May 8 th 2006: Presentation in Haifa

1. May 8th 2006: Presentation in Haifa Jacomine Nortier j.nortier@let.uu.nl

2. Topics in this paper • The Netherlands – demography • Ethnicity • Language • Moroccan accent

4. The Netherlands • North-South: 300 km • East-West: 150 km • 16 million inhabitants • Capital: Amsterdam, almost 1 million • (Rotterdam: 600,000; Den Haag 400,000) • Utrecht: 275,000

5. Amsterdam and Utrecht:

6. Netherlands: 1.7 million non-Western 320,000 Moroccan (= 2%) 365,000 Turkish (= 2.28%) 330,000 Surinamese (=2.06%) 130,000 Antillean 392,000 Indonesian Utrecht: 24,000 Moroccan (= 8.7%) 12,500 Turkish (= 4.5%) 9,500 Surinamese (= 3.45%)

7. Reason for migration: • Surinamese, Antillean, Indonesian: post-colonial. Antillean: most recent. • Turks, Moroccans: came as guest workers in the sixties, chain migration

8. Important recent history: • May 6th 2002: Pim Fortuyn killed: he was the voice of the white Dutch ‘anti-immigrants-movement’. Became a hero after his death. 2 weeks later: elections. • Nov 2nd, 2004: Theo van Gogh killed by Moroccan muslim fundamentalist Mohammed B. Discussion about ‘freedom of speech’. • Mohammed B: member of ‘Hofstadgroep’: Moroccan fundamentalists who planned assaults. • At the same time: problems with Moroccans, mainly teenage boys. • Consequences for society: strong polarisation; immigrant = muslim = dangerous. Particularly Moroccans.

9. What is ethnicity?What is the relation with language? Two perspectives: • Joshua Fishman (1977): ‘Language and Ethnicity’ • Robert LePage & Andrée Tabouret-Keller (1982): ‘Models and Stereotypes of Ethnicity and of Language’

10. Fishman: Paternity: • Inherited • Looks • Blood • Genetic • Cannot be changed;

11. Patrimony: • Culture • Can change • Negotiable • Collective heritage • It is possible to fail

12. Ethnicity only exists when group members attach value to Paternity and Patrimony: Phenomenology • Image of ethnicity is part of ethnicity itself • So now we know the difference between ethnic and cultural minorities!

13. Role of language: • Language has a symbolic function (activates the whole). • If a group has thier own language, it is their most outstanding symbol of ethnicity. • Language is needed for any form of ethnic activity. • Mutual understandability: less important than symbolic function.

14. LePage & Tabouret-Keller: A group can distinguish itself from other groups in different (sometimes overlapping) ways: • a sense of place • a sense of family relationship • a sense of fysical similarities • a sense of common cause • a sense of common religious faith/ other traditional belief

15. Example: Caribian, very dynamic: • Slaves with roots in the same (African) village, relatives  • Blurring boundaries re. roots  • Sense of togetherness with other islanders • Jamaicans (e.g.) are not necessary descendants of slaves  • UK: earlier separate island identities  • Anno now: shared Afrocaribian identity and language; felt to be common in spite of differences.

16. Jump to the Netherlands Changing boundaries? • 18 year old Afghani: “I feel insulted when they say nasty things about Moroccans: I am a foreigner, too!” • 19 year old Turkish girl: “Sometimes I feel more ‘allochtoon’ than Turkish” • Socio/political developments: group ‘allochtones’ is diverse but feels solidarity

17. Moroccans and Turks • 1st generation: characteristics of their L1 in pronunciation of Dutch • 2nd generation: learned Dutch in NL; less problems with Dutch.

18. Accent that every Dutch person recognizes: Some characteristics of ‘Moroccan’ Dutch: [g], [z], Ø schwa (2nd generation). [gezellig] (cosy) pronounced as [GZellig]

19. This accent can be exaggarated (by Moroccans) but it is also observed among Turkish teenagers.

20. In what circumstances and with whom? • ‘Tough’ behaviour • Ali B towards his audience • When a foreign accent is needed (Movie: Schnitzelparadijs) • Informal contacts

21. Explanations: • Act of identity • Strong covert prestige • Moroccans serve as examples for other allochtonous groups; fragment from a conversation:

22. M = Moroccan; D = Dutch; A = Afghani; T = Turkish M: It is well-known that Moroccan have a -uhm kind of funny accent D: Is that because there are more Moroccans than Turks? A: No D: No? Maybe there are, in Utrecht? T: No I think there are more Turks! D: Do they make more noise? Or uh T: Yes, Moroccans are more present M: No but the accent is striking. ‘Ik gga naar šgool’, I think hello! That is something very strong.

23. Moroccans and Moroccan: tough  attractive : • Moroccans are more visible in Dutch society; scapegoats, as in the • Media • Popular music: rappers. • Turks: invisible. Oriented on own language and culture. Books, music, etc: Turkish.

24. Precautions • Individual observations; no large-scale study. • Not all allochtonous groups were studied. No native Dutch. • ‘Randstad’: Utrecht and Amsterdam; even between U and A much difference. • West-Netherlands: [g] • Major cities: more than 50% of school population is ‘allochtonous’ • Only teenagers in mixed schools.

25. The end • Thank you for your attention!