''Académie Berbère d'Échange et de Recherches Culturels'', usually shortened to ''Académie Berbère'' or the Berber Academy was a Paris-based Kabyle cultural association formed in 1966 and officially authorized in March 1967 with the objective of raising Berber consciousness. The association was renamed Agraw Imazighen (English: Assembly of the

Imazighen , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber flag, Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , p ...

) in Tamazight in 1969.

History

Berber Academy is primarily associated with Algerian activist Mohand Arav Bessaoud, who formed the group with a small group of "Kabyle luminaries from the worlds of scholarships, arts, and politics," including Ramdane Haifi,

Mouloud Mammeri Mouloud Mammeri () was an Algerian writer, anthropologist and linguist. Biography He was born on December 28, 1917, in Ait Yenni, in Tizi Ouzou Province, French Algeria. He attended a primary school in his native village, then emigrated to ...

, Mohand Saïd Hanouz, and singer Taos Amrouche, who hosted their first meeting in her home in Paris. The association faced internal disagreement as to whether to have an intellectual or grassroots activist focus. The association relaunched in 1969 as Agraw Imazighen with the first Berber concert. The relaunch and Tamazight-language name change "marked a shift toward a more particularist, Berber-centered agenda" primarily concerned with making "the general public aware of the history and civilization of the Berbers and to promote their language and culture." This served as a turning point for Berber diaspora culture in France, as well as for the Berberist movement outside of it. The association published an influential monthly bulletin, ''Imazighen'' (French: ''Imazighéne''), in both French and Kabylian, the latter using Neo-Tifinagh. ''Imazighen'' and other publications were distributed by the association to thousands of Kabylian coffeehouses throughout Paris, and they were further circulated by readers in Algeria and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

. Though ''Imazighen'' was viewed by many as overly radical, it was generally very positively received by Berber communities, with thousands of letters of support being sent from Algeria and Morocco. ''Imazighen'' ran for thirty issues. Berber Academy was dissolved in 1976, largely due to lack of finances.

Neo-Tifinagh

Berber Academy created a derivation of the

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Al ...

Tifinagh Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: or , ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuar ...

orthography, now known as Neo-Tifinagh, to accommodate Kabyle phonetics. They taught local members of the Kabyle diaspora community Neo-Tifinagh, and used it in their widely read bulletin, ''Imazighen''. Neo-Tifinagh has since undergone further reform and is used in various contexts throughout North Africa.

References

Cultural organizations based in France Kabyle diaspora Berber culture Berberism Berbers in France Diaspora organizations in France {{berber-stub

History

Neo-Tifinagh

See also

References