Amazigh/Berber Literature and “Literary Space”

The geographical space of the communities using Amazigh/Berber vernaculars extends from Morocco to the oasis of Siwa in Egypt and passes through Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The notion of Amazigh/Berber minority can be tricky to discuss and is largely rejected by the Imazighen themselves. This chapter investigates Amazigh/Berber literature and "literary space" by looking at the articulation of identity construction and at discourses on minority and majority in North Africa. It delineates the historical relationships between and among linguistic communities in North Africa in the long duree and in the recent past. The chapter examines what Amazigh/Berber literature can tell us about minority, multilingualism, and transnationalism. It offers a reflection on Amazigh/Berber literature and "literary space" in the light of the characteristics attributed by theoretical approaches to postcolonial and minority literatures.