Language Identity in Egypt

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course targets students with knowledge of standard Arabic. Knowledge of Egyptian colloquial Arabic is also an asset but not a requirement. Texts used in this course include Egyptian novels, newspaper articles, religious and political discourse, songs, blogs, school textbooks and also advertisements. Most material in this course is in Arabic. However, since this is also a linguistics course, linguistic concepts will be discussed in English, and a number of linguistic studies will be read in English. The aim of this course is to examine how language is used in Egyptian public discourse to demarcate the collective identity of Egyptians, and how this identity is then manifested in language form. Sociolinguistic concepts such as subject positioning, stance, indexicality and code-switching will be discussed. The course adopts the view point that language is in fact a form of social practice (Heller 2007). It argues that public discourse in Egypt draws on clearly defined markers by means of which Egypt is positioned in relation to the outside world. It projects a homogeneous Egyptian identity built on fixed, independent variables such as, ethnicity, religion, locality, a common past, and moral values. This collective identity influences the choice of code, especially in the choice between Egyptian colloquial Arabic (ECA), Standard Arabic (SA) and foreign languages. Issues related directly to the definition and challenges of the concept of identity, especially a national and/or collective one will be tackled as well. The course aims at providing a framework for analyzing identity within ad wider context and comparing and contrasting the perception of identity in different communities.