Arabic

I lived in Cairo 2004-2005, attending the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA) program and interning at the UNESCO Cairo Office. Toward the end of my time in Cairo, a story I wrote in Arabic won first place in a writing contest. I’m sharing it with you here, with elegant English translation by Lily Sadowsky. Check out the PDF copy here for the original Arabic and the English translation together. Enjoy!

In honor of Salma Khadra Jayyusi, who passed away earlier this year, I’d like to revisit Juha the famous trickster character. I was fortunate enough to study Arabic langugage and literature during the years when Jayyusi’s PROTA project was bringing many works to the attention of readers in English. One of these works is published as Tales of Juha: Classic Arab Folk Humor (Northampton, MA: Interlink, 2007). This is a great compilation and rendition of many classic Juha stories.

Atlas Studios. Source Two Film Industries (Separate, Not Equal) It would seem that there are two very distinct film industries in Morocco: the films produced by Moroccans, and the films produced by foreigners. In fact, they are linked to one another by political economy. Consider the following scene. Moroccan filmmaker M. A. Tazi was trying to reconstruct a fourteenth-century urban environment in Salé for a film based on a Moroccan novel.

This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The previous post focused on Colonial Language Policy. Nationalist Language Policy of Arabization The Moroccan constitution of 1956 names Arabic as the sole official language, and by the end of the 1950s, a project of Arabization was swiftly in place. A key component of Morocco’s Arabization project was a five-year plan for transforming the school system left by the French Protectorate.

This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The previous post presents a Brief Linguistic History of Morocco. Street sign, includes French and Arabic Colonial Language Policy French Morocco’s first resident-general, Hubert Lyautey, relied on ethnological research to guide Protectorate policy. Georges Hardy, head of the educational service from 1920 to 1926, supervised the research. He sought to adapt Protectorate schools “to the specific characteristics of Morocco’s Muslim population,” based upon a psychological approach (Segalla 172).

Tiles in Bahia Palace, Marrakesh Introduction This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The debate over language policy is closely connected to Moroccan history. Language represents an important site of contestation in most modern states, and especially in post-colonial nations. In Morocco, the nationalist project failed to represent Imazighen (Berbers). As Amazigh (Berber) activists grew more vocal, the Moroccan government has begun developing new national language policies.

If you teach anything related to the region of Middle East/Southwest Asia and North Africa or you want to learn more yourself, this post is for you! Course Outline by Melanie Magidow and Christine Baker My colleague Christine Baker assisted with the design of the course outline provided here. Intended for an Introduction to the Middle East course, it provides many sources for learning about the region’s cultures, history, languages, religions, and societies.

In this chilly winter season, here’s a list of Arabic shows and movies with something for everyone to enjoy… Justice Secret of the Nile Wadjda Justice | Netflix | UAE | Crime / Courtroom TV Show | about a young woman lawyer (I liked it!) Secret of the Nile | Egypt | Netflix | Mystery, Drama, Romance | a beautiful reinvention of the Spanish telenovela Grand Hotel (one of my favorites!

This post is inspired by the many people I hear from who want to begin learning Arabic. If you’re interested in finding a program, check out my earlier post on Arabic Study Options. It includes a collection of resources. For those who just want to get their feet wet, so to speak, just taking baby steps into the alphabet and Arabic, here are some ideas for you: I have a brief Overview of the Arabic Language here.

The letter dal in stylistic calligraphy 1640 Harvard College establishes the first Semitic chair (Hebrew, Chaldaic and Syriac) in the United States, adding Arabic between 1654 and 1672. Others followed Harvard’s example, dependent upon the availability of scholars (beginning at Yale in 1700, at Dartmouth and Andover in 1807, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1822). Early scholars learned Arabic only after studying Ancient Hebrew first. Arabic was treated as a subsidiary subject in Hebrew Studies or Assyriology.