"Azania" itself is not a language or tribal group. From what I understand, it was a indigenous, pre-colonial term used to describe the general region of "south africa". Most legit communists and pan-africanists there use the term in place of "south africa", which they view as a colonial term, similar to "Upper Volta" (Now Burkina Faso) "Gold Coast" (Now Ghana) or "Rhodesia" (Now "Zimbabwe"). Most current African states gave up their colonial names and renamed themselves upon independence. The fact that the term "south africa" remained in use is seen as more evidence that Mandela & the ANC betrayed the revolution, and sold out to the bourgeoisie.
I personally don't feel strongly either way, but as "Azania" is the term that Communists there prefer to use (Excluding the "SACP" which appears to be a eurocom/social-democratic party), I'll generally use it was well.
Mason Cox
Misread your post. I thought you said "Azania is not a language in southern africa".
I can't say for sure whether or not the term is pre-colonial (Although I *think* it is) But to use another country as standard, technically "Burkina Faso" was not a term used prior to Sankara's revolution, but renaming their country from "Upper Volta" was seen as an act in defiance of neo-colonialism.
Come to think of it, another example is Ghana. While the term "Ghana" is historical, the per-colonial "Ghanaian Empire" was nowhere near the current territory of the modern Ghanaian state.
Isaiah Adams
Changing the name from South Africa to a Hellenic word in an attempt to be edgy would be quite weird. It is like America changing its name to Vinland. t. etymologyfag
Oliver Bailey
Pretty interesting if it is a Hellenic word. I'll ask some comrades there about the origin.
Is it edgy? Maybe. What is "edgy"? Is renaming your country "Land of the upright men" edgy? What about naming your country after an ancient bronze age civilization ("Syria")?
The Mandarin name for "People's Republic of China" literally translates to something like "Central State", a modernized version of the Imperial name "Middle Kingdom". "Central" literally being a reference to China being the "center" (or most important region) of the world. That is at least a little edgy too.
