hind mostari

A sociolinguistic perspective on Arabisation

Language Problems & Language Planning 28:1 (2004), 25–44.

issn 0272–2690 / e-issn 1569–9889!©John Benjamins Publishing Company

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and language use in Algeria

Hind Amel MostariUniversity of Sidi Bel Abbes

The Algerian National Constitution stipulates that Classical Arabic is theonly o!cial language of the nation, supposedly used by all members of thespeech community. French is regarded as a foreign language and is taughtstarting from the fourth year of the primary level. The Algerian diglossicsituation is characterized by the use of Classical Arabic and French as highvarieties used in formal and public domains, and colloquial dialects, namelyAlgerian Arabic and Berber, as low varieties for informal and intimate situa-tions. In public domains, Classical Arabic is present virtually everywhere andused (especially at the written level) in varying degrees. In some domains,such as education or the physical environment, Classical Arabic dominates;in other domains such as the economy, Classical Arabic is used in parallelwith French. This linguistic reality is primarily the outcome of many years ofintensive campaigns of Arabisation and major political and even financialdecisions, beginning right after independence, aimed at promoting the status ofClassical Arabic and giving to Algeria its Arabo-Muslim identity.

The present paper examines the process and outcomes of Arabisation and itse"ects on language use, providing a brief historical sketch of the Arabisationprocess in various domains, including its application in public life, notablyin administration, the physical environment and education. The Arabisationprocess has touched practically all spheres of public life previously character-ized by the sole use of the French language. Also discussed is the impact ofArabisation on language use at the institutional and individual levels. Theimpact of Arabisation has been significant in some domains, namely educa-tion and the physical environment, but less evident in others, such as inuniversity studies, especially in scientific and medical departments, whereFrench remains the main medium of instruction and communication. Thepaper also encompasses a brief survey of the linguistic rights of Berbersunder the Arabisation process, and at the same time it also attempts to addressthe issue of the Arabisation process in relation to other concepts, notably Islam

26 Hind Amel Mostari

and Islamism; ‘Arabisation’ does not mean ‘Islamisation.’ Finally, the resultsof the Arabisation campaigns are analyzed and critiqued. Arabisation hasfaced many criticisms, among them paucity of human and financial means,as well as the lack of a coherent strategy of implementation in which thepolitical and sociolinguistic realities of the Algerian speech community aretaken into consideration.

Algeria won its independence on July 5, 1962. Algerian leaders, especially thenationalists, soon adopted the motto, dervied from Abdelhamid Ibnou Badis, thenineteenth-century leader of the Ulama League (the Scholars League), “L’islam estnotre religion, l’Algérie est notre patrie, la langue Arabe est notre langue(Islam is ourreligion, Algeria is our mother country, Arabic is our language).

After independence, Algeria felt an urgent need to regain its Arab andMuslim identity. Since Classical Arabic is the language of the Koran throughoutthe Muslim world and since language is an instrument of power (Hadjarab

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2000:2), major Arabisation campaigns were launched to replace French, thelanguage of the colonizer, with Classical Arabic, the language of Arabo-Islamicidentity. For the Algerian elite, especially the nationalists, Classical Arabic wasthe best vehicle of communication and instruction, without which Algeriawould probably lose its identity and values. Within this framework, PresidentBoumediène (1968, quoted in Bouhania 1998: 26) declared, “Sans la

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récupération de cet élément essentiel et important qui est la langue nationale, nose!orts resteront vains, notre personnalité incomplète et notre entité un corps sansâme” (without recovering that essential and important element which is thenational language, our e"orts will be vain, our personality incomplete and ourentity a body without a soul).

Arabisation was probably an expected choice. Algerian society, whose trueidentity had been denied for 132 years, could not begin to reconstruct itselfwithout restoring the bedrock of that identity, namely the Arabic language,which remains a vivid symbol of Arabic identity and Islamic values. The groupactively promoting Arabisation right after independence consisted of Algeriannationalists and political leaders who were extremely eager to find their place inan overwhelmingly French-speaking country. Hence, the political leaders’ firstpreoccupation was to build Algerian identity on two major points: Islam andArabity. Such goals could not be achieved without an e"ective language policy.

A sociolinguistic perspective on Arabisation and language use in Algeria 27

Arabisation Policies in Algeria

Algeria, then, inherited a heavy linguistic heritage of 132 years; the Arabisationprocess was intended to change such a situation. Arabisation, as the term isunderstood in the Maghrebi regions, means restoring the Arabic language(Grandguillaume 1997a:3). Several laws, decrees and ordinances aimed at

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implementing Classical Arabic and strengthening its position in all publicdomains were duly enacted, reinforced and applied. For Algerian Franco-phones, the Arabisation policy was a real catastrophe since it reduced the statusof French to a foreign language. Hence, the process was marked by a prolongedclash between the defenders or promoters of Classical Arabic and the advocatesof retention of French. The former regarded Classical Arabic as an integrated andessential component of the Algerian personality; the latter gave priority to develop-ment, claiming that Classical Arabic was an outdated language which could notcope with modernism and technology. Arabisation campaigns were launched invarious public domains, notably administration, environment and education.

Administration

Classical Arabic was confronted with the hostility of the French infrastructureinherited after independence. Algeria faced many socio-cultural and linguisticproblems, among them a highly illiterate population, a small elite with a Frenchor Arabic background, and an Arabic language (Classical Arabic) imposed asthe sole o!cial and national language of the new nation. Within the French-dominated administration, Algerian o!cials were seemingly slow to masterClassical Arabic; accordingly, the government decided to restore ClassicalArabic in administration progressively but quickly. By a 1968 Decree (quotedin Grandguillaume 1983:3), President Houari Boumediène (1965–1978)

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attempted to create radical and e"ective changes in public administration:“Dans un délai de trois ans, les fonctionnaires doivent apprendre su"sammentd’arabe pour travailler dans cette langue” (within a period of three years,functionaries should learn enough Arabic to work in this language).

Although the decree imposed Arabisation on the civil service, ordering civilservants to learn Arabic quickly, not many of them managed to do so. However,there is no doubt that this measure e"ectively opened the doors of the civilservice to Arabisation. In 1977, a Technical Committee on Arabisation was setup to provide all the means needed to realize Arabisation in governmentadministration. Later, on December 17, 1996, the Algerian Transitional


National Council (CNT) voted unanimously to adopt a law on the “Generaliza-tion of the Use of the Arabic Language.” Its main stipulation was that by July 5,1998 (or the year 2000 in the case of higher education), “Les administrationspubliques, les institutions, les entreprises et les associations quelle que soit leurnature sont tenues d’utiliser la seule langue arabe dans l’ensemble de leurs activitéstelles que la communication, la gestion administrative, financière, technique etartistique” (all public administrations, institutions, enterprises and associations,of whatever nature, are required to use only the Arabic language in all theiractivities, including communication and administrative, financial, technical andartistic management”). The act also specifies that “the use of any foreignlanguage in the deliberations and discussions of o!cial meetings is forbidden.”(quoted in Grandguillaume 1997a:3).

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The physical environment

Article 3 of the Circular of July 1976, on the Arabisation of the environment,stated its intent to “Arabiser totalement toutes les enseignes extérieures desadministrations et sociétés publiques et interdire absolument toute inscription enlangue étrangère” (Arabise totally all the external and internal signage of publicadministrations and companies and absolutely forbid any inscription in aforeign language). Article 4 adds as an additional goal “Utiliser seulementl’écriture en arabe pour les divers services, bureaux et guichets internes et pour lesdiverses inscriptions, panneaux d’indication ou d’orientation” (to use only Arabicscript for the various services, o!ces and pay-desks and for the various inscrip-tions, and indication ororientation panels) (quoted inGrandguillaume 1997a:3).

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Accordingly, public inscriptions were soon written in Classical Arabic.Interestingly, in Algiers in October 1976, in a single night, all transcribed panelswere replaced with others written in Classical Arabic. French names of avenuesand streets were also replaced with Arabic ones: Baudelaire Street in the town ofSidi Bel Abbès, for example, became Sakiet Sidi Youcef Street. The names ofvillages and townships changed too: Descartes became Mustapha Ben Brahimand Detrie became Sidi Lahcen (these villages are in the Sidi Bel Abbès area). Infact, the real objective was to impose Arabisation, to force people, to someextent, to read everything, everywhere, in Classical Arabic and to expose themto an environment one-hundred-percent Arabized. Algerian politicians wantednot only to promote the status of Classical Arabic but also to give to Algeriawhat Grandguillaume (1997a:3) calls “an Arab face” (un visage Arabe).

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In reality, if public administration principally uses Classical Arabic in itswritten forms, other structures, especially the social ones, use both ClassicalArabic and French. In the economic field, some import-export companiesemploy both Classical Arabic and another foreign language (French, English orSpanish depending on the country of origin) for labels and packaging, as in thecase of pharmaceutical, cosmetic or general consumption products.

Within this framework, Article 21 of Law 91–05 of 1996 states that “lesdocuments imprimés, embalages et boîtes” (printed documents, packages andboxes.) “sont imprimés en langue Arabe…et en plusieurs langues étrangères” (areprinted in the Arabic language…and in various foreign languages)(quoted inGrandguillaume, 1997a:3).

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Despite the tremendous financial and political e"orts made to Arabise theenvironment, many private enterprises seemingly prefer using French orEnglish names in their signs rather than Classical Arabic. At the social level, thiscan be explained by the strong European influence on the Algerian speechcommunity; at the economic level, it seems that customers are more attractedby foreign goods.

Education

The educational profile of Algerian society changed dramatically with indepen-dence, when most French and other Europeans left. As the majority of techni-cians and administrators were Europeans, Algeria was left with a shortage ofhighly-skilled and educated people. In the educational system, the first reform,adopted right after independence, was to teach Classical Arabic starting fromthe primary level. French became a second language (1964), and then a foreignlanguage with the application of the Foundation School system in 1976. Inreaction to this change, within the Foundation School System a politicalattempt was made to reconcile the restoration of the national language ClassicalArabic with the retention of French, an essential medium for the acquisition oftechnology and modern science. Ahmed Benbella, President from 1963 to 1965,declared in 1965 that Arabisation campaigns did not mean the elimination ofthe French language (Grandguillaume 1983:55). It should be noted, however,

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that Arabisation was not evident and its implementation strategies were noteasy to realise in various domains such as education.

At the beginning of the 1963 school year, the education system was incomplete disarray, and enrolments in schools at all levels totalled only 850,000.In the years immediately following, teachers were hastily trained or recruited


from the countries of the Middle East, especially Egypt, Syria and Iraq. Class-rooms were improvised, many in the vacated homes of former French residents.Attendance climbed to 1.5 million in 1967, to nearly 3 million by 1975, and to6.5 million in 1991–92. In the mid 1970’s, the Algerian authorities legislated anumber of reforms for the educational system at primary, secondary anduniversity levels. To accelerate the Arabisation process and realize a totalArabisation at the primary and secondary levels, all teacher training centerswere Arabised and as of 1974 no Francophone teachers were trained. The firstNational Conference on Arabisation, held from May 14 to 17, 1975, recom-mended Arabisation in all sectors of life. This Conference gave birth to a Sub-Commission on Training and Teaching which determined a three-termprogressive Arabisation:

– A short term from 1976 to 1978 during which the rate of Arabized classes inprimary and secondary levels would increase from one-third to one-half.

– A middle term from 1976 to 1980 during which partial Arabisation wouldbe introduced in some scientific and technical fields in universities.

– A long term from 1976 to 1982 at the end of which Arabisation would bebrought to a successful conclusion at the primary and secondary levels.

In the universities, Arabisation started in the year 1970 when Mohamed SeddikBenyahia was minister of higher education. Commissions were set up onOctober 12, 1971, to develop an Arabisation plan (Grandguillaume 1983). The

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Arabisation process was gaining ground at the university level, and courses inArabic were opened to teach terminology to students in various fields anddisciplines. However, if Arabisation was totally achieved in both primary andsecondary levels, such was not the case in universities, where Arabisation was :

– integral in literature, history and pedagogy;– partial in geography, law, journalism, sociology and psychology;– non-existent in scientific and technical specialities such as medicine, the

hard sciences and engineering, where French had acquired a position ofparamount importance since it became an essential and omnipresent toolof teaching. Despite linguists’ e"orts to modernise Classical Arabic, itremains relatively unable to replace French in such departments, whichhave strongly resisted Arabisation campaigns.


The Impact of Arabisation in Public Domains

One of the most important concerns of Algeria during the post-independenceera was to restore Classical Arabic as the main medium of interaction, andnumerous laws, decrees and ordinances were enacted to this end. However, theresult was not as intended. What was planned was one thing but what occurredin practice was quite another. The impact of the Arabisation process variedfrom one field to another, being e!cient in some public domains and non-existent in others.

Administration

Administration was among the public domains where Arabisation was particu-larly intense, but after many years of hard work, Arabisation partly failed in thisarea. Only the ministries of defence, education and justice have been Arabized,the condition of the other domains being best characterised as Arabic / Frenchbilingualism. Consequently, in some public institutions and departments, wefind documents written in Classical Arabic on the right and in French on theleft side to facilitate comprehension, such as bank cheques, post o!ce formsand airline tickets.

Thus, after 41 years of intensive e"orts and optimistic expectations, Frenchis still a strongly-felt presence in Algerian government administration and itsdominance is such that many Algerians from di"erent sociolinguistic andcultural backgrounds, have di!culty completing forms or writing administra-tive letters in Arabic. What is striking and interesting in this case, is that manypeople seem proud of their inability to understand Classical Arabic: for themFrench is a reflection of modernity and education, and mastering ClassicalArabic is not a priority.

The physical environment

The Arabisation process was launched on a massive scale through the enact-ment and application of several Ordinances, Presidential Decrees and Laws suchas the 1976 Law on Arabisation, followed by the Presidential Decree of March1981 and 1982. The latter permitted bilingualism, i.e. the use of both ClassicalArabic and French in printed public inscriptions for such practical reasons asthe inability of foreigners or even some Algerians to read Classical Arabic.Although the Arabisation process was particularly intensified in the physical


environment in ways already mentioned, it seems that the old French namesstill stuck in the minds even of the younger generations. For instance, amongtwenty young speakers I asked, twelve (60 %) stated that when visiting aparticular place they generally give the taxi driver its old French name.

The mass media

Let us consider the main channels or means of communication that reach alarge number of people, namely radio, television and newspapers.

First, radio. Radio is supervised in Algeria by the Ministry of Informationand Culture, which has a monopoly on radio and television broadcasting. Thenational networks cover the entire country with three channels: Arabic, Frenchand Berber. Among the radio stations broadcasting in Arabic is Alger Chaîne I.Although news and the majority of its programs are presented in ClassicalArabic, French and Algerian Arabic may also be used, especially in programswhere there is a direct interaction between a presenter and guests, or in phone-in programs where listeners participate in songs or games or give their opinionson particular issues. Alger Chaîne III broadcasts in French and Chaîne II andMitidja FM in Berber. In addition to these national channels, there are regionalones such as El Bahia FM in Oran, El Bahdja in Algiers, and Bechar Essaoura inBechar. The existence of more than one channel broadcasting in di"erentlanguages certainly reflects not only the linguistic diversity of the speakers butalso their will to express themselves in other languages than Classical Arabic. Inshort, as Grandguillaume (1997) emphasizes, Algerian society is pluralist in its

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regions and in its languages.Second, television. In Algeria, there are three television channels operated

by ENTV (Entreprise National de Television) under the Ministry of Informa-tion and Communication, one national and two international (mostly ad-dressed to Algerian immigrants in Europe). In the national channel, mostprograms are presented in Classical Arabic. Since Classical Arabic is supposedto be the only language of communication on television, some televisioninterviewers, journalists and presenters ask speakers to answer in that language.In some cases, the journalists even translate the speakers from Algerian toClassical Arabic. The use of only Classical Arabic on television is di!cult notonly for ordinary people but also for the fervent supporters of Arabisation, asHadjarab (2000:2) confirms: “Cela donne des situations absurdes. Des hommes

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politiques… qui s’expriment très mal en arabe classique baragouinent et cherchentdésespérément leurs mots classiques à la télévision au lieu de parler la langue du


peuple” (This leads to absurd situations. Politicians …who express themselvesbadly in Classical Arabic jabber and desperately look for their classical words ontelevision instead of speaking the language of the people).

As for Algerian films and television series, we can divide them into threetypes:

– Films or television series where actors use Classical Arabic exclusively, e.g.historical films dealing with Islamic issues or Arabic literature;

– Films or television series reflecting the real linguistic situation of theAlgerian speech community, where actors may use Algerian Arabic,Classical Arabic, or French;

– Films where the actors are obliged to use mostly Classical Arabic and a littleAlgerian Arabic. In this case, the majority of the actors’ speech is translatedinto Classical Arabic, which tends to make the screenplay artificial.

The great Algerian actor Hassan El Hassani (1979) once declared, “Ça m’estarrivé de refuser de jouer dans des films parce qu’on m’a demandé de dire ‘na :fida’au lieu de ‘ta:qa’” (I eventually refused to play in films because I was asked tosay ‘window’ [in Classical Arabic] instead of ‘window’ [in Algerian Arabic]).

Article 17 of the Arabisation Process stipulates, “Les films cinémato-graphiques et/ou télévisuels ainsi que les émissions culturelles et scientifiques sontdi!usées en langue arabe ou traduits ou doublés” (Cinematographic and/ortelevision films as well as cultural and scientific shows are di"used in the Arabiclanguage or translatedor dubbed).” We note, however, that Algerian television andcinema, which are government-owned communication media, have not appliedthe Arabisation rules nor have they respected Algerian rights of free expression.

As for newspapers, there are two types: national and regional publicationwhich may appear daily or weekly. They appear mainly in two languages:Classical Arabic and French. Among national newspapers in Classical Arabic areal-Jumh:riyya (The Republic), al-Axba:r (The News), and Ashshacb (ThePeople). National newspapers in French include Liberté, Le Matin, Le Monde, ElWatan (The Nation), and L’Expression.

Education

One of the most important concerns during the post-independence era was torestore Classical Arabic as the main medium of teaching in all disciplines and ifpossible to reduce the use of French. Arabisation campaigns were launched atdi"erent educational levels, from the primary to the university levels, aiming at


promoting the status of Classical Arabic and correcting the faults of theeducational system under colonialism.

Despite great political e"ort and huge investment (with more than 40% ofthe national budget devoted to education), education appears to be su"eringfrom a lack of any real policy that takes into account the sociolinguistic andcultural environment of the students. As Grandguillaume (1997a:3) puts it,

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“L’école Algérienne se porte mal” (The Algerian school is in bad shape). Thedeplorable situation of education in Algeria today is probably the result of theaccumulation of many political and sociolinguistic factors, among them theArabisation process. Indeed, the Arabisation of education was the outcome ofan authoritarian decision taken with no consultation, no plan and no method.It has spread to all stages of primary and secondary schooling. In highereducation, the social sciences and humanities have been taught in Arabic since1980; the other disciplines are variously a"ected. Carried out in an authoritari-an way, Arabisation has seriously a"ected the capacity of the education systemto acquire the scientific and technical knowledge needed for any improvement.Teachers and researchers who have always worked in French have had to refreshtheir knowledge of Classical Arabic in order to keep their jobs. In 1978, a reportby the Algerian National Ministry of Education deplored the increasingmarginalisation of scientific and technical education, “which was taught inFrench and was jeopardised with teachers being marginalised or underutilised”(quoted in Bessis, Goumeziane & Dahmani 2001:20).

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Arabisation and the linguistic rights of the Berbers

The Amazigh or Berber population represents 20–25% of the total population.The Berber language encompasses many dialects, among them Chaouia,Tamazight, Taznatit, and Kabyle. Kabylians, in the northwest of the country, arethe most populous group. The Shawiya live in the Aures Mountains, Mozabitesin the Mzab and the Tuaregs in the Ahaggar and Ajjer regions. Thus some six orseven million Algerians speak one of the varieties of Berber (Grimes 1996:1–3).

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Following independence, as we have already noted, successive Algeriangovernments took on the task of reviving Classical Arabic and establishing it asthe national language, with the aim of recovering the pre-colonial past andeventually restoring a national identity and the Arab Muslim personality of thenewly freed nation. Such a policy was supported by the vast majority of Algeri-ans. Nevertheless, since the Arabisation project did not consider the Berber


language as an integral part of the process, the Berbers, especially the Kabylians,intensified their e"orts to slow down, if not to halt, the Arabisation campaigns.During the 1970s in an attempt to Arabise the registry o!ce, it was forbiddento give Berber names to new-borns, and in June 1976 the publication of theperiodical Fichier berbère (Berber File) was suspended by the authorities. Thisperiodical was published by French missionaries and was concerned withBerber history and culture (Grandguillaume 1983).

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Antagonism between Berbers and the Algerian government has sincebecome explosive, with political protests, massive demonstrations and generalstrikes. Although there were protests in the 1960s and 1970s, the number ofdemonstrations increased remarkably after 1991. On July 5 of that year acontroversial law came into force making Classical Arabic the only language tobe used in o!cial documents and other areas of public life, at which point furyexploded in the Berber-speaking regions and Berber anger swiftly turnedagainst the State and its Arabisation policy. “Pour les Berbères,” remarksGrandguillaume (1997a:3), “cette loi ‘scélérate’ a pour but non seulement

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d’accélérer et d’intensifier le processus d’arabisation mais surtout de supprimerdéfinitivement le berbère” (for the Berbers, this outrageous law aims at not onlyaccelerating and intensifying the Arabisation process but also definitivelysuppressing the Berber language).

On October 3, 2001, a government statement announced that the Constitu-tion would be amended to make Tamazight a national language. More recently,on April 8, 2002, the Algerian Parliament approved, by a vote of 484 to 2, a lawwith that intent (as reported in Le Quotidien). This is of course news of primeimportance. However, in the current situation it raises questions about theform of such a constitutional amendment, the space a"orded for Tamazight,and the uses of Tamazight as a national language alongside Classical Arabic. Inmaking such an announcement, the authorities run the risk of favouring thestatus of Berbers, especially Kabylians (about 30% of the population), over therest of the population, who might well imitate the Berbers by calling forrecognition of their local dialects, such as Algerian Arabic, as additionalnational languages.

Arabisation and Factional Struggles

The enactment and application of the many laws on Arabisation has createdstormy debates and generated intense struggles at the political as well as the


sociolinguistic level. Probably the largest conflict is the constant clash betweenthe Arabophones and the Francophones. Arabisation has not o"ered theArabophones equality of social and intellectual mobility with the Francophones,who in turn consider Arabisation campaigns a real linguistic threat to theirpolitical and sociolinguistic position in the country. A further struggle thatemerged right after the launching of the Arabisation campaigns is the competi-tion between Classical Arabic and French . Arabisation is also presented as aconflict with France, and even with those Algerians who use French in theirworking or private lives, denounced as “Hizb Fransa” (members of the “Partyof France”).

The Arabic language is linked to the two sources of legitimacy on which thegovernment draws: the struggle for national liberation and the defence of Islam.From this point of view, Arabic is the national language and French that of thecolonists. The endless repetition of this argument e"ectively tarred the Franco-phone classes, who once had a virtual monopoly of power, and so to assuagethis guilt by association they co-operated readily with Arabisation measures.

During the presidency of Chadli Ben Djedid (1979–1991), the State wasplunged into factional struggles. In fact when the Arabisation of higher educa-tion was pursued through the 1980s, Berber movements fiercely opposed to theprocess appeared on the scene, especially after the government banned aprominent writer from lecturing on the history of Berber poetry. In addition tothe conflicts which emerged between the advocates of Classical Arabic and theFrancophones, and between the nationalists and Berber activists, there wasanother split — the rift between Classical Arabic and people’s spoken mothertongues, including Algerian Arabic (with its regional variations) and Berber.Thus the defenders of Classical Arabic, who wanted to see the total linguisticunification of their country, showed great hostility toward the Arabic dialects,which they considered as degenerate forms of pure Classical Arabic. Furtherconfusing the situation, the ideologues of Arabisation declared that “writtenArabic” was the true mother-tongue since it was “the ancestral language.”Educational directives were issued ordering this written language to be taughtas a spoken language. Arabic dialects are seen in Algeria as incorrect forms,faults that teaching ought to correct, if necessary by accusing the pupil or eventhe adult citizen of unworthy behaviour. Thus, the Algerian speaker, once calleda bougnoule (wog) by the French colonists, is now termed an uncivilised savageby his own rulers. Yet Arabisation was supposed to restore his cultural dignity.


Arabisation vs. Islamisation

Benbella was invested as the first president of independent Algeria in 1963, and theNational Constitution established a single party regime, the FLN (Front Nationalde Libération: National Liberation Front) on September 8th 1963, with oneo!cially recognized language, Classical Arabic, and one religion, Islam.

Supposedly, the constitution guarantees fundamental liberties and rights toall Algerians, but at the same time it establishes a single-party regime which toa great extent conditions and limits those rights. The constitution makes a clearbet on socialism, and institutes the army as the main guarantor of independenceand the construction of socialism in the country When the Arabisation processwas launched, Benbella (quoted in Bouhania, 1999:54) stated, “L’Arabisation

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n’est pas Islamisation” (Arabisation is not Islamisation). In fact, although thenational constitution stipulates that Algeria is an Arabo-Muslim nation whosesole language is Arabic and sole religion is Islam, Algeria has never adopted aradical or extreme approach to Islam and therefore has never been an Islamiststate in the same way as Iran or Afghanistan has been. The first aim of theArabisation process was basically the restoration of Classical Arabic in the placeof French. It was in any case a matter of “re-Islamisation”: Algerians are, afterall, Muslims who have always practiced and defended their religion underdi"ering situations (during colonialism and after independence). Unfortunate-ly, many people, especially in the western world, confuse Arabisation with Islamand Islamism. What, then, is the relationship between such concepts and howcan we find a link between them?

From Arabisation to Islamisation

Many lay people and even intellectuals do not distinguish between an Arab, aMuslim and an Islamist. Under the occidental model, such concepts sounddi"erent but have the same meaning. The equation Arab = Muslim = Islamistseems always to apply. In fact, an Arab is a person of Arab origins, who may ormay not speak Arabic and may or may not be Muslim: Arabs may be Muslims,Christians or hold other beliefs.

The word Islam is derived from salaam, meaning “peace.” Islam is amonotheistic religion based on the Koran. Islam (as with almost all religions) isa religion based on peace and tolerance. It is important to emphasize that thereis a di"erence between “Islam” and “Islamism:” the former is the religion of the


Koran and Sunna; the latter is often the perversion of Islam. Islamism is also atotal transformation of traditional Islam: it serves as a vehicle of modernisation,and deals with the problems of urban living, of working women and others atthe cutting edge, and not the traditional concerns of Arabs. As Olivier Roy, theFrench scholar (quoted in Pipes 1998), puts it, “Rather than a reaction against

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the modernisation of Muslim societies, Islamism is a product of it.”However, once the word Islamism is used, it is automatically linked to

extremist and violent movements. In the word “Islamism,” we may distinguishbetween Islamist non-violent movements, also called religious movements,whose prime objective is to establish modern and civilized Arab nations basedon moderate Islam, and the most extremist Islamic movements, properly called“Islamist movements.” The latter flourished by exploiting the Arab sentimentsof hatred and antagonism against the western world which arose especially inthe 1970s and 1980s, in order to gain ground all around the world. Suchmovements applied the extremist version of the Koran, using violence andoppression in the name of God. They soon became a powerful force in manygovernments such as those in Iran, Afghanistan and Sudan. Unlike Islam itself,Islamism politicizes the religion and follows a political path to a great extentresembling the one adopted by communism or fascism. Like these ideologies,Islamism takes a hostile and extremist position regarding human rights and isindisputably very far from the tolerant, indulgent and peaceful nature of Islam(and many other religions).

The spread and expansion of political Islam in the Maghreb is very recent,asIslamic leaders themselves recognize. Rachid Gunnachi, for example, referringto Tunisia, remarked in 2002, “Islam has been here for a long time but Islamismis new” (quoted in Rashwan 2003:5).

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The recent history of Islamism in Algeria brings us to the post-indepen-dence period, when the Arabisation of education favoured the arrival ofthousands of teachers from Egypt and the Near West. Islamic fanatics spreadthe new Islamist discourse of the Muslim brotherhood. The outcome of theintensive Arabisation campaigns especially in the educational system was theemergence of a bloc of Arabic-speaking students who found their lack offluency in French kept them from getting jobs in areas of advanced technologyand higher management. These qualified Arabic speakers found access blockedto all the key sectors, above all in industries requiring technical knowledge andforeign languages. Arabic-speaking youth, including graduates, intellectuals andformerly employed students, formed a bridge to the numerous discontentedyoung people who found themselves jobless after many years spent in an


ine!cient and underfunded educational system. Living under deplorable andappalling conditions that constituted true socio-economic injustice, they endedby turning to the mosque. Islamist intellectuals have made careers by dominat-ing the theological and Arabic-language faculties (especially faculties of Arabicliterature, Islamic studies, law etc.), thereby gaining control of many positions,particularly among Imams in the mosques and teachers in the lycées. Thus, theyhave formed a strong network that ensures the recruitment of more Islamists tosuch positions and the inculcation of Islamist ideas among the new generations.This in turn has enabled them to exert influence over a vast number of youngpeople. Ahmed Rouadia (quoted in Rashwan 2003:4) notes in 2002 that

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Islamist groups began to grow from the mid-1970s onwards, receiving supportin the universities from Arabic-speaking students, who see in Islam the onlypossible way to create significant social and economic change. For them, therestoration of Islam would make the socio-economic inequalities and frustra-tions disappear.

Some Criticisms of Arabisation

Arabisation has faced many criticisms, among them the inability of ClassicalArabic to cope with technology and modernity, but probably the major obstacleto the development and promotion of Classical Arabic lies in the yawning gapbetween political decisions and their execution. Arabisation as a goal is onething, but its implementation in a society is quite another. The policy ofArabisation evolved in a hostile sociolinguistic environment, bringing ClassicalArabic into conflict with other languages, especially French.

Any political project related to language implementation in public domainsshould be preceded by a serious and pragmatic investigation, a study that takesinto account the socio-cultural and linguistic environment in which languageis actually used. Such an e"ort is more likely to guarantee a safe beginning andavoid the irreversible consequences of making wrong decisions. In language-planning terms, such a study or investigation would have taken into consider-ation the state of Classical Arabic and its communicative potential, the domainsin which it could be implemented, and the consequences or the results oflanguage restoration in particular domains.

In education, Arabisation has never gone beyond the limits of school, andit has been applied primarily in fields which do not have a great impact on theout-of-school environment. Thus, the family circle remains hostile to


Arabisation. In addition, pre-schooling and post-schooling are not organised ina way calculated to sustain, over the longer run, school action intended toinfluence and favour the environment for Arabisation and the expansion ofClassical Arabic. In education, a revision of existing policies must be conducted,designed to make the educational system part and parcel of the social environ-ment, which influences and is influenced by it.

The linguistic policy pursued by Algerian politicians has always beendictated primarily by political objectives. Aside from these imperatives, theauthorities have shown no great desire to give Classical Arabic its true value byencouraging historical research and reflection on the Algerian identity. Thus,Arabisation has been politically conceived, not sociolinguistically planned: it hasdeviated from its purpose as a socio-cultural project. Language is, after all, acrucial means of socialisation and intellectual pursuit, yet Arabisation has beenunable to accommodate the claims of other languages and has tended to rely onimposition rather than persuasion.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the decision to promote Classical Arabic as the o!cialand national language stems from the role it plays as ideally unifying theAlgerian community within geographical and religious space. But Arabisationhas at least partly failed in reaching its aims: at the oral level, its impact has beenalmost non-existent, since Algerians are basically Arabic/ French bilinguals; atthe written level, it has partly succeeded in some contexts and failed altogetherin others.

Today it is urgent and crucial to look at Algeria’s pluralism and diversity asa kind of linguistic richness that should be respected, preserved and exploitedrather than ignored or eradicated. The new Arabisation Law does not go in thatdirection. While the essential task is to forge a consensus around the acceptanceof pluralism, o!cial linguistic policy proceeds by constraint and exclusion. Onone level, it is forcing a language on people when the sensible thing to do is topersuade them to love it. On another level, it is again hurling anathema at thelanguages people actually speak, Berber in particular, but also French.Arabisation, to put it bluntly, tends to exclude every language except one — theone used by the authorities and no-one else. The periodic repetition of theseradical measures demonstrates their ine"ectiveness, denounced as scandalousby Arabist ideologues. But is the failure to make Arabisation “total” any more


shocking than the fact that, for a large part of the population, it has come tosymbolise waste, mess and educational failure? In a universe of languages whichreflect so deeply the plurality of Algerian society, the authorities do not strive tocreate a space of tolerance, openness and respect for di"erences.

Algerian society is pluralist: in its regions, its languages, its attitudes to thepast and the future, and its view of the West and the Arab world. So far, thisdiversity has never been properly acknowledged, in the context of a general willamong Algerians to live with one another. In the absence of a “symbolic enclaveof government” which, like the keystone of an arch, would hold the entireedifice together, each individual element not only feels threatened, but is seenby the others as a threat to unity.

Probably the only way to escape from the present sociolinguistic andpolitical crisis is through the establishment of a consensus on this centralenclave, in which the rule of law would be recognised and the governmentcould at least be seen as the guarantor of society’s “real pluralism” (Grand-

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guillaume 1997b).The process of Arabization seems to be caught between national identity

and unity on the one hand and non-secularist Islam on the other, and this thereal problem. Indeed, many people from di"ferent socio-economic spheres linkArabisation to other concepts such as Islam and Islamisation, and sometimesaccuse it of being the root cause of the bloody war in Algeria. Since 1992,Algeria has been living one of these wars without name, a real human butcherywhich has resulted in thirty-thousand or more victims. In such a context, it iscrucial to stress that Arabisation does not mean Islamisation, or the reestablish-ment of Islamic ideologies or thinking within the Algerian speech community.In fact, Islamic thought has developed from contact with the great westernideologies. For the Islamists, the problem is to develop a modern politicalideology based upon Islam, which they see as the only way to come to termswith the modern world and the best vehicle for confronting foreign imperial-ism. On the other hand, most, if not all, Algerians are well aware thatArabisation is not Islamisation, and that Arabisation’s first aim is the restora-tion of Arabo-Islamic identity and not the re-Islamisation of the state.

While, as we have noted, the Arabisation process has positive and negativeoutcomes, we cannot accuse it of responsibility for the Islamists’ crimes and forthe bloody war in Algeria. In fact, neither Islam nor Islamism, nor evenArabisation, is directly responsible for today’s political chaos in Algeria. Thepolitical leaders and decision makers should solve the Islamist question in Algeriaand apply the Arabisation Process pragmatically, taking into consideration not


only the political aims of the nation but also the socio- economic and linguisticrealities of the Algerian speech community.

References

Bessis, Sophie, Smail Goumeziane & Ahmed Dahmani. 2001. A Vulnerable Population:

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Algeria — Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Alternative Report to theReport Submitted by Algeria to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights, 27th Session of the Committee, November 2001. FIDH Report 319/2.Paris: FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights).

Bouhania, Bachir. 1999. The Substitution of French Loan Words for Arabic Counterparts in

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Oran Arabic: A Case Study. Unpublished Master’s Dissertation, Oran University of Artsand Letters.

Grandguillaume, Gilbert. 1983. Arabisation et politique linguistique au Maghreb. Paris:

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Maisonneuve et Larose.Grandguillaume, Gilbert. 1997a. L’Arabisation confronté à l’islamisme: Arabisation et

démagogie en Algérie. Le Monde Diplomatique. February 1997:3.Grandguillaume, Gilbert. 1997b. Algeria: The case for diversity — demagogues and

Arabisers. Trans. John Howe, from Le Monde Diplomatique, February 1997: 3.http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/32/080.html (cited February 16, 2004)

Grimes, Barbara F., ed. 1996. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 13th ed. Dallas: Summer

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Institute of Linguistics.Hadjarab, Mustapha. 2000. L’Algérie au péril de l’arabisation. Lettres sur la Loi de la Général-

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isation de l’Arabisation. Legisnet Internet Journal. www.legisnet.com (cited 2003).Pipes, Daniel. 1998. Distinguishing between Islam and Islamism. Washington: Center for

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Strategic and International Studies. http://www.danielpipes.org/article/954 (citedFebruary 16, 2004)

Rashwan, Salem. 2003. Political Islamism in the Maghreb. Washington, DC: Middle East

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Policy Council.

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Sommaire

Une perspective sociolinguistique de l’Arabisation et de l’usage des languesen Algérie

La constitution national algérienne stipule que l’arabe classique est la seule et unique langueo!cielle de la nation, qui est supposée utilisée par tous les membres de la communautélinguistique algérienne. Le français étant considéré comme langue étrangère est enseigné àpartir de la quatrième année du cycle primaire. La situation diglossique algérienne estcaractérisée par l’usage de l’arabe classique et du français considerés comme des languessupérieures, utilisées dans les domaines formels ou publics, cependant que les dialectes,

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/954

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/32/080.html


l’arabe algérien et le berber, considérés comme des langues inférieures sont utilisés dans lessituations informelles et intimes. Généralement, dans les domaines publics, l’arabe classiqueest partout présent et utilisé, spécialement pour l’écrit, à des degrés di"érents. Dans certainsdomaines, comme l’éducation ou l’environnement (l’a!chage), l’arabe classique prend lapart du lion; dans d’autres domaines tels que l’économie, l’arabe classique est utilisé enparallèle avec le français.

Cette réalité linguistique n’est entre autres que le résultat et le cumul de plusieurs annéesde travail consacrées au lancement de campagnes d’arabisation intensives et à l’exécutiond’importantes décisions politiques et financières prises juste après l’indépendance, ceci afinde promouvoir le statut de l’arabe (l’arabe classique en particulier) et donner à l’Algérie sonidentité arabo-musulmane. En conséquence, ce présent article examine le processus del’arabisation et ses e"ets sur l’usage des langues, en commençant par donner un bref aperçuhistorique sur le processus de l’arabisation dans des domaines variés et son application dansle domaine public, notamment dans l’administration, l’environnement et l’éducation. Ene"et, le processus de l’arabisation a pratiquement touché toutes les sphères de la vie publiquequi étaient précédemment caractérisées par l’usage unique de la langue Française. Aussi estdiscuté dans cet article, l’impact de l’arabisation sur l’usage des langues aux niveauxinstitutionnel et individuel. Ce présent travail a révélé que l’impact du processus del’arabisation était important dans certains domaines, notamment dans l’éducation etl’environnement, et moins important dans d’autres domaines comme à l’université, enparticulier dans les départements médicaux et scientifiques où le français reste le moyen leplus e!cace d’instruction et de communication. D’une part ce travail comprend aussi unebrève investigation concernant les droits linguistiques des Berbères sous le régime del’arabisation, d’autre part, cette étude tente de résoudre la problématique de l’arabisation enrelation avec d’autres concepts, notamment ceux de l’Islam et l’Islamisme. Soulignons qu’enaucun cas, ‘arabisation’ ne veut dire ‘Islamisation.’ Enfin les résultats des campagnesd’arabisation seront brièvement analysés et critiqués. En e"et l’arabisation a été critiquée etparmi ces critiques figurent aussi bien l’insu!sance des moyens humains et financiers mis àdisposition que l’inexistence d’une vraie stratégie de mise en application dans laquelle onprendrait en considération les réalités politiques et sociolinguistiques de la communautélinguistique algérienne.

Resumo

Socilingvistika perspektivo pri arabigo kaj lingvouzo en Algerio

La Algeria Nacia Konstitucio stipulas, ke la klasika araba estas la sola oficiala lingvo de lanacio, supozeble uzata de ciuj anoj de la parolkomunumo. La francan oni konsideras fremdalingvo kaj oni instruas gin ekde la kvara jaro de la elementa nivelo. La algerian diglosiansituacion karakterizas uzado de la klasika araba kaj la franca kiel altaj variajoj uzataj enformalaj kaj publikaj sferoj, kaj kolokvaj dialektoj, nome la algeria araba kaj la berbera, kielmalaltaj variajoj por neformalaj kaj intimaj situacioj. En publikaj sferoj, la klasikan arabanoni trovas preskau cie, kaj uzas gin (precipe skribe) diversproporcie. En kelkaj sferoj,ekzemple edukado au la fizika medio, la klasika araba regas; en aliaj sferoj, ekzemple la


ekonomia, oni uzas la klasikan araban paralele kun la franca. Tiu lingva realo rezultas cefe elmultaj jaroj da intensaj arabigaj kampanjoj kaj grandaj politikaj kaj ec financaj decidoj, ekdela periodo tuj post sendependigo, kun la celo antauenigi la statuson de la klasika araba kajdoni al Algerio ties arab-islaman identecon.

Tiu ci artikolo ekzamenas la procedon kaj rezultojn de arabigo kaj giajn efikojn ce lalingvouzado, liverante mallongan historian skizon de la arabiga procedo en diversaj sferoj,inkluzive gian aplikigon en la publika vivo, precipe en administrado, la fizika medio, kajedukado. La arabiga procedo jam tusis preskau ciujn aspektojn de la publika vivo antauemarkitajn de ekskluziva uzado de la franca. La artikolo ankau konsideras la efikon de arabigoje lingvouzo ce la niveloj institucia kaj individua. Gi montrigis signifa en iuj sferoj, nomeedukado kaj la fizika medio, sed malpli evidenta en aliaj, ekzemple en universitataj studoj,precipe en sciencaj kaj medicinaj fakoj, kie la franca restas la cefa instru- kaj komunikmedio.La artikolo ankau donas mallongan superrigardon de la lingvaj rajtoj de berberoj en laarabiga procedo, kaj samtempe gi celas fronti la demandon de la arabiga procedo en rilato alaliaj konceptoj, nome Islamo kaj islamismo: ‘arabigo’ kaj ‘islamigo’ ne sinonimas. Fine, laartikolo analizas kaj prikritikas la rezultojn de la arabigaj kampanjoj. Oni multe kritikisarabigon, interalie pro malmulteco de homaj kaj financaj rimedoj, kaj ankau pro manko dekohera realigostrategio prenanta en konsideron la politikajn kaj socilingvistikajn realojn dela algeria parolkomunumo.

Author’s address

07, Rue Sakiet sidi YoucefSidi Bel Abbes 22000Algeria

[email protected]

About the author

Hind Amel Mostari teaches sociolinguistics, the dynamic of languages in the Arab world, andEnglish linguistics in the English section of the Department of Foreign Languages, Universityof Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria, and holds degrees in computer science and management, and inEnglish linguistics.

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