Marginality and Linguistic Cartographies of African Denizens as Spheres of Possibility in Regional Australia

Abstract

The received view on refugees and other displaced people (hereafter 'denizens') is that they constitute a disadvantaged social group- disadvantaged economically, socially, politically, linguistically and in many other ways. Such a reading of 'denizens' ignores the prospects, opportunities and spheres of possibility that belie the temporal experiences of multilingual migrants. In this article, I use the concepts of 'denizenship,' 'marginality' and 'cartography' to provide new insights into our understandings of the benefits of multilingualism among African denizens in regional Australia. The specific focus is on how the psychosocial distribution of multiple linguistic usages by African denizens maps onto everyday interactional processes, social welfare and some aspects of migrant resettlement. The overall intention is to capture previously undescribed language practices of individuals and groups, their linkages with life stories, migration histories and temporal experiences, and how these constitute spheres of possibility for building new friendships and social networks leading to better quality lives.