The Berber-Amazigh Presence

Nowhere was the Berber presence more felt than the Oudaya kasbah we visited in Rabat. From the introduction, our tour guide highlighted the Berber influence in building the kasbah and the city at large. He also mentioned the very name of ‘berber’ comes from a translated Latin term for ‘barbarian’. The self-professed and preferred name of the people is Amazigh which translates to ‘the free people/man.’ This point was expounded on further today when visiting Chefchouen with mention of further nominal divisions between the Berber people across the 3 main regions of their occupancy. The mention of these regional differences shows how important it is to see beyond the antiquated and generalized  term of ‘berber’ to recognize the people’s historical importance and their place in contemporary Moroccan society. 

Language is an integral part of any culture and for the Amazigh, they “consider language and culture core to their Amazigh self-awareness, uniqueness, and cultural identity…these traits also symbolize their ‘Morocconess’ ” (Ennaji, 2014, p. 94). The Amazigh language has historically been a largely orally language, a characteristic that, with repeated attempts to assimilate Amazigh people within the larger majority, has made it difficult to preserve (Ennaji, 2014). It is more important now than ever to recognize the Berber language as it represents a recognition of the people themselves. A movement has become very prevalent especially in the wake of Arab Spring in recognizing the Berber-Amazigh language and demands for “official recognition of linguistic and cultural rights and challenging the hegemonic narrative of history propagated by ruling elites who advocate the full Arabization of society” (Maddy-Weitzman, 2012). Protecting the Berber-Amazigh language is essential in the protecting the future of the people. 

It was interesting to see this divide between historical names and preferred names of the people, a topic of much debate in the United States with Native American tribes. For example, continued use of outdated terms for sports teams and products despite direct complaints from the Native American community corresponds to the continued use of the term 'berber' for the sake of Western tourists. To see how important a language and a name is to a culture’s identity shows how important it is to encourage diversity within even languages spoken. Promoting a diversity of languages encourages people to think in different ways and from different perspectives, a benefit that should not be exchanged for the ease of common language.To protect a diversity of languages is to protect the histories and contemporary relevance of its speakers. The Moroccan government has taken the first steps in deeming Berber an official language of the nation, but there could be much more done to emphasize the importance the Amazigh people have in Moroccan’s past and present. 

References

Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce (2012) Arabization and Its Discontents: The Rise of the

Amazigh Movement in North Africa, The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 

3:2, 109-135, DOI: 10.1080/21520844.2012.738549. 

Ennaji, M. (2014). Recognizing the Berber Language in Morocco: A Step for Democratization. 

Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 15(2), 93–99. 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/43773631.