DOCSLIB.ORG

Semiotic and Discursive Displays of Tamazight Identity on Facebook: a Sociolinguistic Analysis of Revitalization Efforts in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Semiotic and Discursive Displays of Tamazight Identity on Facebook: a Sociolinguistic Analysis of Revitalization Efforts in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 5-2019 Semiotic and Discursive Displays of Tamazight Identity on Facebook: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Revitalization Efforts in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia Soubeika Bahri The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3098 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] SEMIOTIC AND DISCURSIVE DISPLAYS OF TAMAZIGHT IDENTITY ON FACEBOOK: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF REVITALIZATION EFFORTS IN POST-REVOLUTIONARY TUNISIA by SOUBEIKA (WAFA) BAHRI A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York. 2019 ©2019 SOUBEIKA (WAFA) BAHRI All Rights Reserved ii Semiotic and Discursive Displays of Tamazight Identity on Facebook: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Revitalization Efforts in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia. by Soubeika (Wafa) Bahri This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _________________ _________________________________________ Date Cecelia Cutler Chair of Examining Committee _________________ _________________________________________ Date Gita Martohardjono Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Michael Newman Miki Makihara Lotfi Sayahi THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Semiotic and Discursive Displays of Tamazight Identity on Facebook: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Revitalization Efforts in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia. by Soubeika (Wafa) Bahri Advisor: Cecelia Cutler This dissertation examines the online discourses and semiotic resources employed by the Tunisian Amazigh community in their language and identity revitalization efforts on Facebook in wake of the 2011 Tunisian Revolution. Drawing on insights from discourse-centered online ethnography (Androutsopoulos, 2008), the frameworks of language iconization, fractal recursivity, and erasure (Irvine and Gal, 2000), and the tactics of intersubjectvity proposed by Bucholtz and Hall (2004), I argue that Tunisian Imazighen (sing. Amazigh) use Facebook to challenge hegemonic language ideologies that erase Tamazight. I propose the notion of counter- erasure as an ideological process used by Amazigh activists to contest Arabo-Islamic ideology, pan-Arabism, and Arabicization policies that pushed Tunisian Tamazight to a status of endangerment. Counter-erasure is also a means to reproduce an oppositional-ideological language discourse that corresponds to the hegemonic discourses of linguistic and cultural exclusiveness. The analysis is based on longitudinal observations of the Facebook accounts of nine Tunisian Amazigh activists collected between 2016 and 2018, and is supplemented by 23 interviews and an online quantitative language survey among Tunisians. The analysis shows how discourse, multimodality, performativity, multilingualism, and multi-orthography are used iv semiotically to construct Amazigh identity and to assert the legitimacy and vitality of Tamazight. By examining these semiotic practices, this dissertation demonstrates how computer-mediated discourse (CMD) on Facebook provides a space for language ideologies to be disputed, reproduced and reversed - even in the face of very low rates of language proficiency and the endangered status of the language. The dissertation adds to an existing body of research on the sociolinguistics of digital communication with emphasis on the impact of Facebook interactions on language revitalization (Paricio-Martín & Martínez-Cortés, 2010), language activism (Feliciano-Santos 2011, Davis 2013), identity construction (Georgalou 2015), bi/multilingualism (Androutsopoulos 2008, 2013; Cutler & Røyneland 2018), and minority languages (Jones & Uribe-Jongbloed, 2013). Facebook is shown to be a key factor in the emergence of an indigenous Amazigh discourse in the years since the 2010-2011 Tunisian Revolution. In the process of identity negotiation, Facebook offers huge semiotic potential for triggering ideological shifts in how language and identity are conceived by Tunisians. The dissertation concludes that computer mediated discourse on Facebook can be a catalyst for linguistic and social change in the case of Tunisian Tamazight and beyond. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is with tremendous gratitude and appreciation that I acknowledge the generous support and invaluable help of my supervisor, Dr. Cecelia Cutler. This dissertation would not be possible without her guidance and encouragement throughout the years at CUNY-The Graduate Center. Ever since I met Cece in summer 2010 when I was just starting my application for this PhD program, Dr. Cutler has been very supportive of my research and career through her mentor, courses, feedback, and compassion. Cece, words cannot really express how much I owe you for being an exceptional advisor, professor, mentor, and friend. I am also very thankful to the members of my dissertation committee Dr. Michael Newman, Dr. Miki Makihara, and Dr. Lotfi Sayahi who contributed so much to this dissertation through their insightful comments, suggestions, courses, and research. Next, I would to thank you the Tunisian Amazigh community and the participants of Tunisian Tamazight revitalization project for allowing me to observe their Facebook pages and to interview them. I especially thank Nouri Nemri for his constant help and support since the beginning of my research journey. Many thanks to Illyes Rouine, Rafiq Khemira, Houcine Belgheeth,, Muhammed Khalfallah, Hajer Barbana, Slah Mimoun, A‘arbia El-Bez, Hammadi Muhammed, Khalid khemira and all the Amazigh men and women who accepted to participate in my research and to share their views and approaches to the question of Tunisian Tamazight either in the interviews or during our private Facebook chats. Thank you to the Faculty and students of the Linguistics Department at CUNY-The Graduate Center who have contributed immensely to my growth as a linguist and researcher. My special thanks is for Dr. Gita Martohardjono, Dr. Juliette Blevins, and Nishi Bissoundial. I also wish to thank Dr. Gregory Guy and John Singler from the Department of Linguistics at NYU for vi helping me shape my research through the framework of Sociolinguistics. The foundation of my linguistics training first started with Dr. Janet Bing, Dr. Joanne Scheibman, Dr. Bridget Anderson, and Dr. Alla Zareva at the Department of English and Applied Linguistics at Old Dominion University in Virginia. For that I would like to thank each of them for their mentorship and for inspiring me to pursue a PhD degree with focus on Sociolinguistics. I owe special debts of thanks to Dr. Suzanne Thomson. Without her most vital help, guidance, and empowerment, I, truly, would not have made it to America, pursued graduate studies, or become the person I am today. Susie, because I know that you will read this dissertation one day, I would like you to know that you are not only my role model for your intellect, class, and compassion, but also that person in the following idiom: ―People say best friends are hard to find; That‘s because the best is already mine‖. At last, I would like to thank the love of my life, Raja (Dr. Senthilraja Singaravelu), for being in my life. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ..............................................................................................………………x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................. ………………xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .........................................................................………………1 1.1 Research motivation..................................................................................………………1 1.2 Background ...............................................................................................………………6 CHAPTER 2: TAMAZIGHT IN ITS HISTORICAL AND LINGUISTICS CONTEXT ...……14 2.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................………………14 2.2 Etymology ............................................................................................………………15 2.3 Typology ..............................................................................................………………17 2.3.1 Tamazight Afro-Asiatic origin .............................................................………………17 2.3.2 Tamazight languages: classifications ...................................................………………20 2.3.3 Tunisian Tamazight Sub-Classifications .............................................………………22 2.4 Tunisian linguistic landscapes across history: Tamazight in contact ..………………27 2.4.1. Pre-Islamic history: Tamazight first contact with other languages ......………………28 2.4.2. Post-Islamic History: Tamazight contact with Arabic .........................………………30 2.4.3. Post- French occupation: Arabization continues .................................………………32 2.4.4. Post-Revolution 2010-2011 .................................................................………………36 2.5. Conclusive remarks..............................................................................………………38 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A R a B I a N S
    LEBANON SYRIA ISRAEL/Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) EGYPT JORDAN IRAQ KUWAIT IRAN SAUDI ARABIA BAHRAIN QATAR U.A.E . OMAN YEMEN ARABIAN SEA Middle East and North Africa Preti Taneja n 2010, religious and ethnic minorities across Right: A woman cries over a coffin during the the Middle East and North Africa remained funeral for two Christian brothers killed in Mosul, I disproportionately affected by ongoing con- November 2010. Khalid al-Mousuly/Reuters. flict, political turmoil and state-sanctioned repres- sion of their rights. country widely regarded as one of the most stable Though Iraqi parliamentary elections were held in the region. In November 2009, King Abdullah in March 2010, the government was not formed II dissolved a parliament that had only served until November. In this political vacuum, which two years of its four-year term. Elections were also saw the end of US combat operations in the due to follow swiftly, but were postponed for the country, violence against minority groups escalated. drafting of a new electoral law, and the country In February, attacks in Mosul over ten days left reverted to direct royal rule for a year-long period. eight Christians dead, according to Human Rights Despite protests that the new electoral law further Watch (HRW). In October, militants laid siege to marginalizes the country’s Palestinian population, Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic Church in elections were finally held in November 2010, Baghdad, taking over 100 people hostage. Numbers but were boycotted by the country’s main Islamist of reported casualties vary. Amnesty International opposition group.
    [Show full text]
  • Policy Notes for the Trump Notes Administration the Washington Institute for Near East Policy ■ 2018 ■ Pn55
    TRANSITION 2017 POLICYPOLICY NOTES FOR THE TRUMP NOTES ADMINISTRATION THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY ■ 2018 ■ PN55 TUNISIAN FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA AARON Y. ZELIN Tunisia should really open its embassy in Raqqa, not Damascus. That’s where its people are. —ABU KHALED, AN ISLAMIC STATE SPY1 THE PAST FEW YEARS have seen rising interest in foreign fighting as a general phenomenon and in fighters joining jihadist groups in particular. Tunisians figure disproportionately among the foreign jihadist cohort, yet their ubiquity is somewhat confounding. Why Tunisians? This study aims to bring clarity to this question by examining Tunisia’s foreign fighter networks mobilized to Syria and Iraq since 2011, when insurgencies shook those two countries amid the broader Arab Spring uprisings. ©2018 THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY ■ NO. 30 ■ JANUARY 2017 AARON Y. ZELIN Along with seeking to determine what motivated Evolution of Tunisian Participation these individuals, it endeavors to reconcile estimated in the Iraq Jihad numbers of Tunisians who actually traveled, who were killed in theater, and who returned home. The find- Although the involvement of Tunisians in foreign jihad ings are based on a wide range of sources in multiple campaigns predates the 2003 Iraq war, that conflict languages as well as data sets created by the author inspired a new generation of recruits whose effects since 2011. Another way of framing the discussion will lasted into the aftermath of the Tunisian revolution. center on Tunisians who participated in the jihad fol- These individuals fought in groups such as Abu Musab lowing the 2003 U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Birth of Al-Wahabi Movement and Its Historical Roots
    The classification markings are original to the Iraqi documents and do not reflect current US classification. Original Document Information ~o·c·u·m·e·n~tI!i#~:I~S=!!G~Q~-2!110~0~3~-0~0~0~4'!i66~5~9~"""5!Ii!IlI on: nglis Title: Correspondence, dated 24 Sep 2002, within the General Military Intelligence irectorate (GMID), regarding a research study titled, "The Emergence of AI-Wahhabiyyah ovement and its Historical Roots" age: ARABIC otal Pages: 53 nclusive Pages: 52 versized Pages: PAPER ORIGINAL IRAQI FREEDOM e: ountry Of Origin: IRAQ ors Classification: SECRET Translation Information Translation # Classification Status Translating Agency ARTIAL SGQ-2003-00046659-HT DIA OMPLETED GQ-2003-00046659-HT­ FULL COMPLETED VTC TC Linked Documents I Document 2003-00046659 ISGQ-~2~00~3~-0~0~04~6~6~5~9-'7':H=T~(M~UI:7::ti""=-p:-a"""::rt~)-----------~II • cmpc-m/ISGQ-2003-00046659-HT.pdf • cmpc-mIlSGQ-2003-00046659.pdf GQ-2003-00046659-HT-NVTC ·on Status: NOT AVAILABLE lation Status: NOT AVAILABLE Related Document Numbers Document Number Type Document Number y Number -2003-00046659 161 The classification markings are original to the Iraqi documents and do not reflect current US classification. Keyword Categories Biographic Information arne: AL- 'AMIRI, SA'IO MAHMUO NAJM Other Attribute: MILITARY RANK: Colonel Other Attribute: ORGANIZATION: General Military Intelligence Directorate Photograph Available Sex: Male Document Remarks These 53 pages contain correspondence, dated 24 Sep 2002, within the General i1itary Intelligence Directorate (GMID), regarding a research study titled, "The Emergence of I-Wahhabiyyah Movement and its Historical Roots".
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    Nisan / The Levantine Review Volume 4 Number 2 (Winter 2015) Identity and Peoples in History Speculating on Ancient Mediterranean Mysteries Mordechai Nisan* We are familiar with a philo-Semitic disposition characterizing a number of communities, including Phoenicians/Lebanese, Kabyles/Berbers, and Ismailis/Druze, raising the question of a historical foundation binding them all together. The ethnic threads began in the Galilee and Mount Lebanon and later conceivably wound themselves back there in the persona of Al-Muwahiddun [Unitarian] Druze. While DNA testing is a fascinating methodology to verify the similarity or identity of a shared gene pool among ostensibly disparate peoples, we will primarily pursue our inquiry using conventional historical materials, without however—at the end—avoiding the clues offered by modern science. Our thesis seeks to substantiate an intuition, a reading of the contours of tales emanating from the eastern Mediterranean basin, the Levantine area, to Africa and Egypt, and returning to Israel and Lebanon. The story unfolds with ancient biblical tribes of Israel in the north of their country mixing with, or becoming Lebanese Phoenicians, travelling to North Africa—Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya in particular— assimilating among Kabyle Berbers, later fusing with Shi’a Ismailis in the Maghreb, who would then migrate to Egypt, and during the Fatimid period evolve as the Druze. The latter would later flee Egypt and return to Lebanon—the place where their (biological) ancestors had once dwelt. The original core group was composed of Hebrews/Jews, toward whom various communities evince affinity and identity today with the Jewish people and the state of Israel.
    [Show full text]
  • ROMAN POLITICS DURING the JUGURTHINE WAR by PATRICIA EPPERSON WINGATE Bachelor of Arts in Education Northeastern Oklahoma State
    ROMAN POLITICS DURING THE JUGURTHINE WAR By PATRICIA EPPERSON ,WINGATE Bachelor of Arts in Education Northeastern Oklahoma State University Tahlequah, Oklahoma 1971 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS May, 1975 SEP Ji ·J75 ROMAN POLITICS DURING THE JUGURTHINE WAR Thesis Approved: . Dean of the Graduate College 91648 ~31 ii PREFACE The Jugurthine War occurred within the transitional period of Roman politics between the Gracchi and the rise of military dictators~ The era of the Numidian conflict is significant, for during that inter­ val the equites gained political strength, and the Roman army was transformed into a personal, professional army which no longer served the state, but dedicated itself to its commander. The primary o~jec­ tive of this study is to illustrate the role that political events in Rome during the Jugurthine War played in transforming the Republic into the Principate. I would like to thank my adviser, Dr. Neil Hackett, for his patient guidance and scholarly assistance, and to also acknowledge the aid of the other members of my counnittee, Dr. George Jewsbury and Dr. Michael Smith, in preparing my final draft. Important financial aid to my degree came from the Dr. Courtney W. Shropshire Memorial Scholarship. The Muskogee Civitan Club offered my name to the Civitan International Scholarship Selection Committee, and I am grateful for their ass.istance. A note of thanks is given to the staff of the Oklahoma State Uni­ versity Library, especially Ms. Vicki Withers, for their overall assis­ tance, particularly in securing material from other libraries.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Algeria, the Sahara & the M'zab Valley 2022
    Roman Algeria, the Sahara & the M’Zab Valley 2022 13 MAR – 2 APR 2022 Code: 22203 Tour Leaders Tony O’Connor Physical Ratings Explore Ottoman kasbahs, Roman Constantine, Timgad & Djemila, mud-brick trading towns of the Sahara, Moorish Tlemcen, & the secret world of the Berber M'Zab valley. Overview Join archaeologist Tony O'Connor on this fascinating tour which explores Roman Algeria, the Sahara & the M'Zab Valley. Explore the twisting streets, stairs, and alleys of the Ottoman Kasbah of Algiers and enjoy magnificent views across the city from the French colonial Cathedral of Notre-Dame d'Afrique. Wander perfectly preserved streets at the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Roman Djémila and Timgad, empty of visitors and complete with stunning mosaics, full-size temples, triumphal arches, market places, and theatres. At Sétif gaze upon one of the most exquisite mosaics in all of the Roman world – The Triumph of Dionysus. Engage with Numidian Kings at the extraordinary tombs of Medracen and the 'Tomb of the Christian' along with the ambitions of Cleopatra and Mark Antony at their daughter’s former capital of Caesarea/Cherchell. Explore the Roman 'City of Bridges', Constantine, encircled by the dramatic gorge of Wadi Rummel. Wander the atmospheric ruins of the Roman towns of Tipaza and Tiddis: Tipaza overlooks the Mediteranean, while Tiddis perches on a hillside, overlooking the fertile lands of Constantine. Walk the Algerian 'Grand Canyon' at El Ghoufi: a centre of Aures Berber culture, Algerian resistance to French colonial rule, inscriptions left behind by the engineers of Emperor Hadrian himself, and photogenic mud-brick villages clustering along vertiginous rocky ledges.
    [Show full text]
  • Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances
    SWP Research Paper Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber (Eds.) Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances RP 5 June 2015 Berlin All rights reserved. © Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2015 SWP Research Papers are peer reviewed by senior researchers and the execu- tive board of the Institute. They express exclusively the personal views of the authors. SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Ludwigkirchplatz 3­4 10719 Berlin Germany Phone +49 30 880 07-0 Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org [email protected] ISSN 1863-1053 Translation by Meredith Dale (Updated English version of SWP-Studie 7/2015) Table of Contents 5 Problems and Recommendations 7 Jihadism in Africa: An Introduction Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 13 Al-Shabaab: Youth without God Annette Weber 31 Libya: A Jihadist Growth Market Wolfram Lacher 51 Going “Glocal”: Jihadism in Algeria and Tunisia Isabelle Werenfels 69 Spreading Local Roots: AQIM and Its Offshoots in the Sahara Wolfram Lacher and Guido Steinberg 85 Boko Haram: Threat to Nigeria and Its Northern Neighbours Moritz Hütte, Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 99 Conclusions and Recommendations Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 103 Appendix 103 Abbreviations 104 The Authors Problems and Recommendations Jihadism in Africa: Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances The transnational terrorism of the twenty-first century feeds on local and regional conflicts, without which most terrorist groups would never have appeared in the first place. That is the case in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Syria and Iraq, as well as in North and West Africa and the Horn of Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • © in This Web Service Cambridge University
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-05527-8 - The Punic Mediterranean: Identities and Identification from Phoenician Settlement to Roman Rule Edited by Josephine Crawley Quinn and Nicholas C. Vella Index More information Index Abdera, 235–8, 242 Arados, 285–6 Abela, G. F., 26–7 archaeological evidence, 181, 199, 207, 213, access pits, 158–9, 166 257, 264, 268, 276, 279 acculturation, 97, 104, 165, 288, 296 Archaic period, 60, 116–17, 260, 289 afterlife, 74, 163 architecture, 60, 150, 154, 168 Agathocles, 176, 223, 292 houses, 124, 129, 145, 215–16, 248, 252–3, Agenor, 295–6 271, 303 Agnelli, Gianni, 25 courtyard houses, 248 agriculture, 71, 205, 251–3, 263, 269–75, 279 see also funerary architecture Alboran Sea, 217 Argos, 286, 295, 299 Albufereta, 250 Arharbi, R., 206, 213 Alcúdia d’Elx, 250 Aristotle, 16, 46 Alexander, 283–9, 291, 295, 302 armies, 16, 169, 176, 283 conquests, 284–7, 297 Arrian, 285–8, 291 as liberator, 284, 286 Arsa, 225–31 Alexandropoulos, J., 197–8, 235, 238 art historians, 25, 29–30, 32 Alfaro Asins, C., 217, 225, 228, 235–40 ashlars, 123, 126, 128 Algeria, 48–9, 72, 183, 196, 200, 203, 205, 238 Asido, 221, 225–30, 233, 237, 240 Alicante, 191, 245, 247 assimilation, 55, 97, 101, 233 alliances, 63–4, 157, 181 Assyrians, 31–2, 282 Almería, 225, 247–9 Astarte, 29, 131, 207 Alonai, 247 Athenians, 17, 284 alphabet, 37, 45, 219, 221, 225–7, 236, 283, 288, Atlantis, 57 295 Automalax, 173 altars, 171–2, 176–7, 233 Avienus, 222 of the Philaeni, 169–79 Azemmour, 204 Althiburos, 161, 183 Amathus, 32–4 Baal Hammon, 130, 218,
    [Show full text]
  • Nostalgias in Modern Tunisia Dissertation
    Images of the Past: Nostalgias in Modern Tunisia Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By David M. Bond, M.A. Graduate Program in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures The Ohio State University 2017 Dissertation Committee: Sabra J. Webber, Advisor Johanna Sellman Philip Armstrong Copyrighted by David Bond 2017 Abstract The construction of stories about identity, origins, history and community is central in the process of national identity formation: to mould a national identity – a sense of unity with others belonging to the same nation – it is necessary to have an understanding of oneself as located in a temporally extended narrative which can be remembered and recalled. Amid the “memory boom” of recent decades, “memory” is used to cover a variety of social practices, sometimes at the expense of the nuance and texture of history and politics. The result can be an elision of the ways in which memories are constructed through acts of manipulation and the play of power. This dissertation examines practices and practitioners of nostalgia in a particular context, that of Tunisia and the Mediterranean region during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Using a variety of historical and ethnographical sources I show how multifaceted nostalgia was a feature of the colonial situation in Tunisia notably in the period after the First World War. In the postcolonial period I explore continuities with the colonial period and the uses of nostalgia as a means of contestation when other possibilities are limited.
    [Show full text]
  • The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius in Their Social, Economic, and Political Context by Michael C. Gambino August, 2015 Directo
    The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius in their Social, Economic, and Political Context By Michael C. Gambino August, 2015 Director of Thesis: Dr. Frank Romer Major Department: History Abstract The goal of this thesis is, as the title affirms, to understand the military reforms of Gaius Marius in their broader societal context. In this thesis, after a brief introduction (Chap. I), Chap. II analyzes the Roman manipular army, its formation, policies, and armament. Chapter III examines Roman society, politics, and economics during the second century B.C.E., with emphasis on the concentration of power and wealth, the legislative programs of Ti. And C. Gracchus, and the Italian allies’ growing demand for citizenship. Chap. IV discusses Roman military expansion from the Second Punic War down to 100 B.C.E., focusing on Roman military and foreign policy blunders, missteps, and mistakes in Celtiberian Spain, along with Rome’s servile wars and the problem of the Cimbri and Teutones. Chap. V then contextualizes the life of Gaius Marius and his sense of military strategy, while Chap VI assesses Marius’s military reforms in his lifetime and their immediate aftermath in the time of Sulla. There are four appendices on the ancient literary sources (App. I), Marian consequences in the Late Republic (App. II), the significance of the legionary eagle standard as shown during the early principate (App. III), and a listing of the consular Caecilii Metelli in the second and early first centuries B.C.E. (App. IV). The Marian military reforms changed the army from a semi-professional citizen militia into a more professionalized army made up of extensively trained recruits who served for longer consecutive terms and were personally bound to their commanders.
    [Show full text]
  • Look Back Through the Millennia and You'll Find Women in Power Even in Humanity's Earliest Days. Here's a Look at Seven Po
    LHOSSINE/CREATIVE COMMONS NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM / PUBLIC DOMAIN CREATIVE COMMONS GUSTAVO JERONIMO/CREATIVE COMMONS GEVORK NAZARYAN/CREATIVE COMMONS INDIA POST Look back through the millennia and you’ll find women Women in power even in humanity’s earliest days. Here’s a look at seven powerful queens and in their accomplishments. PUBLIC DOMAIN History WOMEN IN HISTORY | AFRICAN LEGEND Dihya, Berber Warrior Queen Dihya was born into the Jarawa Zenata tribe in the 7th century and eventually ruled a free Berber state in north Africa that stretched from the Aures Mountains to the oasis of Gadames. She is usually described as very tall with a lot of hair, which may mean she wore her hair long and in dread- locks. The Ancient History Encyclopedia says she was a black, African queen who dressed as royals of ancient Numidia in a loose tunic or robe, sometimes belted, with sandals. FIGHTING THE ARABS Dihya was also referred to in Arabic sources as al Kahina, meaning the soothsayer, because of her alleged ability to foresee the future. She fought off the armies of the Umayyad Dynasty, led by Hasan bin al-Nu’man, who marched from Egypt and met her near Meskiana in 698 (modern day Algeria). It’s said she beat him so badly that he fled to Libya for five years. However, Hasan eventually returned and, helped by a captured officer, defeated Dihya near Tabarka in modern Tunisia near the Algerian border. History dis- agrees on whether she died a warrior’s death in battle or took poison to prevent capture, but it likely occurred in the late 690s or early 700s.
    [Show full text]
  • {Download PDF} a History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period
    A HISTORY OF THE MAGHRIB IN THE ISLAMIC PERIOD PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Jamil M. Abun-Nasr | 472 pages | 19 Dec 1987 | CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS | 9780521337670 | English | Cambridge, United Kingdom A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period PDF Book The opportunities afforded to women depended more on their status in society as part of dominant or minority social groups. Under the law, women were seen as adults with legal capacity, albeit one that was minimized in comparison to their male counterparts. Translated by Hajj Hamid. In fact, the Muslim conquest of North Africa and Al-Andalus was never easy, and conversion was not automatic. The foundation of similar cities and market towns, it has been argued, eventually encouraged pagan or non-Muslim Berbers to adhere to the laws of Islam to gain access to economic opportunities. A3 His Muqaddimah , an introduction to history, goes even deeper than his chronological accounts, however, and delves in to questions of social structures, interactions, and patterns over time. The so-called invasion was as much a massive, disorganized migration as a purposeful effort. Therefore, it cannot be said that any particular law code was better or worse for the women it governed. Iraq is its chest and the Maghrib is its tail. Abraham, Journal of Third World Studies "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title. Please enter the message. His worked has been critiqued, if not entirely dismissed, by scholars such as J. The field has been dominated by two influential surveys from two very different perspectives. Islamic North Africa and the Kharijites ca.
    [Show full text]