DEBATING DARIJA: LANGUAGE IDEOLOGY AND THE WRITTEN REPRESENTATION OF MOROCCAN ARABIC IN MOROCCO by Jennifer Lee Hall A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Judith T. Irvine, Chair Associate Professor Barbra A. Meek Professor Robin M. Queen Professor Andrew J. Shryock © Jennifer Lee Hall ____________________________ All rights reserved 2015 In loving memory of Lee DeForest Hall ii Acknowledgements This dissertation is a collaborative work that is the outcome of a number of conversations and relationships that span many years and across many locations. I am exceedingly grateful to all the people and families in Morocco who helped make this project possible. Numerous people I met in the field (most of whom must remain unnamed) generously shared with me their time, friendship, humor and hospitality - patiently allowing me to observe, record, and take notes on their daily interactions. Special thanks goes to the teachers and women of the Tafza and Mohammedia Passerelle literacy classes, in particular, “Wafae,” “Ghita,” and “Cherifa,” who opened their homes and hearts to me and trusted me to represent their experiences in writing. The time I spent with them has enriched the content of this dissertation and laid a warm foundation for creating a fulfilling life in Morocco. Companionship as well as kind assistance in translation, transcription and interviewing was provided by Samira Lakmil, Naima Mouatassim, and Yassamine Fertahi. I am exceedingly grateful to “Sanaa,” “Jamila,” and “Naima,” who shared with me their precious transcriptions of SMS text messages and allowed me to analyze them as data. I am also indebted to the many individuals who provided institutional support and opened doors for me within Morocco. Thanks to Joshua Muskin at USAID/ALEF Rabat; Abdellah Khaloub, Said Errakib, and Said Fallaq at the Moroccan Ministry of Education; Hind Zkik at Plug-in; and Ahmed Benchemsi at Nichane/Telquel. For support during the research and writing phases of this dissertation, I owe thanks to several institutions. Funds for participation in Middlebury College’s Intensive Summer Arabic Program were provided by a U.S. Department of Education Foreign iii Language and Area Studies Summer Fellowship. I am grateful to the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the American Institute for Maghrib Studies and the David L. Boren Graduate Research Fellowship Program for research funding. I would also like to thank the National Science Foundation for additional research funds to conduct follow-up research on the long-term effects of USAID’s pilot Passerelle program. At the University of Michigan, I would like to thank the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the Department of Anthropology, the International Institute and the Center for the Education of Women for providing additional research and write-up funding, as well as other forms of support. I am very grateful to the members of my committee, Judith Irvine, Andrew Shryock, Barbra Meek and Robin Queen, for their unwavering support and guidance on this project. Judy has been an inspirational scholar, teacher and example to me throughout my doctoral program. I appreciate her careful attention to detail and for continually pushing me to take my theoretical analysis further and ask the harder questions. Her steady commitment not only to my project, but also to my development as a linguistic anthropologist, helped me get through difficult times and build confidence. Andrew’s critical insights made learning about the Arab world and Arabic language a joy. His delight in the surprises, disappointments and quirks of my fieldwork experiences energized me and kept my project feeling important, fresh and exciting. I thank Barb for her helpful suggestions when I was sure I had reached yet another dead- end, and for the always-open office door and time made to talk. Robin’s empathy and advice about writing, as well as her insights in the post-fieldwork dissertation process reassured me and helped me to continue to the end. iv I would like to acknowledge other faculty members at the University of Michigan whose seminars laid the foundations for this project. These include Bruce Mannheim, Alaina Lemon, and Kelly Askew. Anne Ruggles Gere helped me to think critically about literacy and ideologies embedded in development projects. To Tom Fricke, Eric Mueggler, Tom Chivens, and Robin Queen, many thanks for the opportunity to GSI their classes. Course work and life in Ann Arbor was greatly enriched by the companionship and support found in the 2004 anthropology cohort at Michigan. I want to thank fellow “linganthers” Anna Babel, Kathryn Graeber, Elizabeth Falconi, Eva-Marie Dubuisson and most especially Sarah Hilleweart, without whose friendship I cannot imagine having completed this project. I have also benefitted from intellectual dialogue with colleagues from outside the University of Michigan. Thanks to Katherine Hoffman at Northwestern University; Fatima Sadiqi and Moha Ennaji at the Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah in Fes; Mohamed Elmedlaoui at the Université Mohamed V in Rabat; and Dan Wagner at the University of Pennsylvania. Warm thanks also to Tara Deubel, Micah Boyer, and Devon Liddell for offering important suggestions and support at critical moments of the research and writing processes. I have been emotionally supported by a wealth of family and friends on both sides of the Atlantic. I am sincerely grateful to my in-laws in Morocco for making me a welcome part of their family and for their unending patience and humor while explaining to me the more subtle details of Moroccan culture and language. I am thankful for the friendship of Imane Alaoui, whose love and care of my family and all those around her continually fills my life with peace. This dissertation could not have taken tangible form v without Laila Karim, whose loving care of my children has made it bearable to be away from them while writing. I am grateful for my expat friends in Casablanca, in particular Carrie McKinnon and Emma Brouard, for keeping it real with their love of difference, their balanced perspective of life abroad, and their unwavering support during life’s (sometimes unexpected) events. I am forever grateful to my parents and family members in the U.S. for giving me the tools of strength and courage to explore different worlds and for always offering a welcoming home to which I can return. I appreciate their acceptance of the hardships of having a granddaughter/daughter/sister/niece who travels wide, lives far away and who comes back each time a little different. Their encouragement to believe in myself, take risks, and finish what I have started, has profoundly shaped who I am today. I am particularly thankful for my mom, who has taught me how to love unconditionally and believe that “sometimes, okay is good enough!” and for my Nana, who was the first to instill in me a profound love of reading. Warm thanks to Laura and Jenny Nichols, who continue to inspire my creativity and imagination, and in whose company I always feel re-grounded in who I am. Finally, I thank most deeply “Boo-bear,” who has actively supported me every step of the way throughout my studies and without whose love and belief in me, this work would not have been possible. His acceptance of my long absences away from home and his encouragement to continue this journey at times when I was ready to give up, have helped show me the amazing things I can accomplish. I thank you for the extensive hours spent translating and explaining bits of language (from 3 different varieties!) and your assistance during the editing and re-editing processes, without which viv there would be no hyphens in this text. Above all, my endless love and gratitude for our two amazing boys, Ayden and Salim, who bless us by filling our lives daily with wonder and light, and welcome us back home each evening with joyful hugs and a “happy dance.” vii Contents Dedication ...................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................iii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................xi Notes on Transcription, Transliteration, and Translation ............................................................xii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................xiv CHAPTER ONE .........................................................................................................................1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................1 “Without papers I don’t have anything to say” ...............................................................1 “Sighting” Moroccan Arabic and research “sites” ........................................................9 Languages and writing systems in Morocco ..................................................................12 Ideologies, disjuncture and elision .................................................................................22 Notions of time and space ..............................................................................................29