Language and Identity in the Middle East and North Africa

by Yasir Suleiman

The question of identity in relation to language has hardly been dealt with in the Middle East and North Africa, in spite of the centrality of these issues to a variety of scholarly debates concerning this strategically important part of the world. The book seeks to cover a variety of themes in this area.

Hardcover

First published April 11, 1996

About the author

Professor Suleiman is Chair of the Panel of Judges, British-Kuwaiti Friendship Society Book Prize in Middle Eastern Studies. He serves as Trustee on the Boards of the following organizations: Arab-British Chamber Charitable Foundation, International Prize for Arab Fiction (in association with the Man-Booker Prize), Banipal Trust for Arab Literature and is trustee of the Gulf Research Centre-Cambridge. He is also Chair of the Advisory Board of the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World, Chair of the Centre for the Study of the International Relations of the Middle East and North Africa (CIRMENA), Board Member of the Islamic Manuscript Association, Member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Evaluation and Research in Muslim Education, Institute of Education, Member of the Advisory Board of The Doha Institute, Qatar and Member of the Advisory Board of Our Shared Future, a joint project of the British Council, USA and Carnegie Foundation. He is a member of the editorial boards of a number of journals and book series.

Professor Suleiman is Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, formerly Head of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies.

Reviews

[Josh Fowler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review was written for a class assignment, and I figured that I might as well post it on here as well, since it was already done.

Language and Identity in the Middle East and North Africa is a collection of papers compiled and edited by Yasir Suleiman, first published in 1996. The idea for this book stemmed from the Language and Ethnic Identity Symposium in the Middle East and North Africa, which was held at Edinburgh University from July 3-5, 1995. One of the main principles espoused by the various authors of these papers is that language has two main functions. The first is the communicative function that we typically associate with language and the second is a symbolic function, where a speaker’s language choices represent the group identity that they most associate themselves with. With this principle as a basis, the purpose of the compilation, as expressed in the introduction, is “to stimulate interest in [issues of language and social identity] in a Middle Eastern context … [and] make possible … the conduct of similar studies across language divides.” (Yasir Suleiman, Language and Identity in the Middle East and North Africa (Richmond, Surrey, UK.: Routledge, 1996), 9.) For my review, I will first provide a summary of each of the included papers and then I will address how well the editor’s stated goal was achieved, along with a more general critique of the work.

Chapter 1 – Divided Loyalties: Language and Ethnic Identity in the Arab World by Mike Holt

The first paper explores how Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) came to be used in a widespread area and attempts to describe the effects of a wide spread standard language interacting with local regional dialects. Holt proposes two reasons for the propagation of MSA: First, he explains the large geographical distribution of the language as a result of the spread of Islam since Arabic was the cultural vehicle of that religion. Second, Holt claims that MSA attained ascendancy over ʿāmmiyyah due to the influence of the ʿulamāʾ who used the language in their work. He then goes on to conclude that the Arabic identity is multifaceted where MSA provides an impetus for pan-nationalism while the local ʿāmmiyyah acts to reinforce a regional identity.

Chapter 2 – Language and Identity in Egyptian Nationalism by Yasir Suleiman

Next is a paper that looks at the Egyptian nationalist movement and the role of an Egyptian Standard Arabic as called for by several prominent figures. Suleiman provides a summary of the positions of three political figures who he feels espoused the need for an Egyptian Standard Arabic, namely Aḥmad Luṭfī al-Sayyid, Salāma Mūsā and Ṭāhā Ḥusayn. While each of the positions differs in some of the specifics, the general ideas that are shared between them are that fuṣḥā is too linked to Islam and the Arabs, and Egypt is not an Arab country, but a member of the European Mediterranean community. Additionally, they seem to express the idea that Arabic is a primitive language ill-suited for the needs of a modern community. In conclusion, Suleiman states that Egyptian nationalism and the role of an Egyptian Standard Arabic is an issue that involves many competing ideologies that have not yet been brought into harmony. He feels that there are still many questions that need to be answered, with the main ones being: Should Egyptian be a fuṣḥā brought closer to ʿāmmiyyah or an elevated ʿāmmiyyah? And does Egyptian Arabic exist already or should it be a goal of the nationalist movement to create it?

Chapter 3 – Language, Ethnicity and National Identity in the Tunisian Ethnic Joke by Ibrahim Muhawi

This study uses a corpus of Tunisian ethnic jokes to examine how they are used to ameliorate feelings about the economic differences between Tunisia and Libya. Muhawi found that there are three main themes to the jokes that illustrated the desire of the Tunisians to identify themselves as members of a modern community with close ties to Europe. These themes are jokes that: involve the inability of Libyans to integrate into modern situations where Tunisians are comfortable; show Libyans who are unable to comprehend the Tunisian dialect, which is linked to Tunisian modernity; and highlight Libyans inability to perform in language acts due to literal thinking or a lack of understanding of genre.

Chapter 4 – Ethnolinguistic Communication in Tunisian Streets: Convergence and Divergence by Sarah Lawson-Sako and Itesh Sachdev

Here is a field study that looks at the situation of convergence and divergence in Tunisian speech acts. This is done by having people of varying ethnicities and genders approach other people and address them in a certain language. They then look at what language is selected for the reply, after which they ask another question, and again look at the language choice made for the second reply. The results of the study seemed to support previous findings showing that Tunisian Arabic is an identity symbol, particularly among males. It also supported previous findings showing that French is more used by women, possibly linking it to femininity, additional results may link it to high-culture. Finally it may indicate that people of African heritage form an out-group.

Chapter 5 – The Construction of Identity in a Divided Palestinian Village: Sociolinguistic Evidence by Muhammad Amara and Bernard Spolsky

Next is a paper which discusses the results of a sociolinguistic survey performed in the Palestinian village of Barta’a which had been politically divided and then later reunited. The survey used open ended questions about work, school, leisure time, importance of electricity and the village; had respondents name objects in pictures; and asked participants to self-identify using provided terms, which they also ranked according to their importance. The results appeared to show slightly different situations for the two halves of Barta’a. In western Barta’a Israeli and Arab were identified as the two major identities. The Israeli identity was constructed primarily through borrowings from Hebrew while the Arab identity encouraged Standard Arabic. In eastern Barta’a Palestinian was the most influential identity. According to Amara and Spolsky this explained an ongoing linguistic change towards Standard Arabic that was occurring in that community.
 
Chapter 6 – Turkish as a Symbol of Survival and Identity in Bulgaria and Turkey by Ҫiğdem Balim

The following paper examines the symbolic function of language in constructing ethnic and national identity by examining the situation of Turkish in Bulgaria and Turkish in Turkey. In Bulgaria, governmental policies persecuted Turkish with methods including banning its use in schools, requiring Turkish writers to substitute Bulgarian words for Turkish ones and prohibiting the use of Turkish and Turkish names in public places. This resulted in an increased isolation of Turkish groups, and a heightened interest in the Turkish language as a defense against marginalization. In Turkey, Turkish was the official language of the state and a language reform took place which adopted the Latin alphabet instead of the Arabic one and removed Arabic and Persian words from the lexicon. The language is now going through a state of change due to influence from foreign languages, leading many to decry the decline of the language. According to Balim, these changes may reflect the political and economic climate of the country which is dealing with an increased diversity of sub-cultures.

Chapter 7 – Turkish as a Marker of Ethnic Identity and Religious Affiliation by Farida Abu-Haidar

Next is a study that looks at language and religious affiliation and how they define group membership in an Arabic speaking Sunni community and a Turkish Cypriot speaking community, each located in London. To do so they monitored speech during informal and formal interviews and participants were observed during informal gatherings. They also reviewed material published by Arabic authors and monitored speech on a Turkish radio station. Abu-Haidar concluded that the Cypriot variety of Turkish is resisting assimilation to Istanbul Turkish by defining their dialect as a solidarity marker. The community also uses their Muslim faith as an identity marker to distinguish themselves from Greek Cypriots. In the Arabic speaking group, the use of Turkish loan words is an identity marker to distinguish themselves as Sunnis.

Chapter 8 – Language and Ethnopolitics in the Ex-Soviet Muslim Republics by Jacob M. Landau

This paper explores the use of language as a political tool in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kirghizstan and Tajikistan. Under the Soviet Union, there was political pressure against local languages, and support for Russian, and this, along with the presence of ethnic Russian groups in the area, led to Russian becoming the common language. Now the fostering of local languages has become a central issue in nationalist debates including discussion over what alphabets should be used. Landau feels that, while nothing has truly been settled in this region, language and alphabet use remains an important discussion. The Cyrillic alphabet is being promoted by ethnic Russians in the area as well as by Russia, the Arabic alphabet has been espoused by Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, as well as local Islamic groups and the Latin alphabet is advocated by Turkey and local modernizing groups.

Chapter 9 – Language and Ethnic Identity in Kurdistan: An Historical Overview by Joyce Blau and Yasir Suleiman

Here is a paper describing the status of Kurdish as an identity marker among the Kurds throughout their history. According to Blau and Suleiman, although it did not start out that way, Kurdish has become the main identity builder distinguishing the Kurds from their neighbors, and it continues to be an important focus of Kurdish nationalistic movements.

Chapter 10 – Language and Identity: The Case of the Berbers by Mohamed Tilmatine and Yasir Suleiman
The following paper highlights the milestones along the path to establishing a cultural identity among the Berbers based around the language, with a particular focus on the choice of script and the Kabyle people in northern Algeria. According to Tilmatine and Suleiman, this goal has not yet been reached. There are still many questions to answer, and it is not yet clear where the path will lead.

Chapter 11 – Hebrew and Israeli Identity by Bernard Spolsky

The final paper provides an overview of the revival of Hebrew as the language of Israeli identity. According to Spolsky, the Jewish people were initially in a triglossic situation with the three languages being Hebrew, a local vernacular and a Jewish language such as Yiddish. Eventually a period of Jewish emancipation occurred where many of the host countries where these groups were living attempted to assimilate the Jews into their local countries. However, this failed due to a rise of nationalist sentiments. Along with nationalism came a drive towards monoglossia, where Yiddish and Hebrew competed to serve as the language of Israeli identity. Hebrew eventually wins out and a period of monoglossia occurs which is now slowly easing and allowing for more multilingualism.

General Critiques

I feel that this book does a fair job of achieving its stated goal. The wide range of topics covered shows the variety of work that can be done and provides several interesting ideas to consider. However, the goal seems to be somewhat unambitious and there are, unfortunately, several other negatives to consider. In general, the book appears to have been written primarily for the benefit of those who already belong to the community of sociolinguists each of these authors is a member of. I say this because there is a trend throughout each of these papers to take many assumptions for granted. The authors seem to assume that you already agree with their own position, and so do not make much of an effort to defend, or even fully explain their conclusions.

This attitude causes many of the descriptive papers to lack a strong conclusion and you are often left with a feeling that not much was actually said. There are also the occasional leaps in logic where the given conclusions don’t necessarily follow from what was already explained. Additionally, the papers based on surveys, corpus work, field work, etc. tend not to share much of the data generated. This leaves questions like: How representative are the examples provided? How strongly does the data support the author’s conclusions? This may primarily be due to space limitations but regardless of the reason, it makes their results weaker, as you are unable to generate your own conclusions from the information provided. The papers also don’t always describe what the language specific features that they have identified or are looking for actually are, or how these features represent a posited link to a specific identity. Again, you are left in a situation where you must trust the author’s judgment on what is being argued.

In conclusion, this book is a relatively short read, and can be interesting simply for the wide range of topics that are covered. However, it has many flaws that require a somewhat skeptical view on what is said, and in order to truly participate in these areas the reader will need to look for other, more thorough sources. Perhaps if their goal was truly to generate a wider interest in their fields of research, they should have paid a little more attention to convincing people of the strength of their positions.