Songs of Discontent: The Kabyle Voice in Post-Colonial Algeria
Open Access
- Author:
- Orr, Christopher Crandall
- Graduate Program:
- Musicology
- Degree:
- Master of Arts
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- None
- Committee Members:
- Vincent Perez Benitez Jr., Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
- Keywords:
- Berber
Kabyle
music
popular
political
Algeria
Amazight
Idir
Menguellet
Takfarinas
Massi
Mezel - Abstract:
- After gaining independence from French colonial rule in 1962, the new Algerian government believed that the way to move forward as a nation was to create a homogeneous Arab state. As the government began enforcing legislation demanding complete cultural assimilation, such as forbidding the use of the Kabyle Berber language Taqbaylit, Kabyle songwriters emerged as a voice of dissent. Out of this musical flashpoint came new and blended musical styles, innovative cross-cultural collaborations, and political activism. In this thesis, I explore the contemporary song movement among the Kabyle Berber tribe in northern Algeria and the ways in which this movement expresses the Kabyle culture within a socially oppressive society in Algeria. I consider five songs by Souad Massi, Hassen Zermani (Takfarinas), Hamid Cheriet (Idir), Lounis Aït Menguellet, and Iness Mezel that exemplify major trends in modern Kabyle music. First, I examine Massi’s song “Ech Edani” and its blend of flamenco, samba, and Kabyle musical elements. I then look at Takfarinas’s pan-Berber advocacy in his song “Azoule.” Third, I discuss the collaboration between Ugandan singer Geoffrey Oryema and Idir in their song “Exil.” Finally, I examine Menguellet’s use of poetic lyrics in his song “Yenna-d umγar,” followed by Mezel’s song “Amazone” and her advocacy for women’s rights. In the final analysis, modern Kabyle song illustrates the struggle of Kabyles for cultural recognition within an Arab-dominated society in Algeria and provides an important avenue for future dialogue between Berbers and Arab Algerians.