Exploring the Use of an African Language in the Cinematic Sci-Fi Movie, Black Panther

Abstract

Black Panther is the first blockbuster science fiction film to be produced by Hollywood with a predominantly black cast, which places black people at the front and centre of futuristic worlds. The language used in Black Panther is the South African Nguni language, IsiXhosa. A survey of literature shows that there is scant research that has been done so far to explore the use of the African language and how the sci-fi movie preserves and promotes African languages, particularly isiXhosa. The aim of the study was to explore the use of the African language by young black South African viewers. This study also aimed to explore how the film preserves and promotes South African languages. The study employed a qualitative methodology to explore the promotion of the isiXhosa language in the film, specifically the audience reception method. The study used a cultural studies approach as its conceptual framework. The reception analysis consisted of focus group discussions as well as follow-up in-depth interviews. A purposive sampling method was employed to select its participants. The study found that cultures and languages have primarily been inferior to Western cultures and languages. The movie, however, challenges that notion by promoting and reflecting on African cultures, using a South African language. This study contributes towards critical studies in media and communication research that aims to understand audience consumption of media texts. This is achieved by providing insight into how and why audiences in specific social contexts make sense of media text and the use of African languages in media text. Keywords: Black Panther, isiXhosa Language, Preservation, Promotion, South Africa.