L’intangible et la nécessité
Arabe et kiswahili en islam d’Afrique orientale
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12327509 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jean-Claude Penrad (École des hautes études en sciences sociales, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 124 |
| Pages | 27-45 |
| Publication date | 2008-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0997-1327 • E-ISSN: 2105-2271 |
| Publisher | Édisud (PUBLISHER • FR) |
| DOI | 10.4000/remmm.6008 |
| OpenAlex | W104518760 |
| Language | FR |
| References cited | 5 |
Arabic, vector of the Quranic revelation, imposed itself as the canonic language of Islam in Eastern Africa. For centuries, Arabic remained the attribute of the members of the Arabic-speaking elite, acting as traders in the Oceanic networks and as political leaders in the counter-cities. While Kiswahili emerged as an indigenous language, functioning as a trade and social lingua-franca before reaching the margins of Islam, Arabic remained for long the marker of the upper social classes. And it took a long time before the appearance of a Swahili literature. But the upheavals of the late 19th c. – colonial division, establishment of Christian Missions, and the intervention of the South Asian Muslims – led to the contestation of the predominance of Arabic, including at the religious level. In a reformist perspective, the use of Kiswahili tended to become a necessity, without challenging the sacredness of Arabic. The paper ends with a glance at how new media and recent political evolutions have an impact on sociolinguistic dynamics
Arabic · Colonialism · Elite · Ethnology · Indigenous · Islam · Lingua franca · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Swahili · African history and culture analysis · African history and culture studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law · Philosophy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |