Submissions/The Afrikaans Wikipedia - A Cathedral of Knowledge for a Language Under Siege

From Wikimania 2014 • London, United Kingdom

After careful consideration, the Programme Committee has decided not to accept the below submission at this time. Thank you to the author(s) for participating in the Wikimania 2014 programme submission, we hope to still see you at Wikimania this August.

Submission no. 1076
Title of the submission
The Afrikaans Wikipedia - A Cathedral of Knowledge for a Language Under Siege
Type of submission (discussion, hot seat, panel, presentation, tutorial, workshop)
Presentation
Author of the submission
Voyageur
E-mail address
levoyageur@hotmail.de
Username
Voyageur
Country of origin
Germany
Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.)
Personal homepage or blog
Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal)
A brief presentation of one of the smaller Wikimedia projects - its community spirit, its challenges and its aspirations.

The great encyclopedias of the 19th and 20th century have been hailed as Cathedrals of Knowledge and Shrines of Memory. Not unlike archives, museums and maybe even world expositions, they were the generally accepted cultural monuments and scientific compendiums of Western societies - and a good way to demonstrate national pride.

For Afrikaans, one of eleven official languages of the Republic of South Africa, there may be not that much to be proud of in this regard. It is a language under siege, facing decline in some ways as English has become a dominant language. A language perceived by some as the language of the former oppressor.

The Afrikaans Wikipedia is an inspiration and a symbol of hope for all enthusiastic speakers of this South African language. A small community of active editors "trying hard to do better".

Track
WikiCulture & Community
Length of session (if other than 30 minutes, specify how long)
30 minutes
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
Yes
Slides or further information (optional)
Special requests


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  1. OwenBlacker (talk) 18:13, 6 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]
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