The Internalization Of Western Taboos Among Algerian Youth: The N-word As A Cultural Frame

Abstract

In the new era, the postcolonial world, in particular, has to a certain degree, shaped Algerian youth’s attitude and linguistic behavior; thus, a new cultural challenge has emerged. With this, we reflect on an imported, originally American/Western taboo: the N-word. In the article, we examine the sociolinguistic dimensions of the N-word within the context of Algerian culture, focusing specifically on its prevalence among Algerian Generation Z and Millennials, and accounting for their attitudes and patterns of use in various activities, especially in reading, speaking, and texting. Drawing upon a mixed-methods approach, the research adopts a qualitatively-based behavioural observation of Generation Z. For the sample, we opted for 16 EFL students along with a set of structured interviews with a sample of 10 Millennials. Then, finally, using a Likert scale for quantitative descriptive purposes addressed to both Generation Z and Millennials, a total of 50 responses were received online through Google Forms. The findings reveal an intricate connection between globalized language appropriation; the research participants appear to be heavily influenced by Western culture, media, and history, which is reflected in their attitudes towards the N-word and its patterns of use, whether in speech, text, or reading. Thus, cultural mimicry extends to include even the foreign taboos, a worrying issue that indicates either the ability of Algerian youth to emerge into the global world easily or that they are passive recipients of Western beliefs, attitudes and taboos. Finally, this study’s significance lies in its contribution to the lack of clear sociolinguistic discussion of the shift in the Algerian youth’s perception of taboos, including linguistic terms irrelevant to Algerian history, which seem to be part of their day-to-day discourse.