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The grammar of folklorization: An integrated

critical discourse analysis of the linguistic
depiction of Amazigh social actors in selected
Moroccan EFL textbooks (1980s-present)

Khalid Said

To cite this article: Khalid Said (2023) The grammar of folklorization: An integrated
critical discourse analysis of the linguistic depiction of Amazigh social actors in selected
Moroccan EFL textbooks (1980s-present), Cogent Education, 10:2, 2240162, DOI:
10.1080/2331186X.2023.2240162

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2240162

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa

UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
Group.

Published online: 07 Aug 2023.

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Said, Cogent Education (2023), 10: 2240162
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2240162
Received: 07 July 2022
Accepted: 19 July 2023
*Corresponding author: Khalid Said,
Department of English Studies, Cadi
Ayyad University, Marrakech, Rue
Amarchich, Marrakesh 40000,
Morocco
E-mail: khalid.said@uca.ac.ma; k.sai­
d@uca.ac.ma
Reviewing editor:
Jan Gube, The Education University
of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Additional information is available at
the end of the article
CURRICULUM & TEACHING STUDIES | RESEARCH ARTICLE
The grammar of folklorization: An integrated
critical discourse analysis of the linguistic
depiction of Amazigh social actors in selected
Moroccan EFL textbooks (1980s-present)
Khalid Said1*
Abstract: This study stands at the crossroads of folklorization, ethnicity, and
curriculum. It seeks to criticize how the institutionalized production of knowledge
about Amazigh folklore in Morocco has contributed to the creation and mainte­
nance of a closed system of linguistic options for representing Amazigh ethnic
groups through “folklorizing” their festivals, traditions, music, space, and marriage
rituals. To investigate the micropolitics of folklorization in officially produced EFL
textbooks in Morocco (1980-present), an integrated critical discourse analysis
approach that oscillates between linguistic analysis and sociological analysis has
been used. Results show that Amazighs have been mostly activated in relation to
behavioral and relational processes and are therefore depicted as passive, deprived
of sociological agency, with no effect(s) on others, or on the world. Excessive
folklorization, results also indicate, commodifies Amazighs by reducing them to
“exotic” commodities to be gazed upon. Amazigh females are caught in the realm
of the “physical” and the “sensual” and are, hence, deprived of being represented as
“thinkers” and “sayers” in mental and verbal processes. Non-Amazigh festivals and
forms of folklore, on the other hand, are encoded primarily in material and trans­
active processes. Folklorization skews aspects of Amazigh identity to a flat set of
criteria, such as “entertainment” and “exoticism”, which would give students
a partial view of who Amazighs are mainly by iconizing them in a “celebratory” way
which lacks analytical depth, bypassing, thus, significant concepts and topics
related to the discrimination and subjugation of minority groups and their symbolic
fights for power and social equality.
PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
In this paper, I report on the socio-semantic resources available for the ‘folklorization’ of Amazigh social
actors in selected EFL textbooks in Morocco. There are two important areas where this study makes an
original contribution. First, the current study provides an important opportunity to advance our under­
standing of how the discourse of ‘folklorization’ has been imagined, transmitted, taught, and learned, or
ignored in Morocco. Second, as far as scope is concerned, it seems that little to almost no attention, to
the best of my knowledge, has been allotted to the representation of Amazigh ethnic groups in
Moroccan curricula. The current study, it is hoped, will fill this gap by questioning the argumentative
patterns that EFL textbook designers have resorted to in sustaining a unified ‘national identity’. This,
I argue, will offer a profound and fresh look at identity politics in and through the Moroccan official
discourse.
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribu­
tion, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on
which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in
a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
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Subjects: Curriculum Studies; Inclusion and Special Educational Needs; Multicultural

Education; Education - Social Sciences; Sociology & Social Policy; Language & Linguistics

Keywords: folklorization; Amazighs; Imazighen; Berber(s); EFL/ELT textbooks; Morocco;

commodification; official knowledge; ethnicity; Arabization

1. Introduction and background

The ethnic composition in Morocco is largely made up of Arabs, the dominant social group, and
Amazighs, “the majoritarian minority” (Castellino & Cavanaugh, 2013, p. 5). “Scratch a Moroccan,
find a Berber”, a telling article title by the American anthropologist David Hart (1999), compels
serious attention to the Arab-Amazigh axis in Morocco, and points out to the argument that
although Arabs and Amazighs have co-existed side by side in Morocco for many decades, it is
quite indisputable that the Amazigh cultural component remains “the backbone” of the Moroccan
nation and even the basis of the whole North African ethnic architecture (Hart, 2000).

Situated at the crossroads of Africa and Europe, Morocco has often prided itself on being the
meeting point for the Arabo-Islamic, Amazigh, African, Jewish and Andalusian civilizations.
Morocco’s 2011 constitution has emphasized that the Moroccan cultural identity is shaped by
the union of its Arab-Islamist, “Berber” and Saharan-Hassanic components, nurtured and
enhanced by its African, Andalusian, Hebraic and Mediterranean influences. However, of all these
components, the Amazigh cultural and ethnic component stands out as being the most proble­
matic. Historically, the ancient people of North Africa -from Egypt’s Western Desert to the Atlantic
Ocean- have been referred to as “Berbers” (meaning “barbarian” in Greek but see Section 2 for
a brief discussion of the appellation “Berber”). Speakers of Tamazight dialects have progressively
embraced the ethnonyms Amazighs and Imazighen (the latter means free noble men) over the
appellation “Berber”. According to Maddy-Weitzman (1999), Amazighs’ distinguishing feature
continues to be the various spoken dialects of a single language: Tamazight (Libyco-Berber, an
Afro-Asiatic, previously Hamito- Semitic) (Maddy-Weitzman, 1999).

Although Amazighs account for a substantial majority of the population in Morocco, “they do not
hold the reins of power or equitably share in it” (Bengio & Ben-Dor, 1999). And despite the new
constitutional gains that put the Amazigh culture and language on equal footings with Arabs,
Amazighs, “the majoritarian minority” (Castellino & Cavanaugh, 2013, p. 5) who suffered “censure
and gross violence in colonial and postcolonial times” (Merolla, 2020, p. 27), have always stood out
against political, cultural, and linguistic marginalization. The socio-political demands of the
Amazigh movements were initially articulated in the “Charter of Agadir” on 5 August where they
openly denounced “the systematic marginalization of the Amazigh language and culture” and
militated for the “integration of the Amazigh language and cultures in various areas of cultural and
educational programmes” along with the “right to have access to the mass media” (Maddy-
Weitzman, 2001, p. 31). In 2011, stirred by the Arab Spring demonstrations and upheavals in
North African and Middle East, the political scene in Morocco opened up and the Amazigh political
and civic movements soon found their voices (Said et al., 2023). The official recognition of
Tamazight on constitutional grounds (alongside Arabic) has marked a turning point in Moroccan
cultural policy to further strengthen its democratic credentials. Ennaji (2014) contends that despite
this, Amazighs today “demand not only linguistic and cultural rights, but also economic opportu­
nities, political rights, and dignity” (p. 93).

Historically, Morocco faced the laborious and complicated task of “nation-building” that requires
the fulfilment of a unified and continuing national narrative that would articulate a distinct
Moroccan national identity and accommodate the tension between ethnic plurality and political
homogeneity. Appeal to the notion of Moroccanness, an imagined-collective national identity built
on the discourse of “sameness”, has been instrumental in activating the feelings of national unity
and strengthening the inherent quest for cultural purity.

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While the country appears to be on the threshold of a democratic breakthrough, Amazighs

grievances continue to arise, including, inter alia, the reduction of their socio-cultural identity to
folklore status (Said et al., 2023). Crawford and Hoffman (2018) argue that the folklorization of
Amazigh communities suggests that

change in Berber-speaking communities presents a threat to the perpetuation of Amazigh

cultural heritage. Such nostalgic depictions of a segregated Amazigh identity stand in sharp
contrast to the accommodating and flexible ways in which both rural and urban Moroccans
conduct their social interactions and mutually influence one another (p. 125).

In education, moreover, the situation is even more subtle. Given that official school textbooks, in
Venezky’s (1992) terms, are situated in an intermediate position between “latent curriculum” and
the “manifest curriculum”, they often used by nation states as ideological tools to convey the
“selective traditions and ideologies of dominant social and cultural groups” (Yaqub, 2014, p. 222),
and to create unquestionable and powerful “common sense” (Apple, 2000), especially with those
nation-states (re)emerging from the remains of colonialism and struggling “to revive particular
national myths and narratives long repressed, obscured, and quite selectively edited” (Yaqub,
2014, p. 222, emphasis in original). The power of school textbooks in shoring up a unified, some­
times biased, national identity, especially in multiethnic countries like Morocco, has received
considerable attention (Abdou, 2017; Cheng, 2013; Chu, 2015; Gladney, 1994; Said, 2019, 2023;
Taylor, 2017; White, 2009; Zhao, 2014). The vast bulk of studies, according to Said et al. (2023),
have largely rested on the binary dichotomy between “majority/minority” where the former is
“included” and “normalized” whereas the latter is “excluded”, “subjectified”, “marked”, and, above
all, “folklorized” (p. 2).

More strikingly, to add, results indicate that the representation of minority ethnic groups con­
jures up images of cultural folklorization where primitivity, poverty, tradition, and nostalgia form
recurrent patterns. According to Gladney (1994), “the widespread definition and representation of
the ‘minority’ as exotic, colorful, and ‘primitive’ homogenizes the undefined majority as united,
monoethnic, and modern” (p. 93). Consequently, recommendations tend to urge textbook
designers to take high-priority actions to ensure that ethnic groups are granted equal and fair
representation.

Despite this considerable number of studies dealing with the (under/mis) representation of
ethnic groups in school textbooks, there is a noticeable dearth of research, to the best of my
knowledge, pertaining to how Amazigh ethnic groups are portrayed/folklorized in school textbooks
in Morocco. This indicates that there is a need to understand the various representations of
Amazighs that exist in school textbooks.

Against this backdrop, the current research study seeks to problematize some facets of identity
politics in Morocco by critically examining how key aspects of the Amazigh identity have been
discursively folklorized in officially produced EFL textbooks in Morocco from the early 1980s up to
now. More specifically, this study aims at developing the argument that the master narrative in EFL
textbooks in Morocco has tended to folklorize Amazigh ethnic groups through instrumentalizing
their festivals, traditions, music, and marriage rituals, among other ethnicity markers.

The theoretical background underlying the study’s central argument—the discursive reciprocity
between folklorization, ethnicity, and curricula—largely draws on critical discourse analysis (CDA),
a multi- and inter-disciplinary approach to the study of discourse and power (Chouliaraki &
Fairclough, 1999) whose central mission has been to “play an advocatory role for socially dis­
criminated groups” (Wodak & Meyer, 2016, p. 17). CDA aims at revealing the reciprocal relationship
between linguistic structures and political structures, between discursive action and institutional
structures. To examine the discourse of folklorization, the proposed analysis focuses on festivals as

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recontextualized social practices which, according to Van Leeuwen (2008), include in addition to
social actors, social actions, space, and legitimation (official knowledge).

To understand how Moroccan EFL textbooks normalizes folklorization, the analysis draws on Van
Leeuwen’s (2008) social actor approach, which is a concrete application of Hallidayan transitivity
system. The study has made use of a nomadic set of concepts that find their critical unity in the
“tourist gaze” (Urry, 1992), “sociology of the invisible” (Blumer, 1969; Scott, 2018), “Ethnic
Integration Content” (Banks, 1989, 1999), and “official knowledge” construction in school text­
books (Apple, 2000). Data were gathered from 33 EFL textbooks which have been officially
produced in Morocco over the last three decades (1980s-present). Following Said (2019, 2023),
the selected textbooks are assumed to be representative of three main historical periods that mark
the evolution of EFL textbooks in Morocco: the Germinal Phase, the Critical Phase, and the Take-off
Phase.

2. Amazighs: Finding an identity

The place and role of Amazighs in Moroccan politics has been a challenging issue that “the mere
mention of the subject has long been taboo in many Arab states, because it clashed with the twin
prevailing visions of the territorial state and pan-Arabism over the past half-century” (Bengio &
Ben-Dor, 1999, p. vii). Specifically, the interaction between Amazigh social actors and Arabs has
been characterized by Islamization and Arabization, which may overlap and reinforce one another
without being necessarily mutually exclusive.

For example, Sadiqi (2009) argues that Morocco is a land of Islam and equally a land of Amazighs.
This intricate fusion of Islam and “Berberness” represents one of the central characteristics of present-
day Morocco (Boukous, 2012; Ennaji, 2005). While it might be argued that Islam and Amazigh ethnicity
are mutually exclusive, Amazighs were historically Islamized and, therefore, followed Sunni Islam as
are their non-Berber Arab compatriots in North Africa (Maddy-Weitzman, 1999, p. 29).

By the same token, the process of Arabization has affected Amazighs, blurring the distinction
between Arabs and other ethnic groups, including Amazighs (Al-Matrafi, 2018; Hart, 1999). The
Arab influence has led to excessive Arabization, complicating the definition of Berber identity. Here,
Maddy-Weitzman (1999) correctly argues that “perhaps half of all North Africans have been so
thoroughly Arabized over the centuries that they have lost all semblance of their Berber origins” (p.
29). According to this, Many Arab Moroccans are believed to be Arabized Berbers who adopted
Arab culture and language for social mobility and/or power. This process of assimilation
(Arabization and Islamization) is related to the “de-Berberization” of North Africa (McClanahan,
2006); hence, it could be reasonable to suggest that most Arab Moroccans as Arabized Berbers
who might have willingly or unwillingly adopted an “Arab” culture and language for purposes of
social mobility or access to power and resources.

Ennaji (2014) summarizes the axis of “Islamization”, “Arabization” and “Berberness” by claiming that

Although many Berbers adopted Islam and Arabic, the process of Arabization” that began
with the Arab conquest of North Africa in the seventh century and spiraled after indepen­
dence from the French in the twentieth century did not eradicate the Berber culture. Berbers
in Morocco have largely maintained their pre -Islamic traditions and cultural rituals (p. 94).

3. Amazighs: Finding a name

The term(s) used for referring to the Amazigh/Berber ethnic group(s) is disputed, causing both
etymological and political confusion. “Berber” has a potentially negative connotation derived
from its historical origins. Much of this terminological confusion (Amazigh(s), Berber or
Imazighen) can be attributed to the lack of clarity as to the origin of the term “Berber”, which
became established under the impetus of colonial ethnography of the nineteenth century.
Natives who speak “Berber,” favor “Imazighen”, in the singular “Amazigh”, which means a “free

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(noble) man” over the appellation “Berber”. The use of “Berber” is regarded as deprecating by
Amazigh natives (El Aissati, 2001).

According to Merolla (2020, p. 27), although the terms “Amazigh” (sg) and “Imazighen” (pl) have
replaced “Berber” in contemporary convention, the latter remains historically ingrained in research
discourse. Similarly, Arab sources have used pejorative terms like “al-Barbar”, “lisân al-barbarî”
(Berber language), and “al-barbariyya” to refer to Berbers. Likewise, the French term “berberes”
carries colonial connotations (Crawford & Hoffman, 2018), while the English term “Berbers” is
considered neutral and general and, above all, includes Berber varieties spoken beyond Morocco
(Sadiqi, 1997).

In this context, Said (2019, 2023) states that Moroccan scholars, such as Ennaji (2014), Sadiqi
(1997), and Youssi (1990), prefer the term “Berber” due to its neutral and general nature in the Anglo-
Saxon world. They argue that “Tamazight” refers to a specific variety of Berber and may exclude other
tribes like Tashelhit and Tarifit (Sadiqi, 1997, p. 12). In this study, extending El Aissati’s (2001, p. 85),
we will use the term “Amazigh(s)” instead of “Berber” to refer to the language in general and the
natives. This choice tends to accommodate the preferences of the natives and supports the official
“appropriation of the term ‘Amazigh’ in Morocco and in Algeria” (Merolla, 2020, p. 43).

El Aissati (2001) succinctly summarizes the overall discussion in this section by pointing out that:

The common reasoning one hears, mostly during public meetings, is that the term “Berber” was
initially used by the Greeks, then by the Romans, as a derogatory term to refer to people who
were considered as “barbarians”. We should note that Romance-language dictionaries, parti­
cularly French ones-where so much has been written on Amazigh-simply state that “Berber” is
the indigenous language of North- Africans, and reserve two different entries for “Berber” and
“Barbare”. In Arabic, a language which is in intense contact with Amazigh, the same entry is
used for “Berber” and “Barbarian”, with derivations like “barbara” “to babel”. This can perhaps
explain in part the irritation that many Imazighen show when addressed as Berbers. Moreover,
the term “Berber” is not used in any of the Amazigh varieties to refer to an Amazigh (p. 58).

4. Amazighs and the chronicles of education reforms in Morocco

The chronicles of education reforms in Morocco have undergone multiple births and baptisms
regarding the role and place of Amazighs within the overall educational architecture in the
country. After independence, the complex educational landscape inherited from the French colo­
nizers led to various reforms in public education both in terms of theory and practice (Boubkir &
Boukamhi, 2005). After independence, the National Charter for Education and Training (NCET),
adopted in 1999, aimed for better-quality, decentralized, and culturally representative education.
Above all, the NCET emphasized boosting Moroccan cultural diversity.

The Charter prioritizes Amazigh integration in education. For example, the 9th Lever stresses
teaching Arabic, foreign languages, along with openness to Amazigh. IRCAM (The Royal Institute of
Amazigh Culture) seeks the promotion of Amazigh language and culture. On 20 August , King
Mohammed VI called for education restructuring in 2015, emphasizing fairness, equality, and
quality. The royal speech was officially articulated in a national contract binding all stakeholders
under the title of “Strategic Vision” (SV) which recognizes Tamazight as an official language for all
Moroccans.The NCET and SV have upgraded the content of school textbooks. The National
Directorate of Curricula designs the core curriculum based on ministry specifications. The
National Curriculum and White Book address Morocco’s economic, social, and cultural needs
while promoting Islamic, Moroccan, and Amazigh language and culture (Chaibi, 2009, p. 11).

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5. Conceptual framework

5.1. Ethnic diversity and curricula

To proceed with discussing folklorization, a clear definition of “ethnicity” and “school textbooks” is
required. Identity is based on the concept of “similarity”, where perceived identical things are the
same. For instance, Edwards (2009) defines identity as the “sameness” of an individual in all
conditions, pointing out that a person is themselves and not someone else (p. 19).

Social scientists have not reached a consensus on the definition and effects of ethnicity, and
that despite extensive research “nothing close to a consensus has emerged about not only what
its effects are but also what it is” (Hale, 2004, p. 458). Ethnic identity is considered fluid and
malleable, challenging stable and coherent definitions (Hale, 2004; Harris & Findley, 2014; Phillips,
2007; Romero, 2014). Compared to similar constructs such as race, ethnicity has gained more
studious attention (Phillips, 2007, p. 16–17). In this study, ethnicity is defined as a socio-cognitive
organizing principle that is socially marked (Brekhus, 1998) and politically imagined (Anderson,
1991).

Related to the above conceptualizations is the traditional link between language and identity
which is inevitably an undertaking fraught with opportunities for failure (Joseph, 2004). The
language-identity tie is both challenging and complex to discuss separately. Ethnic identity is
often defined in relation to linguistic identity within a nation state with a central focus on
language, power, and identity politics. Joseph (2004) presents a comprehensive understanding
of identity as a linguistic phenomenon, intertwined with nationality, ethnicity, and religion.

This study focuses on how language contributes to the partial creation of situated identity
configurations in Moroccan curricula. Norton (2010, p. 351) emphasizes the importance of analyz­
ing language learning within social, historical, and cultural contexts, and how learners and
teachers navigate diverse positions within those contexts. According to Hart (2000), the Arab-
Amazigh axis is essentially a linguistic one, where Amazighs represent both the most autochtho­
nous as well as, very recently, the most change-resistant and conservative element of the
population” (p. 8).

In the context of education, school textbooks reflect political choices, educational paradigms,
cultural understandings, and language strategies. Apple (1993) argues that the curriculum is not
neutral but shaped by selective traditions and visions of legitimate knowledge. Therefore, the
curriculum “is never simply a neutral assemblage of knowledge, somehow appearing in the texts
and classrooms of a nation. It is always part of a selective tradition, someone’s selection, some
group’s vision of legitimate knowledge” (p. 221). Textbooks offer insights into the social and
political contexts of education, as they focus on specific elements of imagined culture (Bokhorst-
Heng & Williams, 2016).

In the past 30 years, more information on minority representation has emerged. For example,
Zhao (2014) examines national identity construction in Chinese political education textbooks,
identifying two legitimation strategies that are often employed in the discursive construction of
national sameness. By the same token, Mugaddam and Aljak (2013) analyze the discursive
mechanisms used in constructing a unified Sudanese national identity in an EFL textbook
(SPINE3). They find a biased representation favoring an Arabic and Islamic identity. Copts, an
Egyptian Christian minority, are understudied in terms of representation. Abdou (2017), in a similar
context, proposes an integrated framework for analyzing minority representations in history text­
books, using a textual analysis of Egyptian history textbooks from 1890 to 2017. The study reveals
a consistently smaller space allocated to Coptic history compared to other eras, limiting their
contributions to the nation’s socio-historical narrative.

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Limited research, however, exists on the discursive representation of Amazighs in education

curricula in Morocco, with notable exceptions such as Said (2019, 2023) and Said et al. (2023).
Said (2023) critically analyzes the portrayal of Amazigh social actors in Moroccan EFL text­
books, combining linguistic and sociological perspectives. The study examines a wide range of
officially produced EFL textbooks in Morocco, revealing the suppression, fixation, cataloging,
and backgrounding of Amazighs . Furthermore, the study highlights the exclusionary stance
promoted by the official discourse and recommends integrating more comprehensive ethnic
knowledge in Moroccan EFL textbooks. In the same way, , Said et al. (2023) conduct a case
study on the emancipatory potential of complexification in challenging dominant discourses
about Amazighs in a selected EFL textbook, Al Massar. The results demonstrate that the
analyzed textbook promotes a more progressive position on Amazighs, challenging prevailing
naturalized views. However, overall, there is a lack of research on the discursive representation
of Amazighs in Moroccan education curricula.

5.2. Folklorization
Untiedt (2006) defines folklore as the traditional knowledge of a culture which encompasses
traditional and time-honored practices passed down through generations. This definition high­
lights the significance of understanding the historical context to fully value folklore. In the
context of folklorizing ethnicity, Jiménez-Tovar and Lavička (2019), for instance, argue that
when folklore is commodified, it becomes a political weapon exploited by states for cultural
supremacy. Folklorization is perceived as a hegemonic force that leads to alienation, fossilization,
decontextualization, homogenization, commodification, and standardization (Denes, 2015, p. 3).
This equates with “Ethnic tourism” (Hsieh, 2019) which contributes to the processes of folkloriza­
tion and commodification, thus reducing ethnic groups to tourist commodities. Urry (1992)
argues that in the “tourist gaze”:

there has to be something distinctive to be gazed upon, that the signs collected by tourists
have to be visually extraordinary. They are set off from everyday life and experience. The
tourist gaze endows the tourist experience with a striking, almost sacred experience(p. 137).

Tourism shapes cultural images of ethnic groups, constructing an imagined “primitive” or “original”
culture. Official textbooks can activate folklore elements, transforming or exploiting material
culture for tourist gratification (Hsieh, 2019, p. 89).

Previous studies have invariably reported on the link coupling gender, ethnicity, commodification,
and folklorization, and leading to the theorization of “the feminization of ethnicity” (Starrels et al.,
1994). School textbooks often depict singing and dancing backgrounds with more female actors than
males (Slimi, 2009; White, 2009). Such portrayals in textbooks commodify and objectify minority
women, denying their individuality and subjectivity. Ethnic identities become increasingly commodi­
fied as they come under the laws of the market, marking the move from “identity to commodity”
(Gladney, 1994; Leeman & Martínez, 2007; Slimi, 2009; Starrels et al., 1994; White, 2009; Zhao &
Postiglione, 2010).

Folklorization and social (in)visibility are investigated based on theoretical insights from “the
sociology of the invisible” (Blumer, 1969; Scott, 2018) where dominant social actors remain
anonymous and unspecified, and their identity realized through indefinite pronouns. Weak social
actors, on the other hand, are differentiated for discursive visibility, leading to stereotyping and
exclusion. In CDA ideology is most powerful when it is invisible and naturalized. This explains why
“visibility” breeds differentiation, stereotyping, exclusion, and discursive marginalization (Blumer,
1969; Janks, 1997; Scott, 2018; Slimi, 2009; Van Leeuwen, 2008; Zhao, 2014).

To cope with the situation, a substantial body of studies implies the need for an informed “Ethnic
Content Integration Model” (Banks, 1989, 1999). Banks’ model aims to integrate ethnic content at
deeper levels, moving beyond the superficial “celebratory” way which lacks analytical depth, and

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bypasses significant concepts and topics related to the discrimination and subjugation of minority
groups and their symbolic fights for power and social equality. Banks (1989, 1999) highlights the
model’s ability to analyze the shallow inclusion of folklorization, overlooking discrimination, sub­
jugation, and power struggles. Folklores can trivialize ethnic cultures, reinforce stereotypes, and
perpetuate misconceptions (Banks, 1999, p. 18).

6. Methodology

6.1. Guiding question

This research seeks to address the following question:

● How have key elements of Amazigh folklore contributed to a specific construction of ethnicity in
Moroccan EFL textbooks (1980s-present)?

6.2. Guiding approach

Analysts within the CDA paradigm are divided along “how much linguistic theory and how much
social theory to integrate in an ideal analysis” (Lauritsen, 2006, p. 43). This translates into whether
analysts focus on the micro or the macro politics of discourse. The reconciliation of the two
perspectives holds a great promise for the present study, allowing for a flexible oscillation between
linguistic and social analysis. This, it is believed, is “what makes CDA a systematic method, rather
than a haphazard analysis of discourse and power” (Rogers & Rogers, 2004, p. 7).

6.3. Textbooks analyzed: Sampling design

Although there appears to be no accepted canon of data sampling procedures in CDA, data
collection remains an inescapable phase and almost never completely excluded (Wodak &
Meyer, 2016). Given that we could not exhaustively examine all the Moroccan EFL textbooks,
a decision was made to sample the existing corpus. Sampling was guided by the concerns of
balance and representativeness. The corpus came from 33 officially produced EFL textbooks which
have been developed, approved and distributed by the Moroccan Ministry of Education, which
oversees all operations related to the production and circulation of teaching and learning materi­
als in all Moroccan public and private schools and institutions, and have been required to be used
in every school, public or private (This included ancillaries such as teachers’ books and workbooks.
Appendix 1). More importantly, the selected textbooks were distributed over three periods that
match the historical development of EFL textbooks in Morocco: The Germinal Phase, the Critical
Phase and the Take-off Phase (Said, 2019). The periodization scheme proposed in Said (2019) is
briefly sketched below:

(a) The Germinal Phase [from early 1980s to the late 1990s]. This represents the incipient phase
that gave rise to the first “genuine” Moroccan EFL textbooks designed by Moroccan textbook
committees.
(b) The Critical Phase [the mid-1990s- mid-2000]. This was a critical-transitory period because it
did not last for a long time and also because it was set at the crossroads of internationaliza­
tion and localization.
(c) The Take-off Phase [from mid-2000 up to now]. This phase witnesses new, transparent, and
more diverse structures in the designing of EFL textbooks.

Additionally, the examined textbooks come from and cover all grade levels (from 9th grade to 2nd
year baccalaureate level) (Appendix 1).

The methodological choices outlined above aim to balance non-probability and probability
sampling (Kothari, 2004). I employed a mixed sampling design, combining probability and non-
probability sampling, with a focus on stratified sampling. Stratified sampling identifies distinct
subpopulations (strata) within the population, enhancing organization and homogeneity. This

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method ensures representation from each stratum, either in equal proportions or according to
predefined criteria, resulting in a more reliable and detailed understanding of the population
(Kothari, 2004; Krippendorff, 2004). The obtained picture is, consequently, more homogeneous
than the total population. Stratified sampling, in brief, yields more reliable and detailed
information.

The selection of specific EFL textbooks has been carried out according to five criteria which
reflect the spirit of the stratified mixed sampling design. The first criterion is chronological, and it
specifies different EFL textbooks from each phase. The second and the third criteria are concerned
with level (one textbook for each level) and stream (Arts and Humanities vs. Science). The fourth
and fifth criteria specify the selection of teachers’ guides and students’ workbooks. This kind of
sampling has helped me avoid generalizations about all EFL textbooks, and instead seek common
patterns and interpretations advanced by these textbooks.

6.4. Units of analysis

To specify the “ethnic units” of analysis, I categorized Amazighs as social actors referred to as
“Amazighs”, “Imazighen”, or “Berber”. In some cases, the ethnic identity of Amazigh social actors
in relation folklore episodes was unclear. Trained raters used socio-cultural traits to identify the
ethnicity based on visuals and verbal references such as traditions, place, dress, language, among
other ethnicity markers. Similar procedures were applied to identify Arab social actors. However,
because of the Arabs’ predominant socio-political status in Morocco they were often unmarked,
representing them simply as “Moroccans”. “Moroccanness” was naturalized and swapped in the
textbooks with a “standard” image indicating a simplified “Moroccanness”. This step enhanced
inter-rater reliability (Cronbach’s alpha: α = 0.90 to α = 0.94). Finally, folklore episodes were ana­
lyzed using critical sociosemantic categories introduced below.

6.5. Procedures of analysis

Silverman (1993) notes that one of the dilemmas facing researchers- CDA analysts as well—is
“how our research can be both intellectually challenging and rigorous and critical” (p. 144). One
way of fulfilling Silverman’s requirement is to combine quantitative and qualitative methods.
However, this combination can be effective only if we avoid what Wodak and Meyer (2016)
ironically call “cherry picking”, or merely choosing the examples that best fit the researchers’
assumptions (p. 11). Therefore, the analysis I proposed in this study observed three steps.

First, in analyzing the folklore narratives of Amazighs vis-à-vis the dominant narratives,
I adopted a holistic and integrated framework (Abdou, 2017) that critically examined the micro­
politics of folklorization by focusing on the defining properties of folklores, mainly, festivals, music,
cultural artefacts, systems of knowledge, and space. Technically, a decision was made to analyze
the available representational choices and argumentation strategies that Moroccan EFL textbook
designers have drawn to folklorize Amazighs.

Second, once the defining properties of folklorization were identified, the analysis went on to
examine the discursive aspects of meaning in relation to social actors, social actions (process), and
circumstances (when/where). Key elements from transitivity processes (Halliday, 1985), Agency
Analysis (Machin & Mayr, 2012) and socio-semantic inventory of Social Actors Approach (Van
Leeuwen, 2008) were also applied. The examined element included:

● Social actors/participants: This involves both “the ‘doer’ of the process as well as the ‘dons-tos’ who
are at the receiving end of the action; participants may be people, things or abstract concepts”
(Machine & Mayer, 2012). This step was combined with Van Leeuwen’s (2008) socio-semantic
inventory which consists of “inclusion”, “role allocation”, “genericization and specification”.
● Social actions/processes which are analyzed in terms of verbs and verbal groups system. According
to Halliday (1985), this system is divided up into six processes: material, mental, relational,
behavioral, verbal, and existential. Material processes construe “doings” and ‘happenings,

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involving two participants: an “Actor”, and a “Goal”. Mental processes construe “sensing”, or
“consciousness”. Relational processes encode processes of “being”, “having” or “being at”.
Behavioral processes construe physiological behaviors such as smiling or breathing. Behavioral
processes are, however, often caught between material and mental processes because the phy­
sical and mental aspects of processes are inseparable. In this context, Halliday (1985) notes that
“the behaviour is typically a conscious being, like the Senser, but the process functions more like
one of ‘doing’” (p. 128). Verbal processes are processes of “saying”; they represent “symbolizations
involving a symbol source, the Sayer” (Matthiessen et al., 2010, p. 238). Existential processes
constitute the last type in the system of transitivity processes. These processes entail that some­
thing exists, happens, or occurs.

The last step in the analysis consisted of two complementary moves. First, tables of frequencies
and percentages summarizing folklore narratives of Amazigh (and Arabs) were generated. After
computing frequencies and proportions, a series of Chi-square tests of significance was employed,
when needed, to examine the significant differences between either Amazigh and Arab social
groups or in terms of each analytical category.

Second, to assess the findings from multiple vantage perspectives, the results of the tables of
frequencies and percentages were brought under the critical radar of the theoretical apparatus
developed in the theoretical part, such as “the sociology of the invisible”, “official knowledge”,
“ethnic content integration”, “commodification”, and “ethnic tourism”.

7. Findings and discussion

School textbooks bear visible, and more than often imperceptible, traces of what Williams (2014)
calls the “social effect of schooling” which describes “how things were, what happened, and how
they came to be the way they are now” (p. 1). This means that in the process of the selective
representation, ethnic groups and their cultures are seriously underrepresented, marginalized
(Chu, 2015), and/or left unimagined in the official state narrative (Anderson, 1991). Critiquing the
ideology of the Moroccan EFL textbook narratives by investigating how Amazighs, through the
discourse of folklorisation, have been imagined, taught and learned, or ignored, are major issues
that this study aims at researching. While the overall aim is to evaluate the state’s official response
to cultural and ethnic diversity to promote equity and national unity, the specific aim is to
deconstruct and make visible the mechanisms through which Moroccan ELF textbooks might
become the ideological state apparatuses.

To examine the discourse of folklorisation, the proposed analysis focuses on festivals as recon­
textualised social practices which include in addition to social actors, actions, time, space, and
legitimation. Folklorization rests (among other things) on festivals, music, cultural artefacts, sys­
tems of knowledge and space. I analyzed these facets of folklorization separately, examining the
chains of contextualization for each component in terms of social actors (participants), social
actions (processes), and legitimation (knowledge).

7.1. Festivals
A total of 13 instances of festivals were identified. Table 1 shows the occurrence of these festivals
according to whether they have been identified as exclusively Amazigh or left unmarked and
therefore belong to the all-inclusive component: Moroccan(s). Amazigh festivals have been

Table 1. The occurrences of festivals in Moroccan EFL textbooks

Amazigh Moroccan Chi-Square p-value
(Exclusive) (Inclusive)
Festivals (N= 13) 8 5 .692 .405
61.53 % 38.46%
Inter-rater reliability α= 0.96

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included significantly more than the non-Amazigh ones. The results of the Chi-square test (p >
0.05) indicate that the observed difference is not statistically significant.

Bringing the discursive inclusion of the unmarked Moroccan festivals under the critical radar of
Scott (2018)’s notion of sociological markedness, it seems that festivals identified as “Moroccan”
were represented as normative, mundane, and therefore were left invisible. However, festivals
which were identified as Amazigh were named, marked, and presented as worthy of analysis. In
other words, the discourse of folklorization depicts the Amazigh ethnic component as distinctive,
interesting, and therefore worthy to be made visible. This selective construction of knowledge of
Amazigh ethnic groups highlights the visible ethnic features “where the ethnic groups included
most often are not always the most populous ones, but mostly the ones with observable ethnic
and cultural characteristics” (Chu, 2015, p. 477).

Among the various festivals that Amazighs celebrate in Morocco, Imilchil Marriage Festival has
received considerable attention by Moroccan EFL textbook designers. According to Said et al.
(2023), this festival continues to assert itself as the only occasion through which Amazighs have
been made visible. Over-presenting this festival has iconized Amazighs inside and outside Morocco,
rendering them folklorized “others” in Morocco and “exotic” commodities to be gazed upon by
tourists outside Morocco—a gaze akin to and reminiscent of a former colonial or orientalist gaze.
In terms of multimodality, the Imilchil Marriage Festival has been allocated considerable linguistic
and visual space throughout the three phases, marking a discursive association between Amazighs
and marriage festivals.

A more focused way of studying the grammar of the folklorizing Amazighs would entail the
reduction of folklorization to its essential discursive elements; namely, social actors, actions, place,
and knowledge.

7.1.1. Social actors and actions

Given the centrality of gender as an analytical category in the discursive representation of
Amazighs, three questions are in order: who has been included in the state’s narrative discourse
of “folklorization”? How have Moroccan EFL textbooks depicted the included social actors? And to
what end? Table 2 indicates that female social actors were included with more frequency com­
pared to males. The difference between the two included social actors fell just short of statistical
significance.

In CDA, however, the analysis needs to further examine the role(s) that Amazigh women were
given to play in this “festival” discourse. These roles, to draw on Van Leeuwen (2008) for
example, can be reallocated whereby social relations between participants are rearranged,
allowing Amazigh females to be either activated (examples 1, 2), or passivated (example 3).
Activation means social actors are depicted as “active, dynamic forces”, whereas passivation
occurs when participants are the recipient of, or “at the receiving end” of an activity (Van
Leeuwen, 2008).

● Example 1: Young women wear their best clothes and beautiful silver jewellery (FSE, p. 216).
● Example 2: Some (women) are veiled but most do without this and show off their beauty, enhances
with rouge for their cheeks and kohl for their eyes. They wear a rounded spangled headdress if they
have never been married or a pointed one if they are divorced or widowed (Gateway1, p. 72).

Table 2. Results of the linguistic inclusion of male and female social actors
Females Males χ2 Asymp. Sig
linguistic Inclusion 17 9 2.462 .117
(N=26) 65.38% 34.61% —– —–

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Table 3. Results of role allocation for female social actors

Activated passivated χ2 Asymp. Sig Inter-rater
reliability
Females 23 13 2.778 .096 α= 0.83
63.88% 36.11%
Total N= 36/100%

● Example 3: Henna, a reddish-brown organic dye; is applied to the bride’s hands and feet before the
wedding to ward off evil eye. (Ticket 1, p. 110)

Evidence in Table 3 shows that Amazigh females have been activated more significantly than
being passivated, which leads to the assumption that Amazigh women have been assigned active
roles. Chi-square reveals that the difference is significant.

However, being activated cannot qualify as an indicator of power, equal or fair representation. To
further investigate the functional properties of the activities wherein Amazigh women have been
activated, Halliday and Matthiessen (2004)’s transitivity model has been used. Table 4 shows that
Amazigh women have been mostly activated in relation to behavioral and relational processes
more significantly than other processes.

Two important properties render the analysis of behavioral processes relevant here. First,
behavioral processes are non-transactive, requiring only one participant. When the actions and
reactions of Amazigh females are behavioralized, they are represented as ordinary actions, without
substance, intention or impact, and are ultimately depicted in socially low status. Van Leeuwen
(2008) explains that “the ability to ‘transact’ requires a certain power, and the greater that power,
the greater the range of ‘goals’ that may be affected by an actor’s actions” (p. 62).

Second, excessive representation of social actors in terms of behavioral processes casts females
in the realm of the “physical” and the “sensual” and, hence, deprives them of being represented as
“thinkers” and “sayers” in mental and verbal processes. The emphasis falls on emotional out­
comes, cravings, desires, and wishes. Again, as Van Leeuwen (2008) observes “the greater the
power of social actors, the more likely it is that cognitive, rather than affective, reactions will be
attributed to them” (p. 58). The examined textbooks often display aquatic sceneries, in whose
proximity Amazigh women stand reminiscent of the heartrending Issli and Tsslit folktale. This
picturesque depiction, however, never goes anywhere near exposing nudity or what would cer­
tainly be considered indecency in a conservative society such as Morocco.

7.1.2. Knowledge construction

As was indicated in Table 1, festivals in Morocco are either exclusively Amazigh or inclusively
Moroccan (Arab). However, there are several interesting contrasts which can be discussed using
the sociology of the invisible and the categories of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The
sociological lenses predict that the exclusively Amazigh festivals have been discursively marked
and therefore straightforwardly identified; the second type of festivals, however, has been left
unidentified, and thus discursively invisible. These two types of festivals seem to articulate two
perspectives of knowledge construction, with the first being embedded in the mythical, and

Table 4. Results of processes featuring Amazigh women

Processes Material Mental Verbal Relational Behavioral α
Females 7 1 2 4 19 0.73
N=33 21.21% 3.03% 6.06% 12.12% 57.57% —-

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ultimately lending itself to irrationality, and the second deeply rooted in the real and hence
embodying rationality and wisdom (Said et al., 2023).

A more concrete way of highlighting the discursive discrepancies between the two types of
festivals can be seen through utilizing tools from Halliday’s SFL (transitivity) and Van Leeuwen’s
tools of CDA. Example (4) and (5) describe two non-Amazigh festivals: Asilah festival and the Wax
Lantern festival respectively.

● Example 4: The festival of Assilah is a cultural event [where] professional Moroccan artists, members
of The Moroccan Plastic Arts Association, take part in a campaign to improve the urban environ­
ment . . . it contributes to a greater consciousness of art, vision and imagination. Asilah’s history goes
back 3,600 years. Asilah was once an important commercial centre and a crossroads between East
and West (Further Steps to English, p. 188).
● Example 5: The Wax Lantern Festival or Dor Esh Shemaa. This colourful festival took place yesterday
on the eve of the Mawlid, a feast celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Some people say
that the Wax Lantern Festival is of Turkish origin and was introduced into Morocco in the sixteenth
century. Others claim this festival dates back to the times of the corsairs of Sale (Further Steps to
English, p. 213).

First, in terms of the transitivity system, non-Amazigh (Moroccan) festivals are encoded primarily in
material processes which are often transactive and, therefore, require a “doer” or “agent” whose
influence on the surrounding is tangible. Assilah festival, for instance, requires active social actors
who can “paint”, “hold”, “decorate” and “move”. Likewise, The Wax Lantern festival is encoded in
terms of material and mental processes. Amazigh festivals, on the other hand, are encoded in
behavioral processes (dance, smile, sing etc.) which do not require a goal and, therefore, lack social
agency. These processes also point out that Amazigh social actors lack “voice” to talk about
themselves; they are “represented” ”described”, “photographed”, and ”talked about”. Being
silenced, the discourse sets limits to what Amazighs can think, say, or do, with speechlessness
as “a necessary condition of being the gazed-upon” (Schein, 2000, p. 234, as cited in Zhao &
Postiglione, 2010, p. 329).

Second, the discursive construction of participants contrasts sharply across the two types of
festivals. While Amazigh festivals passively foreground females, both linguistically and visually,
over males, non-Amazigh festivals blur this distinction, including both female and male social
actors and representing them on equal footing. The third noteworthy distinction is related to the
discursive construction of space, being a political index of power. While Amazigh festivals are
exclusively tribal and rural, and thus betraying an allusion to “primitiveness”, non-Amazigh festi­
vals are predominantly encoded in urban spaces such as cities, and hence symbolizing modernity.

Finally, the two types of festivals draw on three legitimizing topos: Rationalization, Sanctification
and Mythologization. The example of Assilah festival “rationalizes” art through appeal to high
canonized culture. It is a moment when art is celebrated in an “intellectual” manner and where
the “elites” gather to “discuss” and “reflect” on cultural issues. The Wax Lantern festival, on the
other hand, is legitimized through appeal to the authority of religion, constructing itself as
a companion to the “Mawlid”, a feast celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
Accordingly, The Wax Lantern echoes the holy and therefore “sanctifies” its presence as an
institutionalized knowledge. Amazigh festivals are legitimized through appeal to the myth of Tisli
and Isli, constructing its legitimacy underneath the rational and outside the holy.

7.2. Music
The uneven construction of the official knowledge with respect to festivals continues to assert its
presence through other forms of folklorization such as music and handicraft, casting more doubt
on “the art for art’s sake” belief. I compared the representation Amazigh music to the Andalusian
one (examples 6 and 7), juxtaposing them along various axes.

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● Example (6): Most people call it Andalusian Music. AL ALA means the instrument. The word is used
to differentiate it from the old religious vocal chant where the use of an instrument was banned.
This type of music was born of the fusion of Arab and Andalusian Culture, a fusion which took over
eight centuries . . . Andalusian Music is savant and subtle. It used to be within the reach of only
a small intellectual elite . . . (Quick Way, 2, p. 31).
● Example (7): MEET THE MASTER MIND-BEHIND ANDALUSIAN MUSIC. When he died in 857, Ziryab-
the nightingale- was already recognised as the most remarkable musician who had ever lived. We
owe Andalusian music to Ziryab: we also owe to him some of the finest songs ever sung- Al
Muwashahat. (EIL3, p. 137).

First, the mode of representing Amazigh music is predominantly visual compared to the multi­
modal representation of Andalusian music. The choice of one mode over the other is critically
significant, with the pictorial constructing a direct appeal to the eye, to the material, to the
concrete and, above all, to the physical; and with the linguistic, signifying the cognitive, the
abstract and the “intellectual”. The representation of Andalusian music seems to assume both
roles. Second, the (Arabo) Andalusian music has been reserved for the elite. In (6), we read the
Andalusian Music is both savant and subtle, weaving an implicit allusion to other types of music
thought to be “subtle” and “savant”, say, the opera which combines entertainment and “high
knowledge” in the production of art. The examples also maintain that Andalusian music has been
reserved for the intellectuals, and thus, lending further “halo” to it. Example (7) underlines the
master mind behind the Andalusian music as a nightingale and the most remarkable musician who
had ever lived. On the other hand, Amazigh music, say Ahwach, is represented as an outdoor type
of music, set against natural backgrounds (often mountains), with female and male singers and
dancers. The representation often foregrounds female dancers and singers both in quality and in
number. Linguistically, the discourse seems to be taciturn when it comes to articulating the socio-
intellectual history of Amazigh’s songs, presenting them as objects, or “moments” for
entertainment.

7.3. Handicrafts: From pride to profit

The analyzed textbooks from the three phases asserted a strong link between Amazigh identity
and traditional carpet weaving. The centrality of these symbolic processes in the representation of
Amazighs, especially women, conjures up orientalistic, almost De La Croix style depictions, where
color and exoticism reigns supreme as to distract from essence. In this respect, Becker (2006),
succinctly summarized the scene, giving women the role of an artist:

Berber women are artists. They weave brightly coloured carpets. . . They embroider brightly
coloured motifs on their indigo head coverings and on special occasions wear elaborate
silver and amber jewellery (Figure 1). Women both create and wear the artistic symbols of
Berber identity, making the decorated female body itself a symbol of that identity (p. 42).

The qualitative analysis has detected a discursive shift from pride to profit, from symbolic goods,
traditionally meant for everyday use, to commodities, strengthened by the hegemony of the
tourist gaze, which indexes an orientation towards the rationality of the new economy (Dlaske,
2014). Textiles, for instance, stand significantly in Amazigh culture where Amazigh women are
recognized for their vibrantly traditional carpets, coverings, and clothes. However, traditional
Amazigh textiles started to lose part of their primary function and become more and more valued
for their market worth, marking a shift from identity to commodity. Modern Moroccan EFL text­
books (Take-off Phase) seem to embody this shift from the trope of pride to that of profit. Example
(8) evokes associations to nativeness and up-to-datedness, giving carpets a global outlook, and
treating them as sources of economic gain, as part of the tourist industry.

● Example (8):
DIALOGUE TWO
Mrs. Baker opens the catalogue. Aicha sits down next to her
MRS. BAKER: They’re fantastic! Look at this one.

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Figure 1. Brightly colored

motifs and elaborate silver and
amber jewelry that ‘Berber’
women occasionally wear
(Becker, 2006, p. 43).

AICHA: This one is the Salé design and this one on the right-hand page is an Amazigh carpet
from the Middle Atlas. It’s handmade and not very expensive.
MRS. BAKER: Oh! How beautiful! Ok Aicha, you know, they’re all gorgeous, but I need to see
Mark’s opinion.
(Al-Masar, p. 86).

The exchange above demonstrates how Amazigh carpets, the emblem of pride associated with
Amazigh cultural heritage, enter a new reconfiguration of profit to become cherished as a source
of economic advantage. Moroccan EFL textbooks seem to be giving a material form to Amazigh
consciousness (Becker, 2006), commodifying metaphors of motherhood (ibid), and above all valu­
ing what Urry (1992) describes as the “tourist gaze”, which “reduces ethnic minority creatives to
manifestations of a collective ethnic identity automatically creating a paradox of creativity without
a creative subject” (Zanoni et al., 2017, p. 330). Finally, while commodification reveals the ‘beauti­
ful, “the attractive, and ‘the bright’ side of Amazigh traditional handicrafts, it also hides the
hardships and sufferings Amazigh women undergo in making these commodities to meet the
tourists” demand. Put differently, the folklorization and commodification of Amazigh traditional
tropes conceal a bitter reality of precariousness and marginalization.

7.4. Space
Analyzing how discourse is spatialized helped form a conceptual ground for our discussion of the
representation of Amazighs, where spatialization is mainly political, serving as cause and effect in
power relations. One needs to understand the meanings and functions of the constructed space; in
Van Leeuwen’s (2008) words, we need to examine “the grammar of space” and link it to the ideological
construction of “ethnicity”. The analysis reveals that visually as well as linguistically, Moroccan EFL
textbooks have been saturated with meanings which reproduce the image of Amazighs as rural and
mountain dwellers. This essentially pastoral perspective has resulted in various representations of
Amazighs, ranging over romanticized, commodified, and gendered spaces.

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7.4.1. Romanticized space

When it comes to the discursive construction of space, tribalism and rurality seem to accompany
the representation of Amazighs under both folklorized and non- folklorized discourses. First, the
excessive ideological construction of Amazighs as essentially rural leads to their portrayal as
“virtuous children of nature” (Anderson, 2007, as cited in Slimi, 2009, p. 86), who are continuously
set in a ‘background of a natural landscape containing hills, plants and grass. This stereotypical
depiction not only tokenizes them but removes the complexities of the daily lives, depicting them
as “unspoiled ethnic Other” (Varutti, 2014, p. 183).

Second, being essentially rural, a sense of “nostalgia” might be built in the way Amazighs are
portrayed as “reservoirs of still-extant authenticity” (Schein, 1994, p. 72, as cited in Zhao &
Postiglione, 2010), or a counterweight to modernity. Amazighs are portrayed as leading
a “traditional” life in a setting that is on the brink of nature, contributing more authenticity and
exoticism to the representation. In a similar context, Slimi (2009) points out that rural depiction of
ethnic groups helps draw a clear line between them and “mainstream” society, setting them apart
“from the urban metropolises, from realms of education, employment and other activities of
‘civility’” (p. 87).

Third, it seems that the discourse not only depicts Amazigh social actors as “virtuous children of
nature”, but also specifies the types of activities which are supposed to strengthen this represen­
tation. The most common occupation associated with Amazighs in this discourse is that of animal
husbandry, depicting them as shepherded both linguistically and visually. This romanticized por­
trayal of space obscures the very hard reality of those inhabiting it. The same beautiful Atlas
Mountains are likely to hide a plethora of socioeconomic problems such as access to health care,
education, and transport infrastructure. Agyeman (1989 as cited in Bryant & Pini, 2011, p. 41)
explains that ‘the countryside is seen in static terms; a repository of the best of what is (was)
English in that it is good, pure, and untouched. However, obscured and marginalized within this
representation of rurality is “the racialized Other”.

7.4.2. Commodified space

Once romanticized, Amazigh spatial arrangements can also be commodified, reduced to commodities
for tourists to gaze upon. Otherwise stated, space loses its bearing and becomes fragmented; loses its
meaning and becomes functional, and finally, loses its identity markers and becomes available for all
and to all, giving rise to the tourist gaze, which catalogues, seals, generalizes space and its inhabitants,
and increases its value in the tourist market. This makes space the subject to rational economic
calculations.

The moral overtones of this economic shift permeated narratives like entertainment, tourism,
and cultural diversity. However, as Zhao and Postiglione (2010) explain, the commodification of
space ‘constructs an image of ethnic minorities as “Others” based on unique ethnic features, such
as history, customs, religion, and residence in areas popular with tourists (p. 325). Similarly,
excessive commodification of space eclipses the various social problems left unsaid behind the
beautiful landscape such as poverty, illiteracy, housing, water shortage, electricity, health care, etc.
Commodification appears to mitigate and at times even beautify these problems.

Before we proceed any further, a note on the periodization scheme proposed by Said (2019,
2023) should be briefly highlighted. Said’s periodization scheme includes the Germinal Phase (early
1980s to mid-1995), Critical Phase (mid-1990s to mid-2000), and Take-off Phase (mid-2000 to
present). However, the preliminary analysis reveals that the boundaries between these phases are
not clear-cut as folklorization of Amazighs persists throughout. One textbook, Al Massar (originally
designed for Common Core student), stands out as an exception, representing Amazighs as active
agents challenging mainstream stereotypes. This supports Said’s model but warrants further
investigation on a larger scale.

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8. The critical relevance of folklorization

Textbooks are socially and politically constructed, with selective inclusion of facts/events based on
complex criteria. This process transforms content during publication (Fowler, 1991). Selection becomes
purely ideological, providing a partial view of Amazighs, reducing their aspects to criteria like “entertain­
ment,” “exoticism,” and “unfamiliarity.” Hence, folklore is not just reported but made, filtered, restricted,
and reported for explicit/implicit purposes. Folklorization “formalizes stereotypes of the minority”, and
thus, skew our view of Moroccan society as a whole (Crawford & Hoffman, 2018). The folklorization of
Amazigh social groups, permanently encapsulated in ethnic festivals, takes a mythological form at best
and a superstitious interpretation at worst. These mythological forms of festivals seem to cast Amazighs
into an irrational, unreal and static world. It is in this way that folklorized representations, Crawford and
Hoffman (2018) argue, suggest that change in Amazigh-speaking communities is likely to present
a threat to the perpetuation of Amazigh cultural heritage.

By placing the Amazigh social groups within the borders of irrationality, Moroccan EFL textbooks
seem to contribute to a different kind of reason, one that contests the idea of social and economic
progress. This folklorized representation is also linked to the construction of Amazigh as “nostal­
gic”, “traditional” and “primitive” people whose lives, knowledge, and beliefs are deeply
entrenched in primitive modes of thinking.

The Amazigh culture has been transformed into a historical, mythical, and mystic discourse,
detached from any ties with the present. The mythologization of Amazighs has rendered them
museum-like creatures (Anderson, 1991). We no longer see contemporary or alive people; instead,
we encounter only “dead” or “replicated” images of dead people. This explains why Amazighs are
written about in the past tense, and the language used often frames them as nearly extinct. They
are portrayed as imaginary people living in an imaginary world, cut off from the present and cast
away in the past. Anderson (1991) offers a chapter titled “Census, Map, Museum,” which he
designates as the three “institutions of power” (p. 163) that are likely to constitute key elements
of the “grammar” of imagined communities.

Folklorization breeds “Otherness” whereby Amazigh social actors are “Othered” by reference to
what they do. Too much folklorization of their way of life would result in “characterizing”, “catalo­
guing” and “reduction”. These cognitive organizing principles have the power to seal, generalize,
exaggerate and ultimately “Other” ethnic groups. For example, Amazighs are catalogued as “dancers”
and “singers” who are singing and dancing all the time and whose actions and reactions are meant to
“entertain”. This narrative echoes a common stereotypical construction of ethnic minorities as “all
natural-born singers and dancers” (Zhao & Postiglione, 2010). The emerging EFL narrative tends to
“romanticize” Amazigh social actors as “traditional” (if not primitive), “colorful” and happy people who
“sing and dance, twirl and whirl, showing their happiness to be part of the homeland” (Gladney, 2004,
p. 54).

From a CDA perspective, ethnic (mis)representations (stories) play a pivotal cognitive role in
shaping individual and groups’ attitudes. While such perspectives have been given different names,
their critical significance can be seen in two main instances. First, the excessive folklorization of
Amazighs becomes part of people’s “figured world” (Gee, 2004), which refers to the linguistic and
pictorial affordances people use to make sense of the world (Rogers & Rogers, 2004). For example,
folklore episodes about Amazighs convert into “discourse models”, storylines, narratives, and
explanatory frameworks that disseminate in a specific culture. According to Gee (2004), “we use
words based, as well, on stories, theories, or models in our minds about what is “normal” or
“typical” or “the way the world should be or is” (p. 42). For this reason, instances of folklorization
can be analyzed as “simplified theories of the world that are meant to help people go on about the
business of life when one is not allowed the time to think through and research everything before
acting” (p. 42).

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Another critical insight comes from Van Dijk’s (1999) social cognitive framework to the analysis
of racism, where we can link folklorization to the creation and dissemination of an overall social
mental model for representing, and ultimately categorizing, Amazighs. The over-occurrence of
Imilchil marriage festival, for instance, forms a unique social mental model which, in addition to
events, includes an evaluation of that event. Subsequent generations of Moroccan EFL textbooks
keep recalling the same festival, with each time updating old models, or building new ones and
authorizing selective aspects of Amazighs’ socio-cultural identity. Van Dijk’s (1999) argument can
also be translated to the observation that determining the significance of ethnic content, textbook
designers, teachers and students, make reference to mental categories such as “frames”, “sche­
mata”, and “general propositions”, subsumed under “stereotypes.” These unconscious mental
categories serve as “pigeon-hole into which events and individuals can be sorted, thereby making
such events and individuals comprehensible” (Fowler, 1991, p. 17).

9. Conclusion
Official school textbooks constitute what Apple (2000) calls the state’s “official knowledge”. This study is
a response to scholarly calls to critically explore the ways such an “official knowledge” is linguistically
recontextualized, construed, represented and ultimately legitimized (or delegitimized). Zooming on
Amazighs, a majoritarian minority in Morocco, the study develops a nomadic perspective that examines
how the discourse of folklorization contributes to the creation of a closed set of linguistic options for the
representation of Amazigh social actors.

Taking inspiration from CDA, the current study has shown that the folklorization of Amazighs
equates with the dissemination of socio-political awareness into aesthetic and pedagogical texts
which serve myriad of “interests”, so often legitimized under entertainment, discovery and multi­
cultural teaching, with EFL textbooks not only creating a specific profile for Amazighs but also
defining it, legitimizing it, reducing it, decontextualizing it, and above all, maintaining it in peda­
gogical texts and visuals.

The study argued that the content of Moroccan EFL textbooks is not an arbitrary assemblage of
“facts” about Amazighs but a highly constructed congregation of beliefs, theories, and proposi­
tions. Folklore is not only manifest, and thus reported on in texts, but it is rather made, filtered,
restricted, and then reported on to satisfy explicit and implicit ends. The folklorization of Amazigh
social groups, permanently encapsulated in ethnic festivals, takes a mythological form at best and
a superstitious interpretation at worst. These mythological forms of festivals seem to cast
Amazighs into an irrational, unreal and static world. It is in this way that folklorized representa­
tions, Crawford and Hoffman (2018) argue, suggest that change in Amazigh-speaking communities
is likely to present a threat to the perpetuation of Amazigh cultural heritage.

Undoubtedly, further research on a larger scale is essential to examine, firstly, whether other
studies that have been published in the French/Arabic language are available. The present study
has mainly relied on existing studies in English. Possible studies in French or Arabic are likely to
strengthen or challenge some of the arguments advanced in this study. Second, due to practical
constraints, the current study runs short of providing a comprehensive analysis to other textbooks
(other than the EFL ones); this could be addressed by future researchers.

Finally, it should be noted, following Said et al. (2023, p. 8) that,

it is none of our intentions to claim that folklore is necessarily untrue or old fashioned, nor to
demonize Moroccan EFL textbooks, or to imply that Amazigh folklore is “primitive”, “simple”,
or “fake”, with no artistic, creative, or expressive dimensions (Sims & Stephens, 2011).
Instead, we seek to criticize the institutionalized production of knowledge about Amazighs
and how Moroccan EFL textbooks have contributed to the creation and maintenance of
a closed system of multimodal options for the configuration and reconfiguration of
Amazighs, defining and redefining canons of taste and value.

Page 18 of 23
Said, Cogent Education (2023), 10: 2240162
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2240162
Author details
Khalid Said1
E-mail: khalid.said@uca.ac.ma
ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5679-6624
1
Department of English Studies, Cadi Ayyad University,
Marrakech, Morocco.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
author(s).
Citation information
Cite this article as: The grammar of folklorization: An
integrated critical discourse analysis of the linguistic
depiction of Amazigh social actors in selected Moroccan
EFL textbooks (1980s-present), Khalid Said, Cogent
Education (2023), 10: 2240162.
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Appendix 1: Analyzed textbooks used in this study

Textbooks Level Year House and

place of
publication
THE GERMINAL Students’ Books Steps to English 1st year 1981 Libraire Al
PHASE Maarif: Rabat

Further Steps in 2nd year 1996 SODEN:

English Mohammedia

English in Life 1st year 1992 Nejah Eljadida:

Casablanca

English in Life 2nd year 1993 Nejah Eljadida:

Casablanca

English in Life 3rd year 1993 Nejah Eljadida:

Casablanca

Ancillaries Further Steps in Teacher’s Book 1988 Nejah Eljadida:

English Casablanca

English in Life Teacher’s Book 1992 Nejah Eljadida:

1st year Casablanca

English in Life Teacher’s Book 1993 Nejah Eljadida:

2nd year Casablanca

English in Life Workbook 1995 El Maarif

2nd year Eljadida:
Casablanca

Textbooks Level Year House and

Place of
Publication

THE CRITICAL Students’ books Quick Way 1 1st Year 2003 Beni Snassen:
PHASE Salé

Quick Way 2 2nd Year 2003 Beni Snassen:

Salé

Quick Way 3 3rd Year 2005 Librairie

Alouma:
Casablanca

Focus 9th Grade 2004 Nadia Edition :

Casablanca

English Horizons 9th Grade 2005 Scochpress,

Casablanca

Ancillaries My Way Activity Book 2004 Librairie

Alouma:
Casablanca

Highway 3 Workbook 2002 Beni Snassen:

Salé

Quick Way1 Teacher’s book 2003 Beni Snassen:

Salé

English Horizons workbook 2012 Scochpress,

Macmillan

Focus Workbook 2013 Nadia Edition :

Casablanca

(Continued)

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https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2240162

Textbooks Level Year House and

place of
publication

THE TAKE-OFF Students’ books Al Massar Common Core 2003 Beni Snassen:
PHASE Salé

Ticket to English 1st year 2003 Beni Snassen:

1 Salé

Gateway to 1st year 2005 Librairie

English1 Alouma:
Casablanca

Ticket to 2nd year 2004 Librairie

English2 Alouma:
Casablanca

Insights to 2nd year 2002 Beni Snassen:

English 2 Salé

Gateway into 2nd year 2003 Beni Snassen:

English2 Salé

Al Massar Workbook 2007 Nadia Edition:

Casablanca

Ancillaries Ticket to Workbook 2009 D.I. O. EL.

English1 Hadita:
Csaablanca

Gateway to Workbook 2008 Nadia Edition:

English 1 Casablanca

Gateway to Workbook 2007 Nadia Edition:

Englsih 2 Casablanca

Ticket to English Workbook 2011 D.I. O. EL.

2 Hadita:
Csaablanca

Gateway to Teacher’s Book 2007 Nadia Edition:

English 2 Casablanca

Ticket to English Teacher’s Book 2007 D.I. O. EL.

2 Hadita:
Csaablanca

Insights into Teacher’s Book 2007 Al Massie

English 2 Edition : Rabat
(Said, 2019, p. 316).

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