Berber literature

The full article can be found by following this link:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13629387.2016.1150183
Below are some excerpts:

The start of the 1980s marks Djebar’s return—after a decade-long absence—both to writing in general and to the French language in particular. If the 1970s stand out in her bibliography as a conspicuous gap in productivity, the circumstances of this gap are well-documented. Djebar has written about this period in her work indicating that she thought that she could write in Arabic. Yet, Arabic written by her would never appear in print. In 1980, she published Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement, soon followed by a series of novels, all in French. At first look, it seems as though Assia Djebar eventually forsakes her unfruitful Arabic experiment for a definitive return to publishing in French. However, her Arabic experiment did bear fruit, and her output in that language did see the light of day, only it was on screen, rather than on the page. Those familiar with the Algerian author’s oeuvre know that the 1970s’ gap in her bibliography corresponds to her foray into filmmaking, which yielded two films. These films will also remain her only works that are not in French.
If Djebar did not write in Arabic but made a film instead, then how is filmmaking, in her case, a more suitable medium for Arabic expression than writing?
In order to begin answering this question, I focus on the first of her two films, The Nouba of the Women of Mount Chenoua (1978), and articulate my analysis of both the film and its circumstances around the interrelated notions of aphasia, diglossia, and what I call arabophonie in Algeria. The last of these notions merits qualification straight away. The term arabophone is generally used in the objective sense of speaking Arabic. However, I intend it to convey the same connotation that francophone carries. Just as postcolonial implications of margin and centre result in francophone signifying not quite French, the Maghreb can be arabophone also in the sense of not quite Arabic. As to diglossia, while commonly addressed in the discipline of linguistics, and central to studies of Arabic within that field, it is, in this case, also relevant from a literary perspective. Nevertheless, it is necessary to start by considering the role of Nouba in Djebar’s work, and the role of speaking for the main character, or, as it happens, not speaking, which I designate as aphasia. This choice of word is not innovative by any means. Djebar herself used it as part of a chapter title in L’Amour, la fantasia (1985). By asking how is film a better suited medium than writing for Arabic expression in Djebar’s case, what I submit is that aphasia became essential to Djebar’s work specifically in its ties to Arabic, and the language’s position in Algeria at the intersections of French, Tamazight, and a broader Arabic-speaking region.
APHASIA
Nouba is a traditional form of urban music in the Maghreb, with its roots in Arab Spain, which is why it is sometimes also called Andalusian. The word nouba has entered French in its musical sense to mean a loud, carnivalesque revelry. However, it carries another meaning, still prevalent in the original Arabic, signifying ‘turn’ or ‘opportunity’ (as in take a turn, or get an ‘opportunity’ or a ‘chance’). This double meaning is intentional, and the women’s nouba in the title carries both senses of ‘women’s song’ (implying their song in their own voice), and ‘women’s turn’ (implying their turn to speak). The connection between the sense of ‘turn’ and the musical form is based on the trilateral root ن.و.ب, meaning representing (or acting as representative), it is also etymologically related to substitution and deputation or proxy. 
The titular nouba suggests that it is literally their turn to speak after they were overlooked by history, and their voices silenced, which is consistent with Djebar’s role as a historian. However, it is not enough to get a turn to speak, one needs a voice to speak with. In the other sense, of nouba, Lila substitutes the women of the Cherchell area’s voice for her own. With their turn to speak, they give Lila a voice as much as they are given one, and they represent her as much as the film represents them. Nouba is the facto the porte-parole of these women.
DIGLOSSIA
It is important to stress the difference between the two varieties of language that constitute Diglossia. Because these varieties are situational and socially-governed, they can easily be mistaken for tone or register, and diglossia can be misunderstood when the focus is only on the social factors that regulate the situations in which H or L is used. However, the differences between the two can be very pronounced, resulting in what may seem like two different languages, each with its own grammar, lexicon, and phonology. The implications of likening varieties of a language to separate languages can be highly inflammatory and politically laden. My purpose, however, is merely to indicate the apparent difference between H and L Arabic. Most importantly, however, it is essential to keep in mind that speakers of a diglossic language are not necessarily proficient in both varieties. While the L variety is acquired the way any language is acquired, namely through speaking to children, H is achieved through formal education.
This difference in acquisition is crucial. Using H or L is not necessarily a social choice, but a privilege of the literate. The first implications of this privilege for Nouba should be immediately apparent when taking into account the literacy rates of Algeria in the 1970s. According to UNESCO, and based on a 1971 census, the illiteracy rate in Algeria was 73.6% for segments of the population aged fifteen and over, and illiteracy among rural women specifically for that age group was 94.0% (1978, 42). While the literacy of the women in the film is unverifiable, the illiteracy rates among women in rural Algeria at the time were high by any standard. These women, speaking L Arabic only as a result of illiteracy, literally and very tangibly do not have a say in situations where the use of H is required. Consider, for instance, that parliament and political speeches are examples of some of these situations where H is used.
ARABOPHONIE
When taking into account the perceived superiority of certain varieties of Arabic, arabophonie, in this context, is analogous to what the term francophonie connotes, which is precisely not quite French. Arabophone, then, suggests a perceived inferiority in comparison to other varieties of Arabic. To clarify this analogy, I propose to focus on one crucial feature of francophonie, which is that it always entails the significant existence of at least one other language alongside French. Whether it is Wolof or the many other languages of West Africa, a Créole in the Caribbean, English in North America, Dutch or German in Europe. Naturally, the situation in each of these regions is considerably more complex than I am sketching here. However, the consistent feature that differentiates France from francophone countries or regions, is that in France only French is imagined to exist, regardless of the factual existence of other languages. In contrast, when French-speaking societies are francophone rather than French, the existence—officially acknowledged or not—of some other idiom is essential.
Similarly, arabophonie is demarcated by the apparent presence of one or more other languages in the region or society. It is the appearance of a presence of another language that is the significant feature here, rather than its actual presence. Defining Arabophonie as the fact of speaking Arabic in a bi- or multilingual context acknowledges the alleged inferiority of certain varieties of Arabic based on the belief that the presence of other languages in the region is corruptive, whether this belief and the hierarchy that it implies are adhered to or not. As such, it is different from a rivalry between regions (each claiming their variety of Spoken Arabic being closer to Fussha for example), but acknowledges without necessarily condoning the dynamic between an Arabic centre and a periphery, and the ensuing discrimination against, and/or paternalist attitudes towards, literary and cultural production in certain varieties of Arabic over others. In this sense, when one does not adhere to the language attitude that arabophonie describes, it remains possible to condemn and reject its hierarchical implications, or denounce the marginalization, silencing, or snubbing of the other languages that make it arabophone rather than Arabic.
Algeria is arabophone in that at least one other language is perceived to exist alongside Arabic. This is a fundamental difference between the Maghreb and other Arabic-speaking regions. In the Maghreb, the presence of French is obvious. In fact, often what defines the Maghreb as a region, is precisely that it is the three former French colonies of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. This makes it francophone, but, consequently, arabophone also. However, if The Maghreb is obviously arabophone given the existence of French as a result of colonialism, Tamazight (the Amazigh language also known as Berber) compounds the complexity of the diglossic situation in Algeria, and plays an even more important role in making the region arabophone rather than strictly Arabic. Although the women of the Cherchell area speak in Dardja with Lila, they are also Amazigh, making Dardja presumably their second language, and Tamazight their first.

New means of communication and networking have intensified the
contact among the Amazigh (Berber) communities in North Africa
and diasporic locations, reinforcing pre-existent forms of
transnationalism and deterritorialisation. The Internet, however,
reinforces local identities as well. This article claims that historical
memory and visual and verbal art interact with the social and
political discourses on Amazigh/Berber websites, producing local,
transregional, and transnational forms of identity. The issue is
explored by examining Berber websites’ production of ‘heritage’
and artistic innovation linked to the criticism of national historical
constructions and of ‘globalising’ approaches to the Maghreb. The
online reactions to the label ‘Arab Spring’ and the artistic and
political discourses of the online project ‘New World Embassy of
Azawad’ are appraised as examples of interrelating political,
artistic and identity dynamics. A second issue concerns the
interpretation of Amazigh cultural and political discourse. The
question is whether Amazigh websites create contradictory
discourses to be interpreted in terms of new ‘mythologies’ or of
‘strategic essentialism’.

This book, A-Z Proverbs in Lusoga is part of my fulfillment of the Asmara 2000 declaration where I personally committed myself to writing and publishing 1000 titles in Lusoga before my 50th birthday. I am still far behind that is why I have decided to share this long standing work in progress. You will find the translations and explanations quite appealing and usable but a lot remains to be done. I will appreciate feed back from the readers and users.

Vermondo Brugnatelli “La spiritualité de Si Mohand”, in: Pierluigi Valsecchi (éd.), Persona, trascendenza e poteri in Africa - Person, Transcendence, Powers in Africa, Milano, Accademia Ambrosiana, (2019), pp. 143-157.

English abstract:
The Algerian poet Si Mohand ou-Mhand (1848 - 1905), considered the greatest Kabyle poet, is best known for two aspects of his poetic production, the love poems of his youth, and the proud and unsubdued poems of his maturity. When the revolt of Kabylie in 1871 was crushed by France, which imposed a new order, replacing the traditional elite (of which the family of Si Mohand was a part) by petty and obedient individuals, the poet decided not to abandon the country, at the cost of being forced to lead a "cursed" life, adapting to precarious and low-paying jobs, moving from one village to another and indulging in vices (alcohol, kif, gambling) ...). He continued, however, to denounce the cowardice of his contemporaries, composing a number of wonderful poems that described his misfortunes and vicissitudes, which he shared with many of his countrymen. Despite this celebrity linked to material experiences and the rejection of traditional practices of religion, Si Mohand's poetry reveals a deep and intimate tension towards the spiritual, a legacy of his Sufi formation, which manifests itself in many circumstances of his life, up to the last moments.
This paper aims to analyze the traits that highlight this personal religious sensitivity, through a choice of poems revealing the spiritual journey of the poet.

Résumé en français:
Le poète algérien Si Mohand ou-Mhand (1848 - 1905), considéré le plus grand poète kabyle, est surtout connu pour deux aspects de sa production poétique, celui amoureux et paillard de sa jeunesse, et celui fier et insoumis de sa maturité. Quand la révolte de la Kabylie en 1871 fut écrasée par la France qui imposa un ordre nouveau, remplaçant l’élite traditionnelle (dont la famille de Si Mohand faisait partie) par des individus mesquins et obéissants, le poète décida de ne pas abandonner le pays au prix d’être obligé à mener une vie de « maudit », s’adaptant à des emplois précaires et peu rémunérés, se déplaçant à pieds d’un village à l’autre et s’adonnant aux vices (alcool, kif, jeu...). Il continuait cependant à fustiger la lâcheté de ses contemporains, composant une quantité de poèmes merveilleux qui décrivaient ses malheurs et ses vicissitudes, qu’il partageait avec beaucoup de ses compatriotes. Malgré cette célébrité liée à des expériences matérielles et au rejet des pratiques traditionnelles de la religion, la poésie de Si Mohand révèle une profonde tension intime vers le spirituel, héritage de sa formation soufi, qui se manifeste dans plusieurs circonstances de sa vie, jusqu’aux derniers moments.
Cette communication vise à analyser les traits qui font ressortir cette sensibilité religieuse personnelle, à travers un choix de poèmes révélateurs du parcours spirituel du poète.

The essay supports the idea of a North African origin of Cupid & Psyche. In fact, recently published Berber tales enable to bring to light an ancient folk tradition belonging to the homeland of Apuleius that contains not only the structural elements of the Apuleian narrative, but also some details that are similar to those in the narrative, without relying on the Latin text. The essay also highlights the process of interpretatio and aemulatio which made possible the transformation of an oral tale in a literary narrative fully inserted into the  Antonine culture of the second century of our era.

(co-author: Nedjima Plantade)
Apuleius' Cupid & Psyche is based on a Berber oral canvas. Evidence is raised both from Berber allusions (gestures, mythical helpers) within the author's Latin text and from similarities between Apuleius' plot and North African folktales.

Fake Term "Nubian" – Why?

To clarify that the non-Egyptian antiquities of the Egyptian South and the Sudanese North cannot be called Nubian, I initiated a series of articles, presenting the historical interaction among the Hamitic – Kushitic Egyptians, the Kushitic Ethiopians (ancestors to today´s Arabic-speaking Sudanese, Oromos, Sidamas, and other Eastern African Kushites), and the Medjay – Nubians, who are ancestors to the modern Nubians.

The latter may now well be the quasi-exclusive inhabitants of a vast part of the territory of Upper Egypt (Kemet) and of North Sudan (Kush - Ethiopia), namely south of Luxor to Wadi Halfa and thence further to Debba, but in the Antiquity, their ancestors were only a minority among the Egyptians and the Kushites (Ethiopians) who inhabited the said territory (and the rest of Egypt and North Sudan).

More importantly, the Ancient Nubians never formed a state of their own in the pre-Christian times. So, the royal monuments, temples, palaces, military camps and outposts, administrative buildings and private homes that have been unearthed in the land where today's Nubians live were not built by their ancestors and consequently, they are not their own historical heritage, but mainly the heritage of today's Egyptians, Arabic speaking Sudanese, Oromos, Sidamas and eventually other, minor, Kushitic nations.

Today's Nubians therefore cannot be considered as either the only or the primary heir to either the Egyptian Past or the Kushitic / Ethiopian Antiquity, History, monuments, and Heritage. In other words, the Egyptian temple of Isis at Philae cannot be characterized as a Nubian temple, and the Kushitic / Ethiopian temple of Amun of Napata (in today´s Karima, North Sudan) cannot be labeled "Nubian temple"; the latter is valid for even one more reason, namely that there is no Nubian population living there today as well.

The term "Nubian" cannot be given to the kings of Kerma, Napata and Meroe – the three most important capitals of Pre-Christian Kush / Ethiopia – because these kings were not Nubians but Kushites / Ethiopians. Considering both, the ethnic and the linguistic levels, the Nubians were as different from the Egyptians and the Sudanese Kushites / Ethiopians as the Ancient Greeks from the Ancient Babylonians.

The fake term "Nubian" has been introduced in order to effectively detach the Arabic-speaking Sudanese from the search for their identity, prevent them from properly assessing their tremendous historical heritage, further engulf them into the Pan-Arabist fallacy, and definitely disconnect them from their brethren, namely the tyrannized Oromos, Sidamas, and the other subjugated Kushitic nations. These Kushitic nations have been comprised within the non-Kushitic, non-African, Semitic colonial state of the racist Amhara and Tigray Abyssinians, who are totally unrelated to the Oromos, the Sidamas, and the other subjugated Kushitic nations of Abyssinia. 

For the above reason, the Amhara and Tigray Abyssinians are absolutely irrelevant of the historical name of Ethiopia, which belongs only to he Arabic-speaking Sudanese, the Oromos, the Sidamas, and the other subjugated Kushitic nations of Abyssinia. The criminal colonial state of Abyssinia has to be forced - by any means - not to use the fair name of Ethiopia anymore in the future.
First published in AfroArticles, Buzzle and American Chronicle on 24th March 2010
Republished in the portal of the Oromo Parliamentarians:
https://www.oromoparliamentarians.org/English/Facts%20about%20Oromo/Kushatic%20_%20Oromo%20Nation%20Part%20VI.htm

The interaction of artistic productions with several languages, literary markets and media is crucial in the Amazigh literary space. Focusing on writers who use the Amazigh (Berber) language, this study addresses contemporary directions in Moroccan Amazigh (Berber) artistic works set against the historical and literary background of the Maghreb as well as the Amazigh diaspora in Europe. It also discusses Amazigh elements in Dutch novels and short stories published by writers of Riffian heritage. The term “Berber” will be used throughout this essay to indicate the historical
continuity of the field of study.

Revista ARQUEOHISTORIA. Por una Arqueología Sin Fronteras - Época Segunda - nº 8 - Septiembre de 2015 - ISSN: 1137-5221 - Versión a Todo Color.

Revista fundada en 1997, especializada en Enigmas de las Antiguas Civilizaciones y los Orígenes de la Humanidad, la Cultura y el Pensamiento Filosófico.

Edita: ArqueoHistoria & Sociedad Epigráfica
Depósito legal: M-9882/1997

CONTENIDO:

¿Las más antiguas pruebas de navegación del Occidente?......................5

El amuleto libio-egipcio del Halcón y la Serpiente de Cuba......................31

Una inscripción líbico-bereber en la Cueva del Jagüey, Punta de Maisí, Guantánamo, Cuba......................36

John Toland (1670-1722)......................41

Las olvidadas pirámides japonesas......................44

REVIEWS......................51

¿Inscripciones en las supuestas ruinas submarinas de Yonagani?......................51

ESPACIO SOLIDARIO......................60

International Dostoevsky Society (IDS)......................66

AGON. Grupo de Estudios Filosóficos......................67

Research Interests: Phoenicians, Epigraphy (Archaeology), Greek Epigraphy, Paleography, Greek Paleography, Latin Epigraphy, Cuban History, Archaeology of the Iberian Peninsula, Petroglyphs and Pictographs, Anthropology of Cuba, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Arqueology, Libyan archaeology, Arqueología, Ancient Greek Epigraphy, Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, Book of the Dead, Libya, Arqueología histórica, Greek and Latin Epigraphy, Paleografia, Arte Rupestre, North-West Semitic Epigraphy, Fenicios, Epigraphy, Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Arqueología Subacuática, Archeologia Fenicio-Punica, Arqueología romana / Roman archeology, Lengua ibérica, Epigrafia, PYRAMID, and Revistas de artes y humanidades.

Every narrative has a context which is consciously or subconsciously derived from a world-view and an ideology, and so do have the narratives of 'origin', those which were knitted together to create different community identities towards the end of 19th and the early decades of 20th century Kerala. Placed within the wider context of 'colonial modernity', these myths turned out to be and at times were used for constituting a 'lineage', and in recalling certain pasts, at the same time, selectively erasing some others. These representations, centered around the il/legitimacy claims put forth through decades,eventually revolve around certain repetitive themes and motives like :the places of origin and the initial settlements of each caste/ community group.The refashioning and solidification of caste/community identities towards the the beginning of the 20th C involving the attribution of historicity effected through the blurring of boundaries between the 'historical' and the 'mythical' narrative genres turns out to be the focus here.

Don Juan es una de las figuras trágicas que más atención ha acaparado en Occidente. Hasta ahora los críticos han encontrado a varios seductores de carne y hueso que pudieron servir de inspiración al autor (o a los autores) de los dramas del siglo XVII. Sin embargo, a diferencia de Don Juan, ninguno de esos candidatos pudo ser –evidentemente– un anfitrión de difuntos.
En este volumen conoceremos a unos personajes de ficción que fueron seductores de mujeres; pero, además –como el burlador sevillano–, fueron sacrílegos y blasfemos, se mofaron de los muertos, los convidaron a cenar y acabaron duramente castigados por todos esos excesos. Poco a poco iremos siguiendo el rastro de esos relatos por varias regiones de Europa, África y Asia hasta remontarnos a las huellas que han dejado en la Antigüedad clásica.

Es este el primer volumen de una colección de relatos recopilados en la franja septentrional de Argelia. Los textos fueron grabados, en lengua árabe o en bereber, directamente de informantes de las montañas del Tell, y luego fueron traducidos al español, editados y catalogados
conforme a las pautas marcadas por los índices internacionales
de cuentos.
El prólogo de este Primer tesoro de cuentos del Atlas telliano
incluye tres secciones: en la primera se expone la información relativa a la geografía, la historia y la etnografía del Tell; en la segunda, se presentan los rasgos más relevantes de la narrativa oral de la región; y en la ultima el lector hallara algunas claves para entender las formulas, tanto las bereberes como las árabes, que a menudo aparecen al inicio y al final de los cuentos de esta antología.

[Author Accepted Manuscript]
The paper analyses some Islamic legends attested in several versions throughout Northern Africa, both in Arabic and in Berber. In particular, the "Legend of the speaking camel" is attested as Baghirun in Tuareg and was also recorded by Mammeri in Kabyle. It was also widespread in many Arabic versions.

Another cycle of religious legends contain the description of Mose's death. The theme was recorded in Moroccan Arabic  (Jouin 1971-72), in tuareg (Aghali 1981), in Tachelhit (Stroomer 2003), in Tamazight of Central Morocco, and several Kabyle versions: Lanfry (1973-74), Mammeri (1980 pp. 306-319) and Nacib (1988: 99-106, in French translation; 2002: 49-54 Kabyle text).

The analysis of similarities and divergences in all these versions permits to put forward hypotheses about the origin and the ways of diffusion of the genre to which these religious legends belong, which occupies a particular place within the North African (and particularly Berber) literature. In accordance with Galand-Pernet's deep studies on Berber literatures, three main layers can be singled out: an archaic indigenous ground, a rich Islamic contribution and a multitude of local adaptations.

As a conclusion, «On the basis of the few data available, one could think that the marabouts, as custodians of "scripturality", played a role above all in the composition and first dissemination of texts, probably starting from written Arabic sources, while the world of brotherhoods would then have a role in the resumption and elaboration of themes and texts, with a vitality that did not exclude the creation of “new” material, especially with regard to local hagiographic legends.»

(English Abstract) This article presents three samples of written documents from Tunisia and Libya. Several ancient texts are already known with regard to the most western territories (especially southern Morocco), but the written literature of eastern countries is much less known.
The oldest text, which dates back to the Middle Ages, is the Kitāb al-Barbariyya, a Berber commentary on an Ibāḍite legal work, the Mudawwana of Abū Ghānim. Its author was an otherwise unknown Abū Zakarīyaʾ Yaḥyâ al-Yafranī. Its language is rather archaic and very different from that of Yefren (Libya), while several elements link it to the current Tunisian dialects: it seems probable, therefore, that the Nisba Yafranī refers to the tribe of Banu Yafran, who formerly occupied the region of Djérid and were Nukkarites as the author of this text (see Brugnatelli 2011, 2016).
The second text is a religious poem, Tmazixt, composed by a sheikh from Djerba (Tunisia), Šaʿbān b. Aḥmad al-Qannūšī, who lived between the end of the 18th and the early 19th century. It is recorded in several written versions, collected in the 20th century, as well as a recording by an elderly reciter who was one of the last custodians of this oral tradition (v. Brugnatelli 2005, 2008).
Lately, the paper presents the 35 or so texts in Berber of Cheninni (South Tunisian), collected by the French researcher Auguste Bossoutrot towards the end of the 19th century. He also transcribed these texts in Arabic characters, but he added a transcription in Latin characters and a translation in French (v. Brugnatelli 2018).

================
(Résumé Français) Cet article vise à présenter trois exemples de documents écrits provenant de l’est de la Berbérie, notamment la Tunisie et la Libye. Plusieurs textes anciens sont déjà connus en ce qui concerne les territorires les plus occidentaux (notamment le sud marocain), mais la littérature écrite des pays orientaux est beaucoup moins connue.
Le texte le plus ancien, qui remonte au moyen âge, est le Kitāb al-Barbariyya, commentaire berbère d’un ouvrage juridique ibāḍite, la Mudawwana d’Abū Ghānim. Son auteur était un nommé Abū Zakarīyaʾ Yaḥyâ al-Yafranī, par ailleurs inconnu. Sa langue est très différente du parler actuel de Yefren (Libye), tandis que plusieurs éléments la rattachent aux parlers tunisiens actuels : il semble probable, donc, que la nisba Yafranī renvoie plutôt à la tribu des Banu Yafran, qui jadis occupaient la région du Djérid et étaient nukkarites comme l’auteur de ce texte. La langue de ce texte est plutôt archaïsante (v. Brugnatelli 2011, 2016).
Le deuxième texte est un poème religieux, Tmazixt, composé par un cheikh de Djerba (Tunisie), Šaʿbān b. Aḥmad al-Qannūšī, ayant vécu entre la fin du 18ème siècle et le début du 19ème. On connaît plusieurs versions écrites, recueillies au 20ième siècle, ainsi que un enregistrement par un récitateur âgé qui est l’un des derniers dépositaires de cette tradition orale (v. Brugnatelli 2005, 2008).
Dernièrement, on va discuter les quelque 35 textes en parler de Cheninni (Sud Tunisien), recueillis par le chercheur français Auguste Bossoutrot vers la fin du 19ème siècle. Lui aussi, il a transcrit ces textes en caractères arabes, mais il a ajouté une transcription en caractères latins et une traduction en français (v. Brugnatelli 2018).

Références
Brugnatelli V., 2005 – « Un nuovo poemetto berbero ibadita »,  Studi Magrebini 3 n.s., p. 131-142.
Brugnatelli V., 2008 – « Littérature religieuse à Jerba. Textes oraux et écrits », in M. Lafkioui - D. Merolla (éds), Oralité et nouvelles dimensions de l’oralité. Intersections théoriques et comparaisons des matériaux dans les études africaines, Paris, Publications Langues’O, p. 191-203.
Brugnatelli V., 2011 – « Some Grammatical Features of Ancient Eastern Berber (the language of the Mudawwana) », in L. Busetto (ed.): He bitaney lagge. Dedicato a / Dedicated to Marcello Lamberti. Saggi di Linguistica e Africanistica - Essays in Linguistics and African Studies, Milano, Qu.A.S.A.R., p. 35–46.
Brugnatelli V., 2016 – « Un témoin manuscrit de la « Mudawwana d’Abū Ġānim » en berbère », Études et Documents Berbères 35-36, p. 149-174.
Brugnatelli V., 2018 – « Su alcune voci gergali nel berbero di Cheninni (Tunisia) », in R. Bombi, F. Costantini éds, Percorsi linguistici e interlinguistici. Studi in onore di Vincenzo Orioles, Udine, Forum 2018, p. 105-118.

Paper presented to the "9. Bayreuth-Frankfurt-Leidener Kolloquium zur Berberologie University of Frankfurt/M – Germany (20-23 july 2016)".

This paper (in French) presents the corrected spelling and meaning of some items of a 18th century glossary published by Auguste Bossoutrot in 1900 on the basis of an anonymous manuscript. The corrections have been made possible thanks to the retrieval of the whole text from which the glosses have ben extracted (the medieval Berber commentary of Abu Ghanim's "Mudawwana").

The paper reveals some problems of globalism and regionalism concerning the Balkans, the Bulgarian ethnic model and ethnic picture in Bulgaria and gives information on the Bulgarian communities abroad just before the enlargement of the European Union.

Presentation, in a colloquium held in 2004, of an Ibadite poem recently discovered in Djerba. Still preserved in memory and chanted by some elders of Guellala, the text is also recorded in some manuscripts.

This texts displays an interesting interplay between orality and literacy in the Ibadite communities during the last two centuries. In fact, it was composed at the beginning of the 19th century as a tool for religious teaching in a mostly illiterate environment. Nowadays, with the ongoing loss of the Berber language and of the ancestral traditions, the written texts are felt by the Ibadites themselves as the best means to preserve this cultural heritage.

This study investigates dynamics of family language policy among Chaoui and Kabyle families in Algeria. In stark contrast with Language policy research in Algeria focusing on institutional contexts, this study foregrounds language practice, ideology and planning in private and informal contexts. A survey was carried out with Berber parents, who vary on educational, regional and ethnic grounds. The results indicate that Kabyle gains a strong foothold as the dominant home language choice across Kabyle families, as opposed Chaouia and Dariǧa which seem to be favored by the Chaoui families. Dehierarchizing language codes in Algeria reshaped the general perceptions of Berber Parents, who advocate the promotion of linguistic plurality in private and educational spheres. Finally, parents of both ethnic origins plan to avail themselves of the social media and kinship relations to maintain their Berber children"s heritage language. These home policies provide a continuity for the intergenerational transmission of Tamazight across generations.

Appunti sulla parte monografica del corso di Dialettologia Berbera 2005-2006.
Table of contents:
1. LE FIABE -1
1.1 IL “GENERE” DELLA FIABA - 1
1.2. LA FIABA NELLA SOCIETÀ - 2
Vava Inouva - 3
Siwel-iyi-d tamachahut ("Raccontami una storia") - 4

2. LA STRUTTURA DELLA FIABA - 5
2.1 LA "DELIMITAZIONE" DELLA FIABA - 6
2.2 LE "SEQUENZE" - 7

3. UNA FIABA ANTICA: AMORE E PSICHE - 8
3.1. L’ORALITÀ - 9
3.1.1 L’incipit - 9
3.1.2 La “morale” - 10
3.2 AMBIENTAZIONE NORDAFRICANA DELLA FIABA - 11
3.2.1 Motivi presenti in altre fiabe - 11
3.2.2 Aspetti della cultura “nordafricana” - 13
I rapporti sociali, in particolar modo famigliari - 13
Altri elementi caratteristici della società nordafricana - 14
Aspetti della cultura alimentare del Nordafrica - 15
Elementi di religiosità popolare - 16
3.3 FIABE BERBERE CONTEMPORANEE - 16
Fiore d’oro - 17
Punti comuni - 22
Un altro racconto : L’uomo senza figli - 23

4. LUNJA: MITO BERBERO DI ADONE? - 24
4.1 LUNJA - 24
4.1.1 Il mito di Adone e altri miti del Vicino Oriente - 29
4.2 UN RITO PER IMPETRARE LA PIOGGIA: ANZAR - 33
1- La leggenda esplicativa del rito - 33
2- Il rito - 34
4.3 ALCUNI MOTIVI ARCAICI - 36
4.3.1.Il mito ugaritico di Aqhat - 7
1 - Le aquile/avvoltoi - 38
2 - L’arco - 39
BIBLIOGRAFIA - 40

Nuestro itinerario partirá de un apólogo incluido en una compilación de relatos de las postrimerías del siglo XIII, los Castigos de Sancho IV, que se halla inserta en la tradición de ejemplarios medievales destinados a la instrucción moral y política de los príncipes. De este speculum principis daremos un salto vertiginoso de ocho siglos y de miles de kilómetros hasta la tradición sefardí de Irak, que nos procura un testimonio oral que guarda cierto paradójico aire de familia con la versión medieval de los Castigos. Esa variante judía nos conducirá después a otra que fue documentada por mí mismo, también en fecha reciente, en la alcazaba de Argel; y de allí, por último, nos trasladaremos unos cuantos kilómetros hasta las variantes bereberes del norte de África. En nuestro recorrido nos saldrán al paso interesantes testimonios de la Europa oriental y del África subsahariana que revelarán vínculos insospechados y que demostrarán cuán caprichosas han sido los pasos de este relato tradicional por las sendas de la historia.

This paper explores in what ways Kabyle self-identification is related to the circulation of ethnographical knowledge in Algeria since the end of the nineteenth century. Ethnographical knowledge stimulated self-reflection in a more complex way than previous interpretations  suggest by using the concept of acculturation or an essentialist concept of identity.

Paper presented to the "8. Bayreuth-Frankfurt-Leidener Kolloquium zur Berberologie University of Bayreuth – Germany (9-11 october 2014)".

The catchphrase "vaba-inu ba" contained in a traditional Kabyle folktale is paralleled by many other similar formulas in different Berber literary traditions (Gourara, Central Morocco, Tashelhit) displaying the structure:
kinship term (1) + affix -(i)new // kinship term (2)  (with inherent specification of the first person).
This point to the existence of an archaic common literary tradition in the whole Berber regions.

Religious literature in North Africa in Berber-speaking areas-ABSTRACT (Vermondo Brugnatelli-Università di Milano-Bicocca) The North African religious literature in pre-colonial times was mostly characterised by bilingualism. As far as written literature is concerned, given that the Islamic religion requires some knowledge of Arabic, above all when dealing with written text, even monolingual Berber populations had to cope with this language, and the religious teaching was confronted with the need for translation and /or adaptation of Arabic texts. Most of the ancient documents written for local uses in the North African domain contain translations or commentaries in Berber of Arabic works. For instance, in the Eastern domain, one of the most important Ibadi texts, the Mudawwana of Abu Ghanim, was explained and commented in Berber in a long text, recently rediscovered , of more than 1000 pages. The various catechisms of this branch of Islam, still used in some Berber-speaking areas, were originally composed in Berber. Later on, the expansion of Arabic in the Eastern area lead to a marginalisation of Berber, the written compositions in this language came to an end and almost all of the religious texts, including the catechisms, were translated into Arabic (but oral teaching in Berber in rural areas still continued until recent times, as proven by some 19 th century religious poems from Tunisia and Libya: Brugnatelli 2016). In the Western part of North Africa, on the contrary, where the Berber language is still widespread, the practice of composing written texts in Berber never ceased and a vast literature is still existing, embracing multiple fields, not only in the religious domain (Van den Boogert 1997) In the field of oral literature, the contact with Arabic culture was mediated through different actors. On the basis of a preliminary analysis of the data available, it seems that the marabouts, being the custodians of the written records, have played a role, especially in the first phase of composition and distribution of texts, probably starting from Arabic written sources, while the world of the sufi brotherhoods took over the role of elaboration of themes and texts, with a vitality that did not exclude the creation of " new " material, drawn from local hagiographic legends. This could explain the existence of a " classic " repository of widely circulated texts, along with local repertoires limited to single groups (Brugnatelli 2009).

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: 
Si Mohand ou-Mhand, the troubled “bohémien” poet who sang both love and the tragedy of a people, is rightly regarded as the national poet of the Berbers of Kabylia.
He was struck, with all his family, by the harsh colonial repression and forced to a life of misery. Nevertheless, the misfortunes that punctuate his life could not bend him, and the will of redemption expressed through the poetic word has made him the symbol of resistance to injustice and to the arrogance of the most powerful.
In his ISEFRA, concise compositions that allow, in their brevity, to effectively express a wide range of different feelings, he describes the joys of love but also the pain of exile and loneliness, the fall into vice, his longing for a time irreparably lost, his contempt for petty profiteers, and his complex but intense relationship with God.
The work of Si Mohand, already translated into French, Spanish, English, Dutch, Arabic, Russian, is now being made available to the Italian public, enriched by an extensive introduction and explanatory notes.
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SUNTO ITALIANO:  Si Mohand ou-Mhand, l'infelice poeta bohémien che cantò insieme l'amore e la tragedia di un popolo, è a giusto titolo considerato il poeta nazionale dei Berberi della Cabilia.
Travolto con tutta la sua famiglia dalla dura repressione coloniale e costretto ad una vita di miseria, le sventure che costellarono la sua vita non bastarono a piegarlo, e la volontà di riscatto espressa attraverso la parola poetica ne ha fatto il simbolo della resistenza all'ingiustizia e alla prepotenza del più forte.
Nei suoi ISEFRA, agili composizioni che permettono, nella loro concisione, di esprimere con efficacia i sentimenti più diversi, egli descrive le gioie dell'amore ma anche i dolori dell'esilio e della solitudine, la caduta nel vizio, la nostalgia per un tempo irrimediabilmente perduto, il disprezzo per i meschini approfittatori, ed un complesso ma intenso rapporto con Dio.
L'opera di Si Mohand, già tradotta in francese, spagnolo, inglese, olandese, arabo, russo, ora viene messa a disposizione del pubblico italiano, arricchita da un'ampia introduzione e da note esplicative