The Swinging Pendulum: Linguistic Controversy in Post-Colonial Algeria

In: Middle Eastern studies, Band 32, Heft 4, S. 264-280

Abstract

The controversy over the selection of a national language & the course of Arabization in postcolonial Algeria is examined. The independence movement that originated under the leadership of Abd al-Qadir & concluded with the formal declaration of separation in July 1962 is documented. It is suggested that early educational policies that instituted the teaching of Arabic in French elementary schools commenced the Arabization process; however, the paucity of qualified Arabic instructors delayed the realization of change. It is noted that Arabization resembled a socialist nationalist movement rather than focusing on the promulgation of religious or cultural ideology. An analysis of Kateb Yacine's Le Polygone Etoile ([The Polygon Star] 1966) reveals the linguistic alienation experienced by many Algerians; nonetheless, Yacine's preference for writing in a French dialect confounded attempts to establish an Algerian literary tradition. The novels of Assia Djebar are explored to demonstrate the problematic of being both Algerian & female in a patriarchal postcolonial Algeria. It is concluded that Algerian intellectuals viewed the process of Arabization as a reaffirmation of Arabo-Islamic heritage, rather than an absolute denial of their French past. J. W. Parker