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Abstract
This paper analyzes the geographical imaginations of Amazigh activists, the indigenous people of North Africa. Situated at the crossroads of post-colonial theory, indigenous language rights and national narratives of inclusion and exclusion, the paper discusses the Amazigh movement in Morocco. The issue of language rights is particularly important to the movement and this is reflected in the paper through an emphasis on Tamazight script choice and perceptions of the Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe (IRCAM). IRCAM is the government entity charged with the standardization of the Tamazight languages and the implementation of Tamazight instruction in Moroccan schools. Debates over the role of IRCAM and the choice of an official script for Tamazight language instruction form an important area of contestation within the activist movement. Despite activists' differences in opinion on these key issues, the imaginative geographies they articulate through these debates share similar visions of national Amazigh identity. These imaginative geographies re-imagined the Moroccan nation by asserting that all Moroccans are Amazigh while continuing to produce a transnational imaginative geography of ‘Tamazgha,’ a greater Amazigh land across all of North Africa.
Cet article examine les imaginations géographiques des militants amazighs (peuple indigène de l'Afrique du Nord). En examinant le mouvement amazigh au Maroc, cet article se situe au carrefour de la théorie postcoloniale, le droit à la langue indigène, et les narratives nationales de l'inclusion et l'exclusion. La question du droit à la langue est particulièrement importante pour le mouvement, ce qui est démontré dans l'article à travers un accent mis sur le choix de l'alphabet tamazight [par le mouvement, ndtr] et les perceptions du Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe (IRCAM). Ce dernier est l'entité gouvernementale qui se charge de la standardisation des dialectes tamazights et l'enseignement de la langue dans les écoles marocaines. Au sein du mouvement militant amazigh les débats sur le rôle du IRCAM ainsi que le choix d'un alphabet officiel pour l'enseignement du tamazight constituent un terrain important de contestation. En dépit des différentes opinions des militants sur ces questions-clés, leurs géographies imaginatives articulées à travers ces débats partagent des visions similaires de l'identité nationale amazighe. Ces géographies imaginatives refont l'imagination de la nation marocaine en affirmant que tous les marocains sont en fait amazighs et au-delà que ça qu'il existe toujours le pays de « Tamazgha », une géographie imaginée qui s'étend à sur tout l'Afrique du Nord.
Este articulo se analiza las imaginaciones geográficas de activistas Amazigh, los indígena de Norte África. Situados en la encrucijada de teoría poscolonial, derechos de idiomas indígenas y narrativos nacionales de inclusión y exclusión, el articulo se discute el movimiento del Amazigh en Marruecos. La cuestión de derechos de idioma es particularmente importante al movimiento y se está reflejado en el articulo por una énfasis en la selección de caligrafía Tamazight y percepciones del Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe (IRCAM). IRCAM es la entidad gubernamental que se dedica a la estandarización de idiomas Tamazight y el utensilio de instrucción Tamazight en escuelas Marroquís. Debates sobre el rollo del IRCAM y la elección de un guión oficial para la forma instructiva del idioma Tamazight se forman un área importante de refutar entre el movimiento activista. A pesar de las diferencias de opinión de los activistas en estos cuestiones claves, las geografías imaginarias que se articulan por estos debates comparten visiones aparecidas de la identidad nacional Amazigh. Estos geografías imaginarias re-imaginan la nación de Marruecos por afirmar que todos los Marruecos son Amazigh mientras continúan producir una geografía imaginaria transnacional de ‘Tamazgha’, una gran tierra Amazigh a través todo Norte África.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge Andrea Smith for her invaluable assistance conceptualizing the project and carrying out fieldwork in Morocco. We would also like to thank Marc Lynch and the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University for their generous support of our research. We are grateful to Nuala Cowen for her cartographic expertise and for rendering the maps included in this paper. Finally, we would like to sincerely thank the many Moroccan Amazigh activists and scholars who welcomed us into their offices and homes and shared their perspectives with us.
Notes
1. At present, Amazigh-speaking peoples stretch from the Siwa Oasis in the desert of western Egypt to Morocco and the Canary Islands in the east, from the shores of the Mediterranean in the north to the Saharan fringes in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The majority of Imazighen (the plural) live in Morocco (50 per cent) and Algeria (30 per cent) (Madani Citation2003), with the remaining 20 per cent sparsely divided among Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, the Canary Islands, and the Touareg populations of Mali and Niger (Errihani Citation2007).
2. The Amazigh peoples are more popularly known as ‘Berber.’ Because of its pejorative connotations, we chose to use the preferred term of our interlocutors. The term ‘Imazighen’ is the plural of Amazigh, and ‘Tamazight’ is the general term for Amazigh language. ‘Tamazgha’ is a geographic designation referring to the lands inhabited by Amazigh peoples in North Africa.
3. In March 2010, we conducted 15 interviews at multiple sites of Amazigh activism in Morocco, including: Institute Royale de la Culture Amazighe Marocaine (IRCAM); Tamaynut Cultural Association; Association Marocaine de la Recherche et des Échanges Culturels (AMREC); Amazigh World; and Réseau Amazigh pour la Citoyenneté (AZETTA). In a series of unstructured and semi-structured interviews, we targeted senior organizers and founding members to understand the organizations' methods, priorities, goals, and their relationships with other groups. We also corresponded with American Amazigh activists and scholars, including email and phone interviews, from December 2009 to April 2010. All translation and interpretation is our own. We acknowledge the presence of academic French language literature on the topic and recognize our lack of engagement with this literature as a shortcoming of the research.
4. In 1930, the French colonial regime pressured the Sultan to issue the ‘Dahir Berbère,’ dividing the country into Arab and Berber regions. The event represents the moment when Amazigh identity was subsumed by the overwhelmingly Arab nationalist movement.
5. He also explained the connection between ‘Mor’ and Moors, as Mauritania means ‘the vast land’ and ‘Marrakesh’ is still the Portuguese name for the country, a product of naming countries after their capital city.