Morocco Debates Language in Education: Arabic vs. French in Schools

"The teaching of scientific subjects in French is essential. This does not mean that we are abandoning classical Arabic," notes the Franco-Moroccan poet and painter. However, he acknowledges that bilingualism is a reality in the Maghreb. For the winner of the Goncourt Prize, with his novel "The Sacred Night", we should not make it a problem. "The more languages you learn, the better," he assures.

In reaction to the comparison of the French language to a "spoil of war" by Kateb Yacine, the 74-year-old Moroccan author believes he understands his Algerian colleague who, according to him, at a very young age, witnessed the Sétif massacre in 1945. "It was the beginning of the war... He (Kateb Yacine) says that the language does not belong to the military but to those who seize it to say the intolerable, to denounce the colonization of Algeria, to demand independence and dignity." On the other hand, he does not fail to observe that the latter remains the Maghrebian author who has most used this "spoil of war", in reference to his novel "Nedjma", published in 1956, which, for the Franco-Moroccan, deserved to win the Nobel Prize. "He is a great writer, a great poet, a great man," notes Tahar Ben Jelloun.

If, in Morocco as in Algeria, many Maghrebian authors are not taught in classrooms, Ben Jelloun recalls that the French literary scene, on the other hand, gives a significant place to Maghrebian authors, such as Boualem Sansal, Kamel Daoud, Hédi Kaddour, Fouad Laroui and Meryem Alaoui. "Even if Arab literature in its diversity is not well known in Europe, France, along with South Korea, is one of the countries that translates the most so-called foreign literature," he points out.

With regard to the sacredness of the Arabic language, the Franco-Moroccan author never ceases to recognize that this language would not have allowed him to address a certain number of subjects, including sexuality. "It is true that when I started writing, it seemed difficult to say certain things in Arabic, especially in the field of sexuality. I was not capable of it, which does not mean that Egyptian or Iraqi writers have not addressed these issues. At the time, I thought that Arabic was a sacred language." Nowadays, he believes that things have evolved, "Arabic is a language that can evolve and invent new concepts," he concludes.