Language Policy and Identity in Mauritania: Multilingual and Multicultural Tensions

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In modern-day Mauritania, as in several multilingual states, tensions over language policy and identity between the two ethnic groupsArab and afro-Mauritanianhave been flaring ever since the nations independence. In Language Policy and Identity in Mauritania: Multilingual and Multicultural Tensions, El Hacen Moulaye Ahmed investigates the issue of language policy and identity in this North African country. Moulaye Ahmed traces the past and the present Mauritanias identities and language policies and reveals Mauritanians language policy preferences and the relationship between their identities and their preferences.

Reviews

In Language Policy and Identity in Mauritania: Multilingual and Multicultural Tensions, El Hacen Moulaye Ahmed asserts that Mauritania's history and people are "shrouded behind a thick veil, for they do merely exist in the corpus of English literature" (p. xvi). His volume is a significant step in introducing an English-speaking audience to complexities relating to language policy and planning (LPP) and identity in Mauritania, where colonial legacies, recent global flows, and local ethnoracial strife make the language question in that West African nation a fascinating one to examine. For those interested in further deepening their knowledge about LPP and African affairs, this monograph will serve as a useful initial reference.

Author Bio

El Hacen Moulaye Ahmed is lecturer at the University of Nouakchott Al Aasriya.