An anthropological study of the translating activities of Berber religious scholars in Northwestern Africa

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370943
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Saito Tsuyoshi 神戸大学, 国際文化学研究科, 准教授 (90508912)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 文化人類学 / イスラーム / 北西アフリカ圏域 / ベルベル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study elucidates the local production of the Islamic knowledge of Berber religious scholars. It focuses especially on the activities of translating Arabic religious texts into the Berber language.
The Berbers, whose homelands are scattered in North and West Africa, are people who progressively converted to Islam after its arrival in the seventh century. In the Islamic medieval centuries, they founded Islamic dynasties such as al-Murabit, al-Muwahhid, and others that served to Islamize North Africa and beyond. In parallel with such political activities, Berber religious scholars not only embarked on translating various Arabic religious texts into the Berber language, but also produced religious poetry in Berber in order to localize Islamic knowledge among ordinary people. This study focuses especially on the production of religious texts from the pre-colonial era to the contemporary period.

Free Research Field

文化人類学