Report: Tamazight Books Constitute Only 1.51% of Morocco’s Publishing Output

Doha – A recent report on publishing and books in Morocco has revealed that Tamazight language publications make up a meager 1.51% of the country’s total literary output.

The report, issued by the King Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences, sheds light on the state of the Moroccan publishing industry during the years 2022 and 2023.

According to the findings, as reported by SNRTnews, Morocco’s total publishing output in the fields of literature, humanities, and social sciences reached 3,482 titles over the two-year period, with an average annual production of 1,741 titles. This figure covers both print and digital publications, with Moroccan journals contributing 496 issues to the overall tally.

Print publications continue to dominate the Moroccan publishing landscape, accounting for 92% of the total output in the humanities, social sciences, and literary creation. In contrast, digital publishing, primarily in foreign languages such as French and English (67.02%), constituted only 8% of the total and was mostly limited to releases by public institutions and official bodies.

The report highlights the challenges faced by private professional publishers in making significant strides in digital publishing. This is attributed to the fragility of the country’s economic model and the prevailing practices and habits of Moroccan readers, who often assume that digital content is free and lack awareness of intellectual property rights and copyright issues.

Arabic remains the primary language of publication in Morocco, with the language accounting for 78.29% of the country’s humanities, social sciences, and literary output. French publications account for 17.72%, followed by English at 2.58%, while Tamazight languishes in fourth place with a mere 1.51%.

Moroccan literary production, encompassing novels, short stories, poetry, and dramatic literature, occupies a central position in the publishing sector, representing 22.03% of the total books published in 2022 and 2023, equivalent to 658 titles.

This literary output is predominantly written in Arabic (74.77%), with French-language literary production experiencing a continuous decline, accounting for only 16.72% of the total published literary works. Tamazight struggles to find even a modest place within Moroccan literary production, representing a paltry 6.53%.

Poetry collections approached one-third of the literary texts published during the period covered by the report, with 202 collections (30.7%). Narrative works, including novels and short stories, maintain a significant presence on the Moroccan creative landscape, with 345 titles (52.43%) of the publications in the field of literature.

The report also delves into the state of translations in Morocco, which amounted to 193 titles, constituting 6.46% of the country’s total publishing output. Arabic, as a target language, dominated with 150 titles, with translations primarily sourced from French (58%), English (20%), and Spanish (13%). Only eight books were translated into the Tamazight language.

Moroccan female authors continue to focus primarily on literary fields, with 182 literary works published during the period in question. This is followed by an interest in societal issues (68 titles), legal studies (65 titles), history (49 titles), and literary studies (33 titles). Arabic remains the primary language of writing for Moroccan female authors (64.64%), while their output in French (27.5%) surpasses the overall average for French-language production (17.72%).

The report concludes by noting that the average price of Moroccan books published during 2022/2023 was approximately MAD 83.70, a decrease of MAD 12.95 compared to the previous report’s findings.

This price is also lower when compared to the average book price in Tunisia, which stands at MAD 121.21. A comparison between the price of Moroccan books and their European counterparts reveals that Moroccan books cost only 30% of the average public price of a French book.