Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the role of W. H. I. Bleek in the consolidation of Afrikanistik and aims to give insight into its colonial origins. Bleek's theories opened space for academic interest in African languages but also solidified hierarchies between ethnic groups in terms of language development.

Paper long abstract:

Since its inception, the field of study of African languages by German authors has been a tense interplay between theory and practice, scholarship, and colonial matters. Although this tradition would only be properly institutionalized in the twentieth century as "Afrikanistik," its roots can be traced back either as a branch of the German comparative philology or to the effort of pre-unification German protestant missionaries engaged in spreading Christianity in Africa. While most of the German philologists dismissed their interest in African history and culture, the missionaries were attempting to connect the African people in the universalistic and monogenetic discourse of evangelization and expansion of Christendom. Although differing initiatives, they relate to each other as missionaries were the primary field source for philologists, and, in turn, philologist categories were paramount for their language classifications and grammars. The work of the German linguist Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek (1827–1875) was a turning point in this relationship. Bleek was the first trained philologist (under mentors like Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt and Jakob Grimm) field-working in Africa. He spent his short life studying African languages and folktales and promoted the professionalization of the discipline in South African universities. He not only reproduced the philologist's concepts but also developed his own evolutionary categorization of African languages that solidified long-lasting hierarchies between ethnic groups in terms of language. This paper aims to discuss his role and legacy in the formation of Afrikanistik as a scientific discipline.