AWEJ. Special Issue on Literature No.2 October, 2014 Pp. 227-237
The Use of Dialect in the Algerian Novel in Tahar Wattar’s al-Laz
Fayza BENMANSOUR
Department of Foreign Languages
Preparatory School of Economic Sciences, Commerce and Management
Tlemcen- Algeria
Abstract:
Formerly, dialects were used mainly in every day speech. This is why, they were considered as rustic and deviant in formal use through diverse disciplines. Accordingly, the use of dialect in literature has long been marginalized, but this has changed, and writers are more agreed to use dialect in the written form. Dialect use in the novel is thoughtfully studied by dialect scholars and sociolinguists as well as stylisticians and grammarians; each has a central role in the study of literature as an art newly related to sociolinguistics. Through their developing perspective, the function of dialect in the novel is clearer and freer from its former traditional narrowed scale. Dialect awareness is gradually increased at schools, societies, and several sectors in life that, formerly, considered dialect a taboo. Recently, dialect has been welcomed by scholars who are drifted to institute it as a scientific element required at academic research needs. Thus, the aim of this paper is to highlight the function and the use of dialect in literature through Tahar Wattar’s work al-Laz (2004) for the diversity of dialectal elements and rich Algerian folklore artistically compressed in the novel. Dialect in al-Laz (2004) is strikingly reflected in these elements of folklore such as: proverbs, popular songs, games and superstitious beliefs. The contribution that this study hopes to make by focusing on analysing dialect use in literature is to shed light on dialect use in standard literature and to raise dialect awareness among readers and to show to which extent its use may influence the literary text in an artistic and fictional work.
Keywords: al-Laz, dialect use, dialect awareness, Tahar Wattar