Berbers Today by Salem Chaker

BERBÈRES AUJOURD'HUI

Kabyles et Berbères : des luttes incertaines

This work takes up, deepens and renews a book that has already seen two editions (1989, 1998). Indeed, since 1998, the general and particularly political situation of the Berbers and the Berber language has undergone major changes and several episodes of acute tension. Officialization of the language in Algeria (2002/2016) and Morocco (2011), introduction of language teaching in both countries, emergence of new Berber players (Libya, Tunisia) and multiple episodes of confrontation and severe repression in several Berber-speaking regions (Kabylia, Mzab, Rif, etc.). This new edition, after recalling the fundamental data, offers a systematic critical examination of these recent developments.

It concludes that the situation is uncertain, with, on the one hand, real advances in the Berber presence in the political and cultural fields, and, on the other, genuine uncertainties as to the durability and future of the Berber identity in a structurally hostile ideological and political context.

But history is being written.

Salem CHAKER is Professor Emeritus at IREMAM (UMR7310, Aix-Marseille University / CNRS). He began his academic career at the Faculté des Lettres d'Alger (1973-1981). He was then professor of Berber language at INALCO (1977-1979, 1988- 2008) and then at Aix-Marseille University (2008-2018). Specialist in descriptive and historical linguistics of Berber, author of several books and numerous articles and notes on Berber linguistics and sociolinguistics: syntax, phonology and sociolinguistics. Director of the Encyclopédie Berbère (Peeters edition, available at https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/). On the Berber question, he has published numerous reference articles, particularly on the situation in Kabylia. The present work is a synthesis of them.

Summary

Introduction

Berber language and identity in the era of triumphant Arab-Muslim nationalism 1. Basic data

2. Multilingualism in North Africa: a weakening of Berber 3. Historical landmarks: a leading region, Kabylia

4. Berber continuities

5. Arab-Islamic constants: between marginalization, occultation and exclusion 6. The new Berber policy"

7. North Africa heir to France: rejection of minority languages A propos de la Charte européenne des langues régionales ou minoritaires 8. Emigration: the Berber (or Berbers?) in France

Kabyles struggles and uncertainties

9. The Berber Spring of 1980: the turning point

10. The Berber Spring of 1980: my testimony

11. The "Black Spring 2001-2002": two bloody years

12. Kabyle hesitation: between cultural demands and minority rights

Myths, fictions and realities

13. France's Berber policy: from myth to reality

14. The social foundations of Berberism: critiquing a myth

15. The many and persistent myths

16. The meanders of a denomination: tamazight / amazighe / berbère

Language work

17. Berber studies: a brief history and recent developments

18. Berber language(s)?

19. Is a Berber standard possible?

Critical reflections on language development

20. Graphic codification: state of play and challenges

Various appendices: for the autonomy of Kabylia