Belmaun and the Amazigh ceremonial between two positions
The annual celebrations of “Belmaune” provoke a continuous polarization of opinions and positions, between those who oppose the celebration and those who agree with its continuity and presence in the Faragu scene for each year.
Opponents usually start from a reference that has known backgrounds, determined by a certain understanding of reality, life, and man, which obliges him to confine his being and meaning to a circle of commitments that do not necessarily fit into his social reality, as much as they are linked to a distant reality whose ideological production leaked at least since the time of Sultan Mawla Suleiman, and formed a closed framework that denies... Local customs, traditions, and customs, and forms of mentality that belong to structures formed over a long time, This is demonstrated by its consolidation and extension despite the continuous, contingent changes that usually come outside the country (ideology, colonialism,...)
As for someone who agrees with the celebration, he may build his position from an angle that gives the mind space to think outside the aforementioned limitations, or he may identify with the general position on spectacle by enjoying it or participating in its design. The second position of this last type, which is identification without understanding, may contribute to justifying reactionary positions on spectacle without being aware of it, because its position is not founded from a cultural standpoint, and its contribution does not go beyond establishing the folkloric presence without developing it with new aesthetic ideas that give it a splendor that indicates transcendence and creativity. Cultural awareness of the concept of Amazigh spectacle is established by going beyond the automatic interaction with it through understanding the determinants of Amazigh culture and comprehending its roots, the meaning of celebrations, its close connection to local nature, and the human interaction with its capabilities and resources with his capabilities and imagination. This type of understanding can contribute to overcoming stereotypical positions that do not believe in social action and an anthropological understanding of the depths of traditions, their deepening, their connotations, their particularities and their roles. It also enables it to purify all forms of locally creative spectacle from all manifestations of vulgarity that are not compatible with reason, civil behavior, reasons of cleanliness and public morals.
Criticizing the position on spectacle objectively requires putting reactionary positions in their place, whether they are stereotyped in references that have ready-made judgments that are not compatible with reality and denounce forms of beauty and creativity, or they are the result of a superficial understanding of the concept of spectacle, which causes it to be trivialized and transformed from aesthetics and beauty into reprehensible ugliness, which itself indicates reactionism and return. To the point of absurdity.
Written by: Mubarak Ashawy
Source: websites