Malika Mezzane | |
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Born | |
Years active | 2004–2023 |
Malika Mezzane is a Moroccan poet, a writer, and a Berber rights activist.
Mezzane studied in Fez where she earned a BA degree in philosophy from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University.[ citation needed ] She is a former Philosophy teacher.[ citation needed ] She has published 17 works in 22 publications, in 2 languages. [1] In 1992 she travelled to Switzerland, where she resided for nine years until 2001, during which time she devoted herself to writing on a regular basis, committed to defending human rights in general and those of Maghrebi immigrants in particular. [2] She is considered by many[ by whom? ] the Berber ambassador to the Kurdish People, especially after she met the president of Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, in July 2018. [3] She is also a supporter of the state of Israel and has been outspoken on their right to be in "their homeland". [4] [5]
Mezzane has written several collections of poems in Arabic:
In 2019, she wrote her first novel "ما أصعب ألا أراك", in which she supports the unification of the Kurds under a single state. [6] [7]
Berberism is a Berber ethnonationalist movement, that started mainly in Kabylia (Algeria) and Morocco during the French colonial era with the Kabyle myth and was largely driven by colonial capitalism and France's divide and conquer policy. The Berberist movement originally manifested itself as anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and Francophilia, that was sanctioned and sponsored by French colonial authorities. The movement later spread to other Berber communities in the Maghreb region of North Africa and was facilitated by colonial policies such as the Berber Dahir. The Berberist movement in Algeria and Morocco is in opposition to cultural Arabization, pan-Arabism and Islamism.
The culture of Morocco is a blend of Arab, Berber, Andalusi cultures, with Mediterranean, Hebraic and African influences. It represents and is shaped by a convergence of influences throughout history. This sphere may include, among others, the fields of personal or collective behaviors, language, customs, knowledge, beliefs, arts, legislation, gastronomy, music, poetry, architecture, etc. While Morocco started to be stably predominantly Sunni Muslim starting from 9th–10th century AD, during the Almoravid period, a very significant Andalusi culture was imported, contributing to the shaping of Moroccan culture. Another major influx of Andalusi culture was brought by Andalusis with them following their expulsion from Al-Andalus to North Africa after the Reconquista. In antiquity, starting from the second century A.D and up to the seventh, a rural Donatist Christianity was present, along an urban still-in-the-making Roman Catholicism. All of the cultural super strata tend to rely on a multi-millennial aboriginal Berber substratum still present and dating back to prehistoric times.
Malika Oufkir is a Moroccan Berber writer and former victim of enforced disappearance. She is the daughter of General Mohamed Oufkir and a cousin of fellow Moroccan writer and actress Leila Shenna.
Moroccan literature are the written and oral works of Moroccan culture. These works have been produced and shared by people who lived in Morocco and the historical states that have existed partially or entirely within the geographical area of modern-day Morocco. Apart from the various forms of oral literature, the written literature of Morocco encompasses various genres, including poetry, prose, theater, and nonfiction including philosphical and religious literature. Moroccan literature has mainly been written in Arabic and French, and to a lesser extent also in Berber languages, Judeo-Arabic, Spanish, and after the mid-19th century in English.[pages needed] Through translations into English and other languages, Moroccan literature has become accessible to readers worldwide.
The culture of North Africa encompasses the customs and traditions of art, architecture, music, literature, lifestyle, philosophy, food, politics and religion that have been practiced and maintained by the numerous ethnic groups of North Africa. North Africa encompasses the northern portion of Africa, including a large portion of the Sahara Desert. The region's commonly defined boundaries include Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Western Sahara, stretching from the Atlantic shores of the Western Sahara in the west, to Egypt's Red Sea coast in the east. The United Nations' definition additionally includes Sudan in the region. The inhabitants of North Africa are roughly divided in a manner corresponding to the principal geographic regions of North Africa: the Maghreb, the Nile valley, and the Sahel.
The Berber Dahir is a dhahir (decree) that was created by the French protectorate in Morocco on May 16, 1930. The document changed the legal system in the parts of Morocco in which Berber languages were primarily spoken, and the legal system in the rest of the country would remain the way it had been before the French invasion. Sultan Muhammad V signed the Dahir under no duress though he was only 20 years old at the time.
The Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture is an academic institute of the Moroccan government in charge with the promotion of the Berber languages and culture, and of the development of Standard Moroccan Amazigh and its instruction in Morocco's public schools.
The Years of Lead was a period of the rule of King Hassan II of Morocco, from roughly the 1960s through the 1980s, marked by state violence and repression against political dissidents and democracy activists.
Arabic, particularly the Moroccan Arabic dialect, is the most widely spoken language in Morocco, but a number of regional and foreign languages are also spoken. The official languages of Morocco are Modern Standard Arabic and Standard Moroccan Berber. Moroccan Arabic is by far the primary spoken vernacular and lingua franca, whereas Berber languages serve as vernaculars for significant portions of the country. The languages of prestige in Morocco are Arabic in its Classical and Modern Standard Forms and sometimes French, the latter of which serves as a second language for approximately 33% of Moroccans. According to a 2000–2002 survey done by Moha Ennaji, author of Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco, "there is a general agreement that Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Berber are the national languages." Ennaji also concluded "This survey confirms the idea that multilingualism in Morocco is a vivid sociolinguistic phenomenon, which is favored by many people."
Malika Ménard is a French model, tv host and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned Miss France 2010. She later represented France in Miss Universe 2010, placing in the Top 15.
Malika Zarra is a Moroccan singer, composer, and music producer, based in New York City. She is known for singing in Moroccan Arabic, Berber, French, and English. Her music has been on the JazzWeek Top 20 radio chart in world music.
Kacem El Ghazzali, is a Moroccan-Swiss secularist essayist and activist and is one of the few publicly atheist Moroccans. Kacem speaks English, as well as German, French, Arabic and Berber. Mostly known for his publicly voiced atheism, his writings stress the importance of freedom of thought which, in his view, is lacking in countries dominated by Islam. His articles have been published in/by the Richard Dawkins Foundation, Huffington Post, Le Monde, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Basler Zeitung, Tages Anzeiger, Berlingske and others.
Standard Moroccan Amazigh, also known as Standard Moroccan Tamazight or Standard Moroccan Berber, is a standardized language developed by the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) in Morocco by combining features of Tashelhit, Central Atlas Tamazight, and Tarifit, the three major Amazigh languages in Morocco. It has been an official language of Morocco since 2011.
Berber Americans, American Berbers or Amazigh Americans, are Americans of Berber descent. Although a part of the population of the Maghreb is of Berber descent, only 1,327 people declared Berber ancestry in the 2000 US census. People of Berber origin in United States have created several associations with goal of maintaining and strengthening their language and culture, such as the Amazigh Cultural Association in America (ACAA), The United Amazigh Algerian (UAAA), The Amazigh American Association of Washington, D.C., and the Boston Amazigh Community.
Yennayer is the first month of the Berber calendar. The first day of Yennayer corresponds to the first day of January in the Julian Calendar, which is shifted thirteen days compared to the Gregorian calendar, thus falling on 12 January every year. The Berber calendar was created in 1980 by Ammar Negadi, a Paris-based Algerian scholar. He chose 943 BC, the year in which the Meshwesh Shoshenq I ascended to the throne of Egypt, as the first year of the Berber calendar.
Rkia Damsiria is a Moroccan Berber singer and poet. She writes and performs in Tashelhit, her native Berber tongue.
Youcef Zirem is an Algerian writer, activist and journalist.
Khadija Yaken, is a Moroccan writer. Her works of prose and poetry in both the Arabic and Amazigh language, occupy official site affairs Amazigh literature in the Morocco Writers Union.
Malika Moustadraf was a Moroccan Arabic-language writer. She is best known for her pioneering short stories and women's rights activism, which set her squarely in Morocco's feminist vanguard. Before her early death at age 37, she published a novel, Jirah al-ruh wa-l-jasad, and the story collection Trente-Six.
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