" are made of.
Khaya Maseko And Daz, we get your point. It's enough. I think we have collected enough data. Let's see what the rest of th world thinks.
Darryn Smith-Robertson Yoh,
hahahaha, Well then all you had to do was say you see the validity in
my point on the first ten submissions, but late is better than never ,
shot 
;)
;)
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