Books
Published
Title: Multilingualism and Gendered Immigrant Identity: Perspectives from Catalonia (2022)
Abstract: This book examines the intersectionality of gendered, religious identity among Muslim women in Catalonia, and illustrates how this identity is brokered through language use in a multilingual and diasporic context. Drawing on a mixed methods study of 1st and 2nd generation immigrant women, this book also examines how acculturation is a transgenerational process reflected in linguistic behavior. Through the use of questionnaire and interview data, the author constructs a story about informants' experiences navigating life vis-à-vis language use; specifically through the use of Spanish, Catalan and native/heritage languages. This book offers a unique lens through which we can further our understanding of the role of language in the acculturation process in Catalonia. It adds to the ongoing discussion about language and migration in Catalonia and provides a valuable contribution to debates about immigrant women's language learning and use.
Now available through Multilingual Matters and other major book sellers.
Muslim Women and Multilingualism: When Religion and Gender Converge
Why Intersectionality Matters in the Study of Migration, Language and Identity
You can preview my book here
Reviews:
This book is a great and engaging work on Muslim immigrant women living in Catalonia. One of the most interesting aspects is the sources used in this research, since it is based on real data from fieldwork. It will be an important milestone for an under-researched area of sociolinguistic studies on women's linguistic attitudes.
Ángeles Vicente, University of Zaragoza, Spain
With tenacity, rigor, and originality, Dr Farah Ali explores the intersectionally complex lives of Muslim immigrant women in Catalonia – lives that are too often ignored or misrepresented. Empirically rich, the volume illuminates how several generations of these women creatively use their multilingual repertoires to carve out spaces for belonging and to fight their own marginalization.
Inmaculada Ma García-Sánchez, UCLA, USA
Other publications from this project:
Ali, F. (2023). Constructing Identity through Code Choice and Code-Switching: Evidence from Multilingual Muslim Women in Barcelona. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada, 36(1), 204-233.
Ali, F. (2021). At the Intersection of Language, Gender, and Religion: Self-Reported Linguistic Ideologies and Practices of Muslim Women in Barcelona. Sociolinguistic Studies, 15(2-4), 223-245.
Ali, F. (2020). Multilingualism and Acculturation in Catalonia: An Analysis of Muslim Immigrant Women. Cuadernos de Lingüística Hispánica, 36, 181-209.
In Progress
Title: Sociolinguistic Approaches to Arabic and Spanish in Contact
Status: under contract (John Benjamins)
Edited with Carol Ready and Sherez Mohamed
Description: See attached call for chapter proposals
Chapter contributions:
Mohamed, S., Ready, C. & Ali, F. Religion and Language Maintenance in Arabic-Spanish Bilinguals in Puerto Rico
Ali, F. Multilingualism and Moroccan Diaspora in Gibraltar
Call for Chapter Proposals.pdfTitle: Policy, Media, and the Shaping of Spain-Morocco Relations: Discursive Representations of Migration to Ceuta and Melilla
Status: in press (Palgrave Macmillan)
Abstract: Morocco and Spain have a political relationship that spans centuries. Historically, much of the contact between these two nations has been through conquest - first through the Umayyad Caliphate taking control of the Iberian Peninsula (then called Hispania) in the 8th century, and then through Spain’s occupation of northern Morocco in the 20th century. While these historical roots have undoubtedly played a role in shaping present-day Morocco-Spain relations, migration has also become another critical element. While Spain has received immigrants from all over the world, the majority of legally authorized migration comes from Morocco. Additionally, Morocco serves as a sojourn for much of the undocumented migration to the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, both of which are enclaves in Morocco and more advantageous entry points for North African and Sub-Saharan African immigrants. As such, migration to Ceuta and Melilla has also become fuel for anti-immigration attitudes that are frequently perpetuated in political and media discourse. This project thus uses critical discourse analysis to explore how media discourse on undocumented migration informs Morocco-Spain political relations. In this book, I aim to connect media discourse to policy discourse and address how these mediums can (1) co-construct anti-immigration and xenophobic ideologies, and (2) shape and be shaped by the somewhat strained relations between Spain and Morocco.
Other manuscripts from this project:
Ali, F. (2024). Discursive and Photographic Representations of Migrants in the Media: The Case of Ceuta and Melilla. The Journal of North African Studies.