Thread by @SamiEverett

1/10 Anthropology & Algeria 🇩🇿 some notes, that is, a thread from (outside of) the field**, or should the--privileged & de-centred--zmigré** grandchild speak***?

*Ref. Rabinow (1977)
**Often derogatory way to refer to diaspora Algerians
***Ref. Spivak (1988)

2/10 French imperial anthropology (travelogues, folklore specialists, philologists etc) helped shape Algeria from the outside. From mid 19C, they sought to classify, appropriate & dominate locally observed cultural forms & differences: clothes, customs, & languages.

3/10 Significant was artistic representation of local life (Cf. Delacroix) & linguistic classification (Cf. Desparmet). This, perhaps, is 1 reason why the current movement (hirak) is clear, whilst not insensitive to contemporary non-western geopol, that it's a 'family affair”

4/10 It seems to me that the orientalist fascination of indigenous (Semitic) diglossia continues to cloud external analysis of Algeria. Nevertheless, tropes of travel (rihla), exile (ghorba) & national belonging are central to the movement’s motivation & multifaceted expression.

5/10 Reflexive Anthro starts by questioning the self: so, does a 3rd gen Franco-Brit ‘halfie’ heir to a meagre Algerian Jewish zmigré legacy have a right to comment/relate them-self to/on the hirak? Do I? Of course I cannot answer definitively nor is it up to me, but acceptance

6/10 relates, I think, to one’s politics, to one’s acknowledgement of entitlement as a non-Muslim, and also how far one has felt a sense of belonging in relation to Algeria whilst IN Algeria. When I was last in DZ I visited graves. Anyone who has any connection to Algeria knows

7/10 the importance of the dead: moujahid genealogies, chouhada graves, le carré Israélite, all relay legitimacy (or not) to national belonging and have power over the living, not to mention (with respect) the symbol of Boutef’s body. But while necro-pology is trendy today,

8/10 it is towards life that the hirak has turned our gaze: intergenerational change, contact, & proximity move us beyond the postcolonial. Such manifestations of intergenerational postcolonial reconstruction can be found at Universities...

9/10 ..My experiences as a recent student of SOAS & INALCO (former training grounds for colonial cadres) s that it’s ok to not define all aspects of the self, yet the way we learn Magribi languages is still shot through with colonial assumptions...

10/10 ...of strict divisions (linguistic classifications) between Berber, Darija, Fusha, Judeo-Arabic; a message that slogans from Universities in Algeria debunk

so maybe it was 11: respectfully then, I will continue to engage, to learn, and fight against myself, cognizant of my biases, intellectual and familial, & I will continue to believe in diaspora beyond religion.

Alright then, 12: The juncture is critical, Algeria’s importance goes well beyond the self, solidarity is absolutely key:

#لا_لتمديد_العهدة_الرابعة
#يتنحاو_ڨاع
#Algerie dima