Synopses & Reviews
Using colonial Algeria as the starting point of her analysis, Patricia Lorcin explores the manner in which ethnic categories and cultural distinctions are developed and used in society. She focuses on the colonial images of "good" Kabyle and "bad" Arab (usually referred to as the Kabyle Myth) and examines the circumstances out of which they arose, as well as the intellectual and ideological influences which shaped them. Her study demonstrates how these images were used to negate the underlying beliefs and values of the dominated society and to impose French cultural, social and political values. By tracing the evolution of ethnic categories over time, Lorcin reveals their inherently unstable nature and the continual process of redefinition in accordance with circumstance and political or social expediency.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 310-314) and index.
Synopsis
Using colonial Algeria as the starting point of her analysis, Patricia Lorcin explores the manner in which ethnic categories and cultural distinctions are developed and used in society. She focuses on the colonial images of "good" Kabyle and "bad" Arab (usually referred to as the Kabyle Myth) and examines the circumstances out of which they arose, as well as the intellectual and ideological influences which shaped them. Her study demonstrates how these images were used to negate the underlying beliefs and values of the dominated society and to impose French cultural, social and political values. By tracing the evolution of ethnic categories over time, Lorcin reveals their inherently unstable nature and the continual process of redefinition in accordance with circumstance and political or social expediency.
About the Author
Patricia Lorcin has a doctorate from Columbia University and presently lives in Abidjan.
Table of Contents
Introduction *
Part I: Algeria 1830-1870 * The Conquest: Kabyles and Arabs in Warfare * Security and Reconnaissance Part I: The Elaboration and Confirmation of Categories * Security and Reconnaissance Part II: Islam and Society * The 'Royaume Arabe' (1860-1870) *
Part II: Social Sciences and Military Men * The Ecole Polytechnique, Saint-Simonianism and the Army * Race and Scholarship in Algeria: The Impact of the Military * Scholarly Societies in France: The Kabyle Myth as a Racial Paradigm *
Part III: Algeria 1871-1900: The Eclipse of the Kabyle Myth * Civilian Rule * Algeria, the Melting-Pot of the Mediterranean: The Impact of Louis Bertrand *
Part IV: The Legacy * Persistent Stereotypes and Resultant Policies *
Part V * Conclusion * Notes to Chapters * Appendix: Biographical Sketches * Bibliographical Note * Index