Linguistic legacies of British and Portuguese (de)colonization in Africa:

(un)successful common bonds?

Abstract

The United Kingdom and Portugal share a past of territorial expansion in multilingual Africa, a continent with great cultural and linguistic variety. The linguistic and educational policies implemented during colonization and decolonization prevail because of the economic and financial interdependence generated by the present global order. The Commonwealth and the CPLP are also, partly, responsible for sustaining distinctive relationships with former African colonies, which have led to the promotion of language as a form of soft power. This is a comparative study analyzing the Anglo- and Portuguese cultural and linguistic spheres in Africa. Conclusions reveal an undesirable gap between official policies and linguistic realities, which can only be understood through paradox, the best-defining characteristic of English and Portuguese linguistic legacies in Africa.