Language and Identity - The Arabization Process or the Suppression of Identity

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Orientalism / Sinology - Arabistic, grade: 14/20, University Hassan II. Casablanca, course: Language Policy, language: English, abstract: Gone are the days when language used to be seen as a mere medium to express feelings or describe reality. Rather it is only through language that we, humans, come to see the world and experience it. It is also through this very language that our identities are shaped. Identity; one of the most paradoxical and illusive terms, meaning at the same time the thing and its very opposite. Identity as individualism, but also and paradoxically as collectivism. One can talk about her or his own identity in separation from all other human beings, but also as his or her identity as being Moroccan, Amazigh, African, Arab, Muslim, Jewish, Female, Atheist etc. That is identity as an expression of ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, nationality, etc. From this very simple trial to get a hold of the concept of identity, one starts to feel off the beaten track.