"Ytnahaw ga'!": Algeria's Cultural Revolution and the Role of Language in the Early Stages of the Spring 2019 Hirak. Issue 4 (2nd October 2021) - Bentahar, Ziad
ABSTRACT: When Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced in February 2019 that he would seek a fifth term, the people took to the streets in protest. This sparked the Hirak, an ongoing popular movement that ultimately resulted in the withdrawal of Bouteflika's candidacy. In March 2019, during the early stages of the protest and before Bouteflika's withdrawal, a video of a young man reacting candidly to the situation in the country went viral on social media. A phrase he used to express his frustration with the political elite, ytnahaw ga' (meaning remove them altogether), became a salient slogan in subsequent protests. The language dynamics in the video show the continued relevance of unresolved language issues in the country, and suggest that part of the movement's aspirations are not only political, but cultural as well.