36.2374, Reviews: Language Politics in Tunisia: Fethi Helal and Joseph Lo Bianco (2025)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2374. Fri Aug 08 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.2374, Reviews: Language Politics in Tunisia: Fethi Helal and Joseph Lo Bianco (2025)

Moderator: Steven Moran (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Managing Editor: Valeriia Vyshnevetska
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Mara Baccaro, Daniel Swanson
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Editor for this issue: Helen Aristar-Dry <hdry at linguistlist.org>

================================================================


Date: 08-Aug-2025
From: Yousra Hamiham [yousra.hamiham at ulb.be]
Subject: Applied Linguistics: Fethi Helal and Joseph Lo Bianco (2025)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/36-548

Title: Language Politics in Tunisia
Subtitle: A Study of Language Ideological Debates
Series Title: Multilingual Matters
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Multilingual Matters
           http://www.multilingual-matters.com/
Book URL:
https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/?K=9781800410879

Author(s): Fethi Helal and Joseph Lo Bianco

Reviewer: Yousra Hamiham

SUMMARY
Through the analysis of various ideological and political debates on
language in Tunisia, this study shows that the performative aspect of
language is brought to the fore through public discourse. This book
thus proposes an analytical approach that is intended to be a breath
of fresh air, and a new way of studying language that does not limit
itself to observing the linguistic practices of Tunisian speakers, but
is rather interested in the linguistic ideologies that are manifested
in discourse, in what speakers think about the way they speak, and in
the linguistic representations they make of their own languages. The
book is well structured, divided into eight chapters in total, the
first three of which are devoted to contextualisation and
theorisation. The chapters that follow, and more specifically from the
fourth onwards, are devoted to data processing and an in-depth
analysis of the emerging trends as well as the argumentative
strategies relating to each of the trends identified in the context of
Tunisia.
Chapter 1, the introduction, is accompanied by illustrations,
including images of placards raised - written in Arabic and English -
by Tunisians during various protests held in 2011, 2021 and 2022. It
contextualises the different historical periods and events in Tunisia.
Particular attention is paid to the Tunisian education sector, which
has undergone major reforms during the 21st century, coinciding with
the development of this research work, as the authors state (page 14).
The methodology on which the study is based is both a critical and
historical analysis of discourse, and although it is limited to a
specific period (2011-2023), it includes debates on language during
the sensitive period following the Tunisian revolution.
The second chapter, entitled “Language Ideologies and Language
Policies”, traces the country's ethnolinguistic history and details
reformism. It shows that three major institutions have played an
important role in the development of modern Tunisian thinking among
the country's elites, particularly regarding language policies:
Zaytuna Mosque, Polytechnic School of Bardo and Sadiki College. During
the period of the French protectorate, a different approach was taken
to the management of the education system, one that sought to avoid
the mistakes already made in Algeria, which resulted in the
maintenance of traditional schools alongside colonial institutions.
These traditional schools and the Sadiki Alumni Association were “the
first centres of resistance against French colonial cultural hegemony”
(page 43). As for the post-independence period, language policy in
Tunisia went through three major phases: “(1) the Bilingual Era
(1956-1972); (2) the Arabisation Movement (1973-1990) and (3) the
Maintenance of Arabic and the Progressive Return of French
(1991-2011)” (page 60).
Chapter 3, “Concepts and Theories of Language Policy and Planning” is
an immersion in the development of LPP studies. This section is rich
in theories and concepts which are clearly defined and applied to the
results of the research carried out in this work in order to propose a
practical solution and a model which can be applied to the Tunisian
case.
Chapter 4, entitled “Arabisation and Islamisation: Towards a
Decolonial Ontology and Epistemology”, presents the various sub-groups
that make up the core supporters of Arabisation and its ideology of
cultural authenticity.
“In Defence of Francophonie” is the carefully chosen title for the
fifth chapter, in which the discursive and argumentative strategies
mobilised by the defenders of the language of Molière are analysed.
Four major themes are identified: the defence of French-Arabic
bilingualism; the dangers of Arabisation; a multidimensional national
identity; and the decline of French, threatened by both Arabic and
English.  As the authors point out: ‘It is not only against
Arabisation that the Francophiles are rivalling, but also against the
Anglophone threat’ (182). Discussions of the Tunisian vernacular are
found in the sixth chapter, where four argumentative strategies are
mobilised by the nationalists.  These are closely linked, in turn, to
history, authority, threat and comparison with countries that have
experienced a similar linguistic situation with Latin.
Chapter 7 highlights the language planning options emerging from the
pragmatic movement, whose main objective is utilitarian rather than
political language learning. The country's economic stagnation and
high unemployment are the result of relying solely on Arabic-French
bilingualism, according to the advocates of this trend, while strong
English language skills are associated with aspirations for economic
development and a quest for international recognition and visibility
in the academic field. The chapter concludes by highlighting the
recontextualisation of the various language policy schemes in the
Tunisian educational context, as well as in the political, historical
and sociolinguistic contexts.
Following the detailed analysis and the resulting divergences, Chapter
8 proposes a solution, which it describes as the “Tunisian Language
Compact”, to overcome the contradictory and conflicting discourses
identified in the previous chapters. This solution is constructive and
democratic. It is negotiation-based and takes into account the
diversity of the Tunisian linguistic landscape and its social reforms.
It is built on the concept of the dominant language constellation and
encourages dialogue between the various stakeholders. Its
implementation could thus make it possible to reduce economic and
social disparities and thereby promote the development of the Tunisian
economy.
EVALUATION
The strength of this work lies in its ability to present all the
argumentative strategies of the various positions and to place them in
their socio-historical context, which is a highly pedagogical approach
and makes the work enlightening and enjoyable to read. However, it
should be noted that the transliteration of the Arabic characters is
not always consistent and is sometimes lacking. This can be seen on
page 303, where we can read ‘zones d'ombre’ in French, accompanied by
its Arabic translation, the transliteration of which into Latin
characters has been omitted, as well as the slogan on page 307, the
transliteration of which has been overlooked. Unlike on page 5, the
translation of “awe” appears in Arabic, but is followed by its
transliteration into Latin characters, as is the slogan on page 62,
which is followed by its transliteration and accompanied by a
translation in brackets.
One of the texts analysed on page 144 raises an important point about
education that appears in the fourth chapter. This chapter analyses
the discourses and argumentative strategies of the advocates of
Arabisation, the results of which attest to the presence of an
ideology of cultural authenticity. The pedagogical approaches and
purist visions of Arab intellectuals are called into question, and the
marginalisation of Arabic in Tunisia is attributed to the lack of
studies on modern dialects and to outdated teaching methods that do
little to encourage young people to learn it. The relationship between
fuṣḥā and its dialects is presented as one of mutual enrichment and
innovation, and the authors confirm that “this heteroglossic view of
Arabic is fully in line with current developments in critical
sociolinguistics and applied linguistics” (page 144). This is indeed
true, but the argument could have gone into more detail and not just
confined itself to mentioning the simultaneous use of two varieties of
Arabic encouraged by certain scholars, which is a highly questionable
approach.
In fact, there are several elements to take into account which are not
limited solely to a methodology based on linguistic choices and the
assignment of roles to each variant of Arabic. These include, in
general, training teachers in active teaching methods and working with
different pedagogical scenarios, especially in the context of teaching
Arabic as a foreign language. There are new ICT (Information and
Communication Technologies) tools available to all, which put students
at the centre of learning and encourage active participation, but
there is still the question of the resources available to
establishments in terms of Internet access and projectors. Secondly,
the field of Arabic dialectology is rich in academic research and is
in a state of continuous development. For a broader view, the
Encyclopedia of Arabic Linguistics is a valuable reference. As for
content, the question of lesson design and the methodology to be
applied in the classroom is rich in possibilities for studying Arabic
dialectology. The analysis of texts in class, for example, can be
based on works written in Middle Arabic dating from the ninth century,
or contemporary novels in several variants of Arabic. More recent
novels written entirely in dialect, such as the works of Faten Fazaa
and other contemporary authors, can also be included.
Nevertheless, Helal and Lo Bianco's book is of course a major
contribution. This work is an inestimable study of the ideological
debates on language, which is complemented not only by an in-depth
knowledge of language policies in Tunisia, examined in the light of
successive historical contexts, but also by the proposal of an active
solution, which appears more than relevant for implementation in the
Tunisian context. All of these aspects underline the book's success in
advancing discussions on the sociolinguistic situation in Tunisia.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Yousra Hamiham is a researcher, teacher and literary translator. She
is a Research Fellow (ASP) at the Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.
- FNRS) in Belgium and is currently pursuing a PhD at the Université
libre de Bruxelles (ULB), focusing on Arabic dialectology.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------

********************** LINGUIST List Support ***********************
Please consider donating to the Linguist List, a U.S. 501(c)(3) not for profit organization:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=87C2AXTVC4PP8

LINGUIST List is supported by the following publishers:

Bloomsbury Publishing http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/

John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/

Language Science Press http://langsci-press.org

MIT Press http://mitpress.mit.edu/

Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG http://www.narr.de/

Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT) http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Peter Lang AG http://www.peterlang.com


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2374
----------------------------------------------------------