Abstract
There was widespread unrest in the Kabylia earlier this year following the Algerian government's decision, re-iterated most recently during the FLN Congress on 15 to 19 June, to introduce modern literary Arabic as the official national language. Moves have been made to reduce tension: the universities have reopened and clashes between Arab and Berber-speaking student groups have ceased. Those arrested during the April disturbances have now been released provisionally from prison until they appear before the State Security Court. The arrested musicians appear to have been released without any charges being made against them. Yet these gestures do not alter the basic confrontation between indigeneous Algerian culture and the Middle East mainstream that threatens to engulf it.