Media Speaking Arabic(s): a new (g)local digital heritage
Media Speaking Arabic(s): a new (g)local digital heritage is the podcast of the SABIRANET project, devoted to the relationship between Arabic language, digital media, mobility and society across Morocco and Europe.
The podcast has been conceived as a non-academic dissemination activity within the project and is addressed to a broad audience, including not only specialists, but also university students and listeners interested in media, migration, languages, and the cultural dynamics of the contemporary Mediterranean. Its aim is to make some of SABIRANET’s core research questions accessible in a narrative and public-facing format: the features of “mixed” Arabic in digital media, the relationship between writing and speech, the transnational circulation of linguistic practices, and the ideologies that shape the social perception of language in Moroccan and diasporic contexts.
The SABIRANET project investigates linguistic practices in digital media produced in Morocco and within the Moroccan diaspora in Europe, with particular attention to Italy, as well as France and Spain. By analysing online newspaper articles, podcasts, and social media content, the project examines, on the one hand, how mixed Arabic takes shape in contemporary media communication, and, on the other, how these practices are perceived, discussed, and ideologically evaluated by speakers. The podcast is fully aligned with these research goals: rather than serving as a simple popular companion to academic research, it is conceived as a public space for reflecting on how media language contributes to shaping attitudes, belonging, and intercultural relations.
The title of the podcast points to one of the project’s central ideas: the language of digital media is not merely a tool of communication, but also a space where memory, recognition, and cultural heritage are produced. In this sense, Media Speaking Arabic(s) explores the idea that linguistic practices circulating through digital media between Morocco and Europe can be understood as a form of “glocal” digital heritage: rooted in specific local contexts, yet simultaneously shaped by the transnational circulation of people, voices, content, and imaginaries.
The podcast will unfold across three seasons, each consisting of three episodes, for a total of nine episodes. Together, the three seasons follow a coherent trajectory: from introducing the linguistic and media phenomenon itself, to examining the language ideologies that surround it, and finally to reflecting on its broader cultural and social implications.
The first season, What is Arabic(s) in digital media?, introduces the phenomenon. Its episodes will show how Standard Arabic, Moroccan dārija, and intermediate or mixed forms interact within digital media, and how digital environments reshape the relationship between orality, writing, and mediated presence.
The second season, Who judges media language, and why?, focuses on language ideologies. In this part of the series, the podcast will explore the judgements attached to media language, the ideas of prestige, authenticity, correctness, and belonging that such judgements mobilise, and the ways in which speakers negotiate the social value of different linguistic resources.
The third season, Why does it matter for society?, broadens the perspective to the public and cultural implications of these phenomena. Its episodes will address the relationship between media language and belonging, the role of linguistic practices in the making of digital memories and heritage, and the contribution that a more critical awareness of media language can make to intercultural understanding and social cohesion.
The podcast’s narrating voice will be in Italian. At the same time, each episode will be accompanied on the project website by an English-language description and an English transcript, in order to make the series accessible to an international audience as well. In addition, each episode page will include explanatory notes, bibliographical references, and selected materials for further reading, designed for listeners who wish to explore in greater depth the concepts, case studies, texts, and theoretical issues mentioned throughout the episode.
Media Speaking Arabic(s) is therefore conceived as a space for listening, interpretation, and critical public engagement: a place where research meets a wider audience, and where the language of media becomes a key to understanding contemporary societies across Morocco, diaspora, and the Mediterranean.
