Gendering French in Tunisia: language ideologies and nationalism

Keith Walters

doi:10.1515/ijsl.2011.039

Article

Gendering French in Tunisia: language ideologies and nationalism

Keith Walters

Published/Copyright: August 30, 2011

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International Journal of the Sociology of Language

From the journal Volume 2011 Issue 211

Abstract

This paper seeks to describe and account for a common ideology among Tunisians and North Africans more broadly that associates the use of French with women, thereby symbolically associating the use of Arabic with men. In this regard, the use of French can be said to be “gendered” there. In an effort to historicize this phenomenon, I sketch the social history of French in Tunisia, particularly in regards to the access female and male Tunisians would historically have had to it through the institution of schooling. I then consider the different relationships contemporary Tunisian men and women have with French. Finally, I seek to contextualize these relationships in light of other ideologies that are part of Tunisian daily life, particularly notions of “authenticity” and “openness”, tropes of many forms of discourse in Tunisia.

Keywords:: Tunisia; gender; ideology; Arabic; French; social history of language

Published Online: 2011-08-30

Published in Print: 2011-September

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2011.039

Keywords for this article

Tunisia; gender; ideology; Arabic; French; social history of language