Recent cases of incomplete academic research on Morocco's Berbers

Abstract

After being sidelined by the Nationalists for political reasons in the Protectorate aftermath, Berber studies in Morocco have moved back to centre-stage in recent years. While Moroccan scholars are far from inactive, a considerable portion of the research on the country's Imazighen (Berbers) is now conducted by foreign academics, not all of whom, however, appear to have benefited to the full from the advantages of fieldwork, or access to existing, relevant sources in Morocco. Although language difficulties involved in switching from English to French, or vice-versa, may admittedly be held partly responsible for this self-inflicted handicap, they constitute a poor excuse. While pointing out such shortcomings as and when they occur, the present paper appeals to the better nature of the researchers in question so that, in future, they will leave no stone unturned in their attempts to access available material in whichever language, without neglecting all-important fieldwork.