Читать книгу Language Policy and Identity in Mauritania - El Hacen Moulaye Ahmed - Страница 6

Preface

In the pioneer study, an attempt was made to investigate language policy and identity in Mauritania. In so doing, two methodologies were relied on. The data collected through consulting primary and secondary sources revealed that Mauritanians identified themselves mainly based on tribal and religious axes and were exposed to an Arabization policy before the independence. After the independence, however, ethnicity became mature and thus surfaced as a strong marker of identity as a result of the colonialist dividing policy. The Kwr, who were fully assimilated by the French, refused the governments’ implementation of Arabic in education as well as administration. As such, ethnic tensions over language policy characterized the postindependence period in Mauritania. The tensions consolidated the ethnic identity and weakened national one.

In order to unearth which identities and language policy the Mauritanians subscribe to in the present, we also carried out an empirical investigation. Another purpose was also to see if there is a relationship between the participants’ choice of language policy and their identities. In so doing, data were collected through means of questionnaire and interview, respectively, from 506 students and 2 chairpersons of political parties. The obtained results revealed that Mauritanian identity is mainly based on religion and nationalism. It was also found that ethnic identity is strong in Mauritania, yet it is stronger among the Kwr than the Bedan. Tribal and national identities were also more common among the Bedan than the Kwr. A reached conclusion was also that the preference of language policy is influenced by ethnic background. The Bedan disfavored French-Arabic language policy and favored Arabic and English-Arabic language policy. This was because they considered Arabic as the language of their identity and religion and French as the language of the colonizer. French also, they argued, is internationally unimportant in comparison with English. In contrast, the Kwr viewed Arabic as a threat to their identity. They favored everything French. They considered it as a protector of their identity, and some of them regarded it as part of their identity. Unlike the Bedan, they refused the increase of English at the expanse of French. They also opted for the current Arabic-French language policy.