LINGUIST List 29.1507
Fri Apr 06 2018
Linguistics and Pop Culture: Language, Culture, and Black Panther
Editor for this issue: Clare Harshey <clarelinguistlist.org>
Date: 06-Apr-2018
From: LINGUIST List <linguist
linguistlist.org>
Subject: Linguistics and Pop Culture: Language, Culture, and Black
Panther
E-mail this
message to a friend Dear Readers,
This week, following our
Fund Drive theme of "Linguistics on the Silver Screen",
we wanted to spend some
time discussing the latest installment in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe: Black
Panther!
Black Panther has been a phenomenon in the box office. Since its
release in
the middle of February, the movie has been vaulted to the 10th
biggest movie
in history by ticket sales grossing over $1.28 Billion worldwide.
The film’s
stunning depiction of the fictional country of Wakanda wouldn’t be
the same
without the cultural elements introduced. The religion of Wakanda,
which
borrows heavily from the pantheon of ancient Egypt, the surrounding
landscape,
and the material culture depicted bring afrofuturism to the silver
screen. The
linguistic elements of the film are perhaps the most striking part
of Wakanda
(perhaps we’re biased though).
If you’re really worried
about spoilers, don’t keep reading. Key plot points
are not divulged but you
could maybe piece something together if you tried
hard enough.
Unlike
the languages of Middle Earth, Westeros and other planets Sarah talked
about in
her three part series on ConLangs, Wakanda is tied to a spot on planet Earth.
Wakanda
is situated in various locations in East Africa according to different
comics.
Originally, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee centered it between Kenya and
Tanzania.
Later mentions placed this country on Lake Victoria while still
others,
including the Black Panther film, show Wakanda on the southern edge of
Lake
Turkana surrounded by both fictional and real African countries. However,
the
linguistic elements used in the film originate from very different areas
of the
continent. The spoken language heard in the film is isiXhosa from South
Africa,
Zimbabwe and Lesotho. The written script displayed in the film is an
adaptation
of the Nsibidi script from Nigeria. The decision to use these
linguistic
elements appears to have been primarily influenced by artistic
motivations
rather than geographic ones. The Afro-futurism vibe Nate More and
Ryan Coogler
(the producer and director respectively) were seeking is there.
In the beginning
of the film, the origin of Wakanda is discussed. There were
five tribes that
coalesced into the country of Wakanda after they discovered
the Vibranium mound.
Perhaps, the language varieties are taken from so many
regions due to the
patchwork nation they’re spoken in.
Let’s talk about the most salient
linguistic component: the spoken language
used. IsiXhosa is an Nguni bantu
language. Here’s a quick video by the BBC
with some isiXhosa phrases themed
around the film:
https://youtu.be/2afSbqlp5HU
Most viewers will notice something right away: Clicks floating above the
stream
of speech. IsiXhosa has dental, lateral and alveolar clicks with a
variety of
different places of articulation (including aspirated, slack voice,
and nasal
clicks). Tones and vowel length contrasts can also be heard in the
video above.
I always assumed that the language spoken in Wakanda was a Bantu language
but
this was for somewhat mistaken reasons. I assumed that the Wa was a prefix
which would correspond to class 2 in Bantu languages (analogous to the wa
prefix
in kiswahili). This class commonly refers to groups of people. The
semantic
stretch to go from a group of people to the name of the country was
minor enough
for me to see the connection. However, the name ‘wakanda’ is of
uncertain
origin. One theory is that it was indeed after a group called the
kamba who have
a demonym of wakanda
(This blog seems to be very confident in this fact,
but there are other proposed
etymologies for Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's creation:
https://cinema.everyeye.it/articoli/speciale-black-panther-storia-cultura-geografia-religioni-del-wakanda-37429.html
)
Other proposed origins include that this is derived from a diety of
the
North American Great Plains Native Americans.
The varieties of English
emulated by the actors in Black Panther are drawn
from the corners of
Sub-Saharan Africa as well. As Trevor Noah remarks
(
https://youtu.be/YqxL04IvNrc ):
“Mbaku had a Nigerian inspired accent.. And Nikia had an accent that had
flair,
a bit of Kenya in there and T’challa came out and there was a moment
where I was
watching you and I was like why does this sound a little bit like
a young Nelson
Mandela. Was there a Xhosa inspiration behind the accent?”
In fact,
Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa) was carrying over an accent from a film
called
“Message from the King” in which he plays a South African
(
https://youtu.be/mhiuyCWZOuY ).
Boseman was also emulating the accent of his
language coach and on-screen father
Joni Kani (T’Chaka).
Black Panther’s dialect coach, Beth McGuire, discussed
that the different
accents used were the result of her approach to dialect
selection
(
https://io9.gizmodo.com/black-panthers-dialect-coach-brilliantly-explains-why
-w-1823243739 ). She gave the actors three samples to listen to and they picked
one to emulate. She also explains that the different backgrounds represented
in the cast led to different idiolects on screen.
“What was really
interesting is, you’ll hear that they all sound like the same
world and they’re
all speaking with a Xhosa accent, but they’re slightly
idiolectical. Daniel
Kaluuya’s accent is a little different than Letitia
Wright’s accent, even though
they’re both Brits, because Daniel’s parents are
from Uganda, whereas Letitia
was born in Guyana.”
The written language shown adorning the walls and
tapestries of Steptown is
based upon the Nsibidi script of Nigeria. Check out
the two signs on the left
side of this alley.
(
http://www.indiewire.com/2018/02/black-panther-wakanda-written-language-ryan-
coogler-afrofuturism-1201931252/ )
This script is an ideographic
writing system that is primarily used by members
of the Ekpe society in Nigeria.
This script is old but it’s uncertain how old.
Estimates range from 1600 CE to
2000 BCE.
For Black Panther, the nsibidi system was given a futuristic
spin. Hannah
Beachler, the production designer, took inspiration from graffiti
observed
during a visit to South Africa. In addition, orthographies like
Chinese,
Arabic, Dogon and Murci were also used to inspire the various forms of
Wakandan writing seen in the movie. For example, the symbols used in Shuri’s
lab (Letitia Wright) were more much more ornate than the traditional symbols
in the throne room shown below.
http://www.indiewire.com/2018/02/black-panther-wakanda-written-language-ryan-c
oogler-afrofuturism-1201931252/
Going off of the writing symbol chart
linked above, it looks like these symbols mean
congress or meeting. Makes sense
for the room where decisions are made in the
movie.
The linguistic
elements present in Black Panther are inspired by the rich
linguistic fabric of
Africa. Whether the tribes that came together to create
Wakanda were spread from
all around the continent or whether this geographic
mismatch was just not that
important to the lore of the film, the end result
is a world that pulls you in.
The linguistic landscape does as much to bring
you to Wakanda as the shimmering
towers of Steptown.
What are your thoughts on the film? What did you think
of the languages and
accents used? Let us know! As a reminder, we are still
short of our goal for
the 2018 funddrive. Please consider donating at our Fund
Drive homepage:
https://funddrive.linguistlist.org.
We are extremely grateful for your
support!
-- Kenneth Steimel, Student
Editor
Page Updated: 06-Apr-2018