Ahmed Chaabihi is the Research Director at the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture, Rabat, Morocco.  Previously, he was the Coordinator of the Translation Research Unit (2003-2007) and the Director of the Centre for Translation, Documentation, Publishing and Communication (since September 2007).  From 1985 to 2003 he was a Full Professor of English language and literature at the Faculty of Letters, Mohamed V University, Rabat, Morocco, 1985-2003.  He has also held positions as a Visiting Professor at the School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco (1986-2003), Visiting Professor at the Higher Institute of Information and Communication, Rabat, Morocco (1986-2003), and Translation expert with the ISESCO, Rabat, Morocco (1996-2003).

Mr. Chaabihi has published a number of translated texts from Tamazight, Arabic and French into English.  He earned his PhD in English Language and Literature from the University of Antwerp, Belgium, in 1996.  His thesis was entitled The Black Legend of Moorish Piracy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.  He also holds an MA in the Sociology of Literature (Essex University, England, 1985), where his thesis was entitled The Myth of the Moor in Seventeenth Century England.  

Abstract of Ahmed Chaabihi's presentation: 

The Transition from Oral to Written Amazigh Literature and Translation

For many centuries, the Amazigh language was solely oral, except for a few medieval texts that mainly consist of translations of religious texts from Arabic.  During the colonial period, the fieldof Amazigh Studies was developed by French explorers, linguists, and ethnographers, who contributed to the collection of a significant part of the Amazigh oral tradition.  Only in the last quarter of the twentieth century did some Amazigh scholars and activists begin to write about their own culture, either in Amazigh itself or in other languages, as part of their struggle for equal cultural and linguistic rights.  The subsequent creation of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture in 2001 ushered in major efforts to preserve and promote the Amazigh culture in all its expressions.

Among the leading areas of research undertaken by the Institute is the compilation and recording of Amazigh oral poetry, tales, proverbs, etc.  This work goes hand in hand with translation, which contributes to the transition of Amazigh from orality to writing.  The translation process ensures the revitalization, renewal, and development of Amazigh oral literature by importing into Amazigh key texts belonging to the world literary canon.  Moreover, new genres, such as the novel, the short story, and modern drama have been introduced into Amazigh literature by this means. This enterprise plays a major part in the opening of Amazigh culture to the universal, saving it not only from isolation but also from extinction in the long run.  Similarly, the translation of Amazigh texts into world languages, such as English, Spanish, and French, enables the culture to be known and appreciated by more and more people around the world.