Presentation of Mohand Saïd Lechani's book: Ecrits berbères en fragments (Berber writings in fragments)

Ecrits berbères en fragments

de Mohand Saïd Lechani
Edition bilingue français-kabyle
Geuthner, 2024, 248 p.

Trained in Berber studies by such renowned dialectologists as Saïd Boulifa, Émile Laoust and André Basset, a research companion of orientalist André Picard and then an inspiring elder of Mouloud Mammeri, Mohand Saïd Lechani (1893-1985) was a figure of the first militant Kabyle elite. From the beginning of the 20th century, he contributed to the awakening of Berber culture and identity. As such, he was one of the links guaranteeing the continuation of the fragile chain of Algerian Berberology in a colonial context. That's enough to show the importance of these texts, gathered here, which constitute a new route of entry into his plural work, situated at the confluence of the educational, cultural and political worlds.

Besides the perspectives offered by the materials gathered in this volume, these writings in fragments - some passages of which have the value of a cultural testament - paint the intellectual portrait of a defender of Kabylia's intangible heritage, long confined to the margins, whose concerns about its future remain prevalent despite its recent constitutional consecration.

Méziane Lechani is a medical specialist and publisher in Paris.

Kamal Naït-Zerrad is a university professor of linguistics and director of the LACNAD unit (Langues et cultures du Nord de l'Afrique et diasporas). He is the author of numerous scientific publications on the Berber language.