Arabic and Identity PDF

Arabic and identity: Reflecting upon self and other Jeremy Palmer This article introduces issues related to language identity among speakers of Arabic. The audience of this article consists primarily of freshmen college students, many of wh...

Arabic and identity: Reflecting upon self and other Jeremy Palmer This article introduces issues related to language identity among speakers of Arabic. The audience of this article consists primarily of freshmen college students, many of whom have learned English as a second language. The purpose of the article is to introduce the students to reflective thinking about their own lives, languages, and cultures while also considering “the other.” The concept of identity is considered in relation to one’s own self, linguistic environment, and distinctive culture. The article also addresses the issues of language variety, traditional dress, tribe, religion and other affiliations as boundary markers in the modern day as well as the past. Finally, the issue of Arabic language variety (diglossia) is considered in light of the recent events commonly referred to as the Arab Spring. The article is an attempt to use reflection as a tool to interest students in the concepts of identity in relation to themselves and others. Introduction You might immediately ask yourself, “What exactly does the word identity mean in relation to language?” It is a term that will be described and discussed throughout this article. I hope that you will better understand the multifaceted nature of how identity in general and language identity in particular can be defined after reading this article. A definition of the term ‘identity’ will be provided below. As for language identity, for now, let’s say that it is the manner in which a group of people characterize themselves linguistically in relation to other people, other places, and other times. Later on, we will refine this definition. Let us begin with an easy question: Where in the world are the speakers of Arabic? As you know (or should know!), the Arabic-speaking world extends from the northwestern edge of Africa to the eastern coast of Oman. It reaches north to Syria and Iraq and continues south all the way to Yemen and Sudan. The Arabic-speaking world contains around 300 million speakers. So are Arab countries the only places where Arabic is spoken? Definitely not. Arab states consider Arabic to be their official language, but they are not the only places in which Arabic is spoken. You might know that there are many speakers of Arabic outside these traditional borders. Many “non- Arab” countries around the world have vibrant communities of Arabic speakers. A fancy word for these communities that live outside their conventional homelands is diaspora. For example, Turkey, Brazil, the United States, France, Germany and many other countries are home to considerable populations of Arabic speakers. Consider Dearborn, Michigan in the United States of America. In Dearborn one can see Arabic writing and hear Arabic language in many areas of the city. In fact, Dearborn is home to the extensive Arab American National Museum. In Berlin, Germany there is a street known as the Gaza Strip because of its many Arab-owned shops (Russia Today 2010). I once was eating at a small café in Berlin when I heard one of the employees speaking in Arabic. In English, I asked the employee if he was from Lebanon. He stared at me with a look of anxiety on his face because I had guessed exactly where he was from! I think he was confused because I don’t exactly appear to be someone who would recognize Arabic, let 1 alone recognize where his certain ‘accent’ was from. I think I shocked him, but I was glad to hear Arabic outside the conventional Arabic-speaking world. Such enclaves abroad, in the diaspora, as it were, frequently retain many aspects of their traditional customs and cultures. You may have already noticed that the style of language I am using in this article is less formal than some academic writing. Usually when I write research, I craft my prose in such a manner that my own voice is left out. This results in writing that frequently uses the passive voice, like ‘it was studied, a test was given, students were asked, etc.’. For this particular article, however, I am going to use active language and address you on a more personal basis as myself rather than as a detached observer. The reason for this is that we are talking about identity, which tends to be a personal topic and I want to try to relate to you, well, personally. It is my hope that you will seriously consider how the issues discussed in this article apply to yourself, your family, and your fellow humans, whether near or far. Since I am addressing you personally, I think it would be appropriate to provide some background about myself so that you can become a bit more familiar with me and what makes me who I am. I was born and raised in Idaho in the United States of America. Ever heard of the potato state? Well, that is the nickname of Idaho because we grow lots of potatoes. What else is Idaho known for? Not much else! I didn’t have much exposure to anything international as a youth, but for some reason I knew there was more to the world than potatoes. I did have good friends and family, but at age 18 I moved away to attend a university and I have never returned home to live (at least not for a long period). After a few years in higher education and two years of volunteer work in Eastern Europe, I started studying Arabic at age 23 at Brigham Young University. I’m not 100% fluent now, but I can read and watch the news, write and even speak quite a bit. Other than Fusha, or Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), I can speak some Levantine Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, and now I am trying to learn Gulf Arabic. I received my doctorate from the University of Arizona in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (applied linguistics). I am endlessly interested in learning about other cultures and languages. I can’t live in a country without wanting to learn the language. I don’t understand how many of my fellow American expatriates are satisfied with simply using English everywhere they travel and live. After 10 years of living in the United Arab Emirates, all you can say is yalla? How boring is that? Quite. I personally want to speak the language of the people whose country I am visiting or living in. zayn? These are the kinds of issues I hope you start thinking about. For example, if you hold a passport from a certain country, do you feel that you represent a typical person from that country? As a reflective exercise, think about the following: Do you speak, dress, eat, live, and behave like a typical person from your country? If yes, that is great. If no, that is also great. We are not concerned with prescriptive models of what is better or worse; rather, we want to investigate descriptive aspects of who you are. Again, we want to describe you; not prescribe what you should or shouldn’t be. In this article in particular, we are mostly interested in your identity in relation to your native language. The transliteration system used in this article is of the author’s own preference. Sequences of two vowels represent a long vowel in Arabic. Capital letters represent sounds that are emphatic or pronounced as a pharyngeal (like the H, for example). The 2 commonly used number “3” represents a voiced pharyngeal fricative, which does not exist in English. All transliterated Arabic words have been italicized in this text. Background Before we continue in our focus on language and identity, it may be helpful to think about identity broadly for a moment. Yasir Suleiman – a scholar who knows much more than me about this issue – wrote an entire book related to Arabic and identity. Although his focus was on nationalism, the issue of identity comes up again and again. It is from his book that we can extrapolate more information to help us define the issue of identity. To begin with, Suleiman discusses identity in relation to groups of people. Suleiman describes collective or group identities as “anchored in relation to such variables as genealogy, age, gender, sexuality, class, occupation, locality (be it regional, district, village and so on), tribe, clan, religion, confession or sect, ethnicity, nationality or state citizenship” (Suleiman 2003, 5). It is interesting to think about one’s identity in each of these variables as a collective notion. Perhaps you belong to a certain tribe or religion? Do the people in your tribe or religion dress a certain way? Do they have specific customs they keep? Do they speak in a similar way or use lots of the same terminology? Certainly, some ways of speaking or dress etc. are shared among groups and communities. You may have noticed that a few of Suleiman’s variables seem to be related to specific geographical locations. Your own family, heritage, occupation, locality, tribe, religion, citizenship, and so forth are most likely related to specific locations in the world. Perhaps there is even one particular country or city to which you especially relate. So when you are in this location, how do you identify with people around you? Do you dress like them? Do you behave like them? Do you speak like them? We can call such specific customs and behaviors boundary markers, meaning that they help us to identify one group from another. For example, when I drive from the UAE to Oman, I notice that the style of traditional dress is usually a bit different. This is a boundary marker in that people are specifically choosing a certain style of dress that is probably based upon their heritage and identity. Naturally, there are many such boundary markers in our communities that may indicate certain affiliations. Suleiman lists what he terms “symbols” in how people might define a nation or a group, and these symbols serve to demarcate, or distinguish, what one might consider familiar and what one might consider foreign. Suleiman writes that such symbols “may include dress, language, architecture, food, music, ritual calendars, rites de passage, taboos, ceremonials, holidays, national anthems, flags” and more (Suleiman 2003, 23). Certainly it is possible to tell where some people are from based upon the way they dress and speak. What if, however, someone from outside a certain culture wants to assimilate into a new culture? We shall consider this next. Have you ever seen or met people from other cultures, religions, and countries who want to adopt local dress here in the UAE? Is that socially acceptable? Perhaps it is acceptable for special circumstances or after marrying into a local family? Can someone from a different country wear a kandoora like an Emirati male? I don’t think I have ever seen a Westerner or European male walking around in the kandoora. It would probably 3 not be acceptable for me to dress like that, unless I were, perhaps, really famous and “cool.” Perhaps someone like Snoop Dogg (Time Out Dubai 2011) is famous enough? Certainly the way many of the variables mentioned above are experienced may differ from country to country and culture to culture. Other than dress, what about religion as a boundary marker? Bassiouney describes this variation with an example about religion and ethnicity: [I]n the Arab world, unlike the west, religion is usually not seen as a matter of individual choice, but as a matter of family and group affiliation; one is born a Muslim, a Jew, or a Christian, and that fact becomes almost similar to one’s ethnicity. As was established earlier, it is almost impossible to change one’s ethnicity, because it is dependent on how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you, not just as an individual but as part of a community. The same is true for religion. This kind of attachment to religion is perhaps different among highly educated westerners. It is not only that changing one’s religion is perceived as a serious misdemeanour, but also that the convert is seen as rejecting the existing social order, tradition and family obligations. Even the rituals and appearance of religion are more prominent in the Arab world, where it is common for a Muslim man to go to the mosque regularly and for a Muslim woman to wear a headscarf, and also for a Christian man or woman to go to church regularly and to wear a cross. (Bassiouney 2009,105) Thus religion may be a sort of boundary marker in that it relates directly to ethnicity and culture in some communities. But what happens when people move from their matrix (home) environment to a country with different traditions, languages, and other boundary markers? Interestingly, many boundary markers are transportable. So although you may claim a certain heritage and certain customs from a particular place, you may not actually be living in that location. This is frequently the case with some Palestinians (those who 4 self-identify as Palestinians) even though they have never been to their ancestral homeland. Moreover, the example shared earlier about Berlin’s “Gaza Strip” can be considered at least a partially transported community or culture. For example, if you were to go to the Swedish furniture store IKEA in Dubai, would you be able to tell where people were from based on their appearance and/or way of speaking? You might encounter some symbols like language and clothing that would give you clues. It is doubtful though, that you could correctly identify every person’s nationality or heritage. Why not? Well, we have already mentioned that boundary markers can be transportable but does that mean that everyone always retains all the aspects of certain groups or communities? I hope not, or I would have to eat more potatoes. So maybe you are from Lebanon living in the UAE. Do you, however, still retain some aspects of your Lebanese culture and heritage? I would guess that, yes, you do. Wherever you are from, do you preserve your culture on a daily basis? Think about this. Thus we see that identity is often defined at the level of the group. Suleiman (2003) notes, however, that each of the variables he listed is experienced individually. So, although you belong to a certain religion or tribe, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are the same as everyone else in those groups. It might mean, however, that you do share some common background, manners of dress, ways of speaking, and other characteristics. Nevertheless, we are all individuals and we experience these variables as individuals. Identity and Arabic Let us now consider the above-mentioned variables, symbols (boundary markers), and model in relation to the Arabic language. We begin with the vertical axis in our model. If you take a minute to think about identity in relation to the Arabic language throughout history, what words and ideas would come to your mind? Many of you would probably mention the most important book in Islam, the Qur’an. Certainly the role of the Qur’an in the development of the Arabic language is considered to be of vital importance. There are several verses in the Qur’an that mention the Arabic language. In surat Yusuf verse 3 we read, “Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an that you might understand” (Qur’an, n.d.). And so the Arabic language has been closely associated with the Qur’an for many centuries. Even today, verses and quotes from the Qur’an are frequently used in countless situations. 5  Aside from the Qur’an, there are other points on the vertical axis that may be connected to the concept of identity among Arabic speakers today. One could consider the pre-Islamic poetry of yesteryear, or the great Arab writers of the past few centuries. If we move to the horizontal axis and consider the Arabic language, what aspects of a language can mark affiliation or identity today? If you could fly from Arab country to Arab country in a short period of time, say one week, and travel from city to city within those countries, would you be able to notice a difference in the way people speak? Perhaps some of the words they use – their lexicon – are different from place to place? Perhaps they use similar words but their pronunciation is a bit different? Or maybe many of the words are totally different and even the grammar and sentence structure – syntax – are different? For example, consider the following: even talking about speaking Arabic in the Arab world requires knowledge of different vocabulary words. If you simply want to say, in Arabic, “I want to speak Arabic now,” you have to know a lot of words to say this simple sentence in the different varieties of Arabic. For these examples, let us consider MSA, Egyptian Arabic, Gulf Arabic, Moroccan and Levantine Arabic (Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian, and Palestinian). Certainly there are differences between the Arabic heard in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine but for our purposes we will use the traditional definition describing them all as Levantine Arabic. The same holds true for the Gulf and other regions. You should know that Arabic is written from right to left in the Arabic script. In this paper, however, I will use transliteration from left to right. See this example in Illustration 2. MSA ureedu an atakallima al3arabiyyata alaan Egyptian 3aayiz atkallim 3arabi dilwa’ti Gulf abghi armas 3arabi alHeen Moroccan ana baghee miHdar al3arabi daaba. Levantine biddi aHki 3arabi hala(q). Illustration 2 “I want to speak Arabic now” The above illustration reveals the substantial difference among different varieties of Arabic in saying something as simple as “I want to speak Arabic now.” I will admit that I did choose this example and the following one because they show significant variation. Generally speaking, the colloquial varieties of Arabic and MSA share a great deal of vocabulary. Let us continue, however, with one more example of variation as seen among the different varieties of Arabic. Illustration 3 shows how one would say “What is wrong with you?” in the different varieties of Arabic MSA maa bika? Egyptian maalak fiih ayh? Gulf shoo balaak? Moroccan ash biik? yak labaas? Levantine shoo maalak? shibbak? Illustration 3 “What is wrong with you?” 6  Thus we see that there is a great deal of variation in Arabic. However, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is mostly the same all across the Arab world today. The spoken, or colloquial, varieties of Arabic, however, exhibit a great deal of difference. So when do you speak MSA and when do you speak colloquial Arabic? Most of you know that MSA is usually used for presentation modes of communication such as writing, formal lecturing, or for formal occasions. The colloquial Arabic is used mostly for oral communication among friends, family, for less formal occasions. Certainly one can find exceptions for each of these modes of communication. For example, I bought a book in Cairo called 3aayiza atjawwiz (I Want to Get Married) that is written almost completely in Egyptian Arabic (Aal 2008). Normally one would think that all books would be written in MSA. So how does this all play out on a national/administrative level? Since MSA is considered to be used in formal occasions, is it ever possible to hear the colloquial Arabic used by leaders of government and state during formal occasions? This next section will investigate this issue. Before moving on, however, consider how the Arabic language shapes your identity (assuming you speak Arabic). Does MSA play a significant role in your life? If someone asked you what type of Arabic you speak, what would you say? Do you communicate with your family in MSA or in the colloquial variety of your area? When was the last time you spoke in MSA? When was the last time you wrote a letter in MSA? Do you text with your mobile phone in English, MSA, a colloquial variety of Arabic, or a mix? As a researcher I would be interested to hear your answers. I hope you are also beginning to become interested in how language relates to identity. Arabic at the level of state and government Now we consider the people who represent countries in an official capacity. What type of Arabic do they speak on formal occasions? One can see on the news that certain Arab leaders tend to speak in formal situations in MSA, perhaps to show sophistication or perhaps in order to relate to all Arabs in the Arab world. Consider, however, whether a leader of the Arab world would ever communicate in a colloquial variety in an official capacity. The recent events of the so-called Arab Spring have provided numerous opportunities to examine how Arab leaders communicate in their official capacity. The Syrian leader of many years, Bashar Al-Assad, is almost always seen speaking in MSA on formal occasions. There is usually no question as to the type of Arabic that he will produce. So why do you think MSA is the type of Arabic that he uses? Perhaps he wants to show that Syria is conscious of its perceived role as a preserver of the Arabic language? Perhaps Arabic instruction is more widespread in Syria? Consider, however, the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. According to Bassiouney, Nasser sometimes used Egyptian Arabic to demonstrate “to his audience that he was one of them, by speaking as they spoke in their daily life” (Bassiouney 2009, 83-84). It is probable that each leader has his own style for his own country and people. It is also probable that the citizens of certain Arab countries may welcome their leader speaking a colloquial variety of Arabic. Other citizens in other countries may disapprove. So why would someone in government choose an informal variety of Arabic? York (2011) mentions an email about a remarkable linguistic change in the final speech of the 7 (former) president of Tunisia, Ben Ali, during the uprising in Tunisia. In a span of about one month, Ben Ali spoke to his people on three occasions, though only the last time did he use a significant amount of Tunisian Arabic rather than MSA. This third speech turned out to be his last public address as the president of Tunisia. He fled the country shortly thereafter. Why, then, did he choose Tunisian Arabic the third time? He probably didn’t know that it would be his last speech, but he certainly wanted to relate intimately and closely to his subjects. It was, however, too little too late. Perhaps if he had used more Tunisian Arabic in order to relate more personally he would not have been ousted? Probably not, but we will never know. Interestingly, The Economist Johnson Language blog (2011) mentions an article from Souag (2011) about a situation that is similar to what happened with Ben Ali. This time it was Saif Al-Qaddafi in Libya who decided to speak as one of the people and not in the formal Arabic (ONtv, 2011). Souag notes, however, that it was not completely Libyan Arabic, but it might have just been the best Arabic Saif Al-Qaddafi could produce on short notice. Have you ever watched debates on the satellite station Al Jazeera? Have you seen the program called “Opposite Direction” (alitijaah almu3aakis)? In the episode “Himaayat al-lugha al3arabiyya,” Faisal Al-Qassami hosts a debate about the role of MSA and the spoken colloquial varieties of Arabic (Al Jazeera Channel 2008). Interestingly, when Faisal is presenting and communicating he speaks a great deal of MSA. However, when he is having a problem with his microphone/earpiece he leans to the side as if looking at his staff and says “maa fiih Soot” in colloquial Arabic. Why would he produce MSA on international satellite television, but use colloquial Arabic with his staff? Why didn’t he say “laysa hunaaka Sawt?” Again the issue of intimacy (colloquial) and presentational/formal (MSA) comes into play, as he seems to use MSA for presenting on his program, but colloquial for unplanned spontaneous communication. Here is an interesting question to consider: Have you ever tried to hide your nationality or colloquial variety of Arabic by avoiding certain specific colloquial phrases? Maybe at a job interview on the phone or in person you decided to try to be more of an ‘international’ Arabic speaker rather than marking yourself as coming from a specific region. If yes, why did you do that? This type of situation is not unique to the Arabic language. In fact, according to a New York Times article, the issue of hiding one’s accent or way of speaking may be a strategy that people use to get jobs or for other related reasons (Roberts 2010). Future research should consider this issue. Through our examples we have seen that MSA is often used in presentational/formal situations. However, when a speaker wants to try to relate to the common man – even when speaking on formal occasions – this speaker may choose to include a varying degree of colloquial Arabic, as we saw with Nasser. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt that you needed to use MSA to sound more formal? When was that? Conclusion In this article the issues of identity and linguistic identity have been presented. These identities may be observed and defined by symbols, boundary markers, language 8 variety and more. Moreover, these issues may be considered in a historical sense or in the present day. In addition to the issues of identity and boundary markers, the concept of the individual was introduced. Although a culture, group, or nation is made up of people, each individual may or may not closely identify with the group in a variety of ways. The individual may choose to dress, speak, or act individually. In the end, there is no “best” or “better” way. Each society and each person chooses how to mark himself or herself as unique in relation to the other. 9 References Aal, G. A. 2008. 3aayiza Atjawwiz. Cairo, Egypt: Dar alShurook. Al Jazeera. 2008. “Alitijah almu3aakis - Himaayat al-lugha al3arabiyya” [Video file]. Last modified April 8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvYGBIynjIk Arab American Museum. 2012. Accessed November 21. http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org. Bassiouney, R. 2009. Arabic Sociolinguistics: Topics in Diglossia, Gender, Identity, and Politics. Georgetown, DC: Georgetown University Press. Economist. 2011. “Saif Qaddafi Pulls a Ben Ali?” Johnson Language, February 21. http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/02/arabic_dialect Jones, J. & Ridout N. 2012. Oman, Culture and Diplomacy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ONtv. 2011. “Saif Gaddafi’s Speech 20/02/2011 khitaab saif alislam alqathaafi” [Video file]. Last modified February 20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp6DFM9_NuU. Qur’an. Surat Yusuf, Verse #3. http://quran.com/12 Roberts, S. 2010. “Unlearning to Tawk Like a New Yorker.” The New York Times, November 19. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/nyregion/21accent.html Russia Today. 2010. “Integration Failure of Immigrants in Germany : fashl indimaj almuhajarin fi almaniya” [Video file]. Last modified November 7. http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/57528 Time Out Dubai. 2011. May 8. “Snoop Dogg in Abu Dhabi. Last updated May 8. http://www.timeoutdubai.com/gallery/23820-snoop-dogg-in-abu-dhabi Souag, L. 2011. “Gaddafi Jr’s Speech.” Jabal Al-Lughat, February 21. http://lughat.blogspot.com/2011/02/gaddafi-jrs-speech.html Suleiman, Y. 2003. The Arabic Language and National Identity. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press. York, J. C. 2011. “Ben Ali to Step Down in 2014.” Jillian C. York, January 13. http://jilliancyork.com/2011/01/13/ben-ali-to-step-down-in-2014/ 10