Algerianism

The term Algerianism has had two meanings in history, one during the French colonial era, and another one after the independence of Algeria.

French period

During the French era, algérianisme was a literary genre with political overtones, born among French Algerian writers (see Algerian literature) who hoped for a common Algerian future culture, uniting French settlers and native Algerians. The term algérianiste was used for the first time in a 1911 novel by Robert Randau, "Les Algérianistes".[1] A Cercle algérianiste was created in France in 1973 by Pieds-Noirs, with several local chapters. It has for "purpose to safeguard the cultural heritage born from the French presence in Algeria."[2]

Post-independence period

In Algerian contemporary politics, algerianist is a political label given to Algerian nationalists whose policies focus more on the unity of Algeria's nation-state beyond regional idiosyncrasies.

The modern Arabic language actually has two distinct words which can be translated into English as "nationalism": qawmiyya قومية, derived from the word qawm (meaning "tribe, ethnic nationality"), and wataniyya وطنية, derived from the word watan (meaning "homeland, native country"). The word qawmiyya has been used to refer to pan-Arab nationalism, while wataniyya has been used to refer to patriotism at a more local level (sometimes disparaged as "regionalism" by those who consider pan-Arabism the only true form of Arab nationalism).[3] Algerianism is the Algerian patriotism, against pan-Arabist nationalism and different forms of regionalisms.

See also

Notes and sources

  1. ↑ reedited by Tchou éditeur, coll. « L’Algérie heureuse », 1979 ISBN 2-7107-0195-2
  2. ↑ French: Le Cercle algérianiste, créé en 1973, a pour objectif de sauvegarder le patrimoine culturel né de la présence française en Algérie., Site du Cercle Algérianiste, Sauver une culture en péril
  3. ↑ Sela, Avraham. "Arab Nationalism." The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Ed. Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002. pp. 151-155
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