Language and resistance: Memories of transatlantic slavery, and its continuing afterlives in the use of Rastafari language and terminology

Sobers, Shawn

Abstract

This article discusses how language within the Rastafari culture, known as Iyaric, or Word Sound, has been formed in resistance to the effects of white supremacist domination in the forms of slavery and colonialization. It explores how Rastafari terminology has been formed as a means of building self-value and notions of self-determination. It goes onto argue that the promise of Iyaric is to build an active citizenship amongst Rastafari, which transcends mere appearance, to foster a sense of oneness towards a liberatory present and future.

Available to read at - https://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/shawn-naphtali-sobers/language-and-resistance-memories-of-slavery-and-rastafari-langua

Citation

Sobers, S. (2016). Language and resistance: Memories of transatlantic slavery, and its continuing afterlives in the use of Rastafari language and terminology. In J. Gill, & J. O'Connell Davidson (Eds.), Slavery: Memory and Afterlives (60-63). Open Democracy

• Acceptance Date: Aug 16, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 6, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 6, 2016
• Journal: Slavery: Memory and Afterlives
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 60-63
• Book Title: Slavery: Memory and Afterlives
• Keywords: Rastafari, language, terminology, linguistics, Rastafarian, slavery, slave trade, Jamaica, Ethiopia, resistance, rebellion, activism, Iyaric, Word Sound, Fairfield House Bath
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/923527
• Publisher URL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2lN4rGTopsaUEVaRXk2eXJ2WFU/view
• Related Public URLs: https://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/shawn-naphtali-sobers/language-and-resistance-memories-of-slavery-and-rastafari-langua