Nationalism and linguistic representations in Ceuta and Melilla

Abstract

This contribution envisages the study of the cities of Ceuta and Melilla as "laboratories" of plurilingualism, due in particular to the presence and contact of several languages. For in Ceuta and Melilla, Castilian is the official language, but the inhabitants of Moroccan origin and Muslim faith, who represent numerically the second most important community of cities, have as their mother tongue Tamazight in Melilla, and Dariya Or dialectal Arabic in Ceuta. These two languages are spoken by about 40% of their respective populations, a percentage which is higher than that of Basque speakers in the Basque Country. Unlike other Spanish bilingual regions, there has never been in these two enclaves, neither defense nor promotion of these languages spoken by the Muslim collective, only a recognition of the cultural plurality of their inhabitants.

Keywords

• nacionalismo
• representaciones lingüísticas
• identidad
• dariya
• tamazight.