Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Tarifit, Amazigh women, ethnic identity, role, mutlingual
Proposal
The purpose of this study is to begin investigating how Amazigh ethnic identity is currently being preserved in Morocco, specifically through urban, multilingual, literate Amazigh women and Amazigh language. There has been much research in the past several decades on rural, monolingual Amazigh women. Much of current research agrees that Amazigh women have played an invaluable role in preserving Amazigh language and identity through a multitude of means such as art, teaching their children Tamazight, and oral storytelling (Baker, 1998; Belahsen et al., 2017; Gagliardi, 2020; Hoffman, 2006; Laghssais, 2021, Sadiqi, 2007). While there is increasing information on the preservation practicies of rural, monolingual, illiterate Amazigh women, there seems to be a gap in current literature on how urban, multilingual, literate Amazigh women might currently be preserving Amazigh language and culture. There also seems to be a gap in literature on how the inclusion of Tamazight in the 2011 Constitution might change the status of Tamazight as a vehicle of Amazigh ethnic identity. This study will attempt to begin filling in that gap by answering the question “What is the role of urban, multilingual, literate Amazigh women and the Tarifit language in preserving Amazigh ethnic identity in Morocco?” The findings of this case study tentatively seem to indicate that urban living, multilingualism, and literacy have impacted traditional forms of Amazigh cultural expression, which may in turn impact the role that Amazigh language and Amazigh women play in preserving Amazigh ethnic identity.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Publication Date
2023
Language as a Bridge to the Soul: The Role of the Multilingual Amazigh Woman and Tarifit Berber in Preserving Amazigh Ethnic Identity in the Rif
The purpose of this study is to begin investigating how Amazigh ethnic identity is currently being preserved in Morocco, specifically through urban, multilingual, literate Amazigh women and Amazigh language. There has been much research in the past several decades on rural, monolingual Amazigh women. Much of current research agrees that Amazigh women have played an invaluable role in preserving Amazigh language and identity through a multitude of means such as art, teaching their children Tamazight, and oral storytelling (Baker, 1998; Belahsen et al., 2017; Gagliardi, 2020; Hoffman, 2006; Laghssais, 2021, Sadiqi, 2007). While there is increasing information on the preservation practicies of rural, monolingual, illiterate Amazigh women, there seems to be a gap in current literature on how urban, multilingual, literate Amazigh women might currently be preserving Amazigh language and culture. There also seems to be a gap in literature on how the inclusion of Tamazight in the 2011 Constitution might change the status of Tamazight as a vehicle of Amazigh ethnic identity. This study will attempt to begin filling in that gap by answering the question “What is the role of urban, multilingual, literate Amazigh women and the Tarifit language in preserving Amazigh ethnic identity in Morocco?” The findings of this case study tentatively seem to indicate that urban living, multilingualism, and literacy have impacted traditional forms of Amazigh cultural expression, which may in turn impact the role that Amazigh language and Amazigh women play in preserving Amazigh ethnic identity.
