questioning gender, nationalism and ethnicity in the maghreb

Race, Gentier & Class: Volume 8, Number 3, 2001 (70-101)

Race, Gender & Class Website: www.suno.edu/sunorgc/

&JESTIONING 6ËNDER, AfATIONALISM

AND ÉfrHNICITY IN THE MAGHREB

HMCES OF W&MEN IN£|TERARY &>ACE

Daniela MerollaCentre de Recherche Berbère, INALCO, Paris

Abstract: Mypaper will focus on the interactions between gender and communityin oral and written narratives from Kabylia. Since the eighties, the studies onmultiethnic and multicultural societies have progressively been concerned with theintersections between gender, race, and ethnicity. Other researches havediscussed the construction of gender in the colonial discourse and in thenationalist movements of the Middle East. It is not by chance that these twostreams of research draw together when we look at the construction of gender andcommunity in the Kabyle context both the women's question and the so-calledBerber's question were central issues in the making of Algeria. Until this aspect,the field of Berber studies calls attention for the issue of gender and minorities thathas scarcely been treated in the critical apprehension of Nationalism andOrientalism.. Looking at Kabyle oral narratives, we find a gendered (dominant)discourse constructed around the Kabyle community/Islamic Umma relationship.A counter discourse in female terms takes place in the delineation of Kabylewomen's models, but it finds insuperable limit in the acceptation of the encom-passing patrilineal system. Turning to novels by women's writers from Kabylia,we find a conflicting and dramatic relationship between Kabyle identity andwomen's identity. Yet, these texts reveal a preliminary 'female' project for theconstruction of a renewed Kabyle community, a construction that is inextricablylinked to the problematic relationship between Kabylia and Algeria.

Keywords: multiethnic, multicultural, intersections gender, race, ethnicity,Berber's question, Algeria, Berber studies.

Daniela Merolla, Centre de Recherche Berbère, Institut National des Langues etCultures Orientales, Paris. E-mail: [email protected]

Voices of Women in The Kabyle Literary Space 71

M;:y paper focuses on gender aspects in the Kabyle commu-nity/Algerian nation relationship. Interactionsbetween genderand community will be discussed in light of the 'Berber

question' in Algeria and of nationalist and oriëntalist discourses on the questionof Women 's Condition. Alternative views are then presented, such as those voicedin oral and written narratives of women from Kabylia. Kabylia is a Berber -speaking region that has assumed a relevant position in the present Algerianconflict as far as the rights of individuals and of minorities are concerned [Theterms Imazi yen and Tamazi yt are nowadays preferred to Berbers and the Berberlanguage (see Chaker, 1987). In the following sections I still use the term Berberto show continuities in the construction, and its critique, of what is well known asla question berbère in Algeria.].

Since the eighties, feminist and women's studies have progressivelybrought into focus the intersections between gender, nationalism, and ethnicity(see Yuval-Davis and Anthias, 1989; Yuval-Davis, 1997). At the same time,criticism was raised against mainstream feminism, as in the case of the Latinaswho demanded attention to differences among women belonging to hegemonie orsubordinated communities (Anzaldua, 1987; Saldivar-Hull, 1991). In the field ofMiddle East studies, researchers have discussed the construction of gender inIslam, in the colonial discourse, in the nationalist movements, and in 'mainstream'feminism (See Ahmed, 1992; Kandiyoti, 1993, 1996 [with large bibliographicalreferences]; Larzeg ,1988, 1994). These streams of research draw together whenwe look at the construction of gender and community in the Kabyle context(Merolla, 1996), since both the question of women and, so-called, the Berberquestion were central issues in the making of Algeria. In this essay, I thereforewish to call attention to the issue of gender and minorities that has scarcely beentreated in the critical apprehension of Arab nationalisms and Orientalism.

NATIONALISM AND COMMUNITY: "LA QUESTION BERBÈRE" IN ALGERIA

The influential work by Anderson (1983) has interpreted nationalism interms of an 'imagined community', an intellectual construction more similar tokinship or religion than to political ideology (Anderson, 1991:5). As a conse-quence, nationalisms and other forms of community, such as so-called ethnicidentities, local collectivities, and minorities, are not more seen as inherentlydifferent, but elements of opposition are framed into the historical making ofnations. This historical process is characterized by a homogenizing and unifyingtendency, with the subsequent definition of regional, linguistic, religious, ethnic

72 Voices of Women in The Kabyle Literary Space

or sexual internal differences as being essentially 'other' and antagonist to theunity of the nation (Parker, Russo, Sommer, and Yaeger, 1992). Today, nationsas political entities have entered into a period of crisis, but nationalism is still ahegemonie model when the different communities tend to restructure themselveson a sub-national form, emphasizing their internal homogeneity linguistically,culturally, or economically. Conversely, processes of globalization, pointing toa world seen as a singular entity under the impact of modernization [As Robertson(1990:50, 51-52) writes, these processes 'at the global leve!' imply theinstitutionalization of the world through both the universalization of the nationalmodel and the division into various forms of the world seen as if it was onesystem. This global generalization is evidently based on a well-defined 'centre'since, for example, Christian chronology establishes the common calendar andGreenwich Mean Time is the primary point of reference for Standard Time.],imply the definition of the 'peripheral' groups and cultures in terms of localismsthat in the long term will either integrale into 'nations', then into the globalizedsystem, or will become a new type of 'folklore'. [When globalization is assumedas a neutral model, this notion avoids the historical context of the processesconsidered and eludes fundamental questions on cultural hegemony and powerrelationships between communities and between individuals.]

Turning to Algeria, la question berbère took lasting form under thepressure of opposing forces, i.e. ,French colonialism and Algerian nationalism.Yet the Berber question was framed into long-term relations between linguisticcommunities in the Maghreb.

The Arab conquest in the seventh century AD stimulated the progressiveIslamization and Arabization of the Maghreb. At the level of language, theprocess of Arabization of the Maghreb meant that the population, who spokeBerber, mainly acquired Arabic [The process of acquisition of Arabic was farfrom unilinear, see Marais, 1939; Camps, 1980, 1983; Youssi, 1991.]. Inmountain and desert areas the population accepted Islam and Koranic or liturgicalArabic but not the routinized vernacular. This explains the presence of Arabic andBerber in the Maghreb today [This process of language acquisition also explainsthe difference between Classical Arabic and the dialectal forms of Arabic. SeeChaker, 1984b, 1989.]. However, Classical Arabic, the prestigious writtenlanguage of religieus texts, mostly became the language of government andadministration. In the long run, the subordination of Berber to Arabic in terms ofliteracy and religion was established. This process has affected the Berber dialectsthat are more or less heavily influenced by Arabic in their lexicon.

Whether subordination implied domination before the onset ofcolonialism shouldbelooked at in historicallydeterminedcontexts. ManyBerber-speaking areas remained relatively independent from thecaliphates and sultanatesthat ruled in the Maghreb from the seventh century AD, as well as from the later


Ottoman Empire. Kabylia, in the north east of present Algeria, was one of theseindependent areas where Arabic was known by a liraited number of men, eitherreligious literates or those who worked as peddlers or laborers in the Arabophoneareas. Kabyle women usually spoke their mother tongue and did not have accessto Arabic (Camps, 1984; Roberts, 1978a, 1981; U Blaid, 1977).

The relationship between Arabic and Berber in the Maghreb changedwith colonization. A central issue in the colonial conquest was the emphasis puton the opposite characteristics of Arabs and Berbers. Opposition pivoted on thedifferentiation at the level of language, but ethnic, cultural, and socialdifferentiation was also developed [See further the section Berber Question andKabyle Berber Women in Algeria.]. Aim of such opposition was to divide Araband Berber populations and to gain better control over the colonized lands [For adiscussion on the colonial discourse on Algeria, see Lucas and Vatin 1975. Cf.Chaker, 1989:83-91; Lacoste-Dujardin, 1962 and 1984.]. The colonial projectfailed, since bom the Arabophones and Berberophones opposed colonization andjoined forces against France. During the war against France, divergences ofinterest that could exist within the nationalist side were smoothed away: nationalunity was emphasized in the name of Islam and Arabic as an affirmation of theSelf against the Colonizer.

The social and cultural changes caused by colonization, however, hadstimulated an urge for recognition for Berber language in a number of Kabyleintellectuals who raised this issue before, during and after the decolonizing war.Nationalist movements and governments, and a large part of Maghrebianintellectuals, interpreted the Berber demand for recognition as a threat to the'national self which was seen as being represented exclusively by Arabic.Berberophones were suspected or even accused openly of localism and ofacculturation [See intense criticism raised by the novels of Mouloud Mammeri(Sahli, 1953; Lacheraf, 1953). Cf. Ageron, 1972; Chaker, 1980:478-479,1989a:83-91; Roberts, 1980. Recent studies on this period are numerous, cf.Chaker, 1992; Brenier-Estrine, 1995. On the discussion on vthe Algerianpersonality' in the sixties, see Lucas et Vatin, 1975:78-79.]. Therefore, thesubordination of Berber to Arabic acquired a political connotation.

After decolonization, a series of authoritarian Algerian governmentsstrengthened the homogenizing tendency of nationalism. Linguistic policiescentered on generalizing adoption of Arabic have increasingly been resented inKabylia. For example, the Algerian parliament forbade the use of any languagesother than Arabic in public activities, and yet in Kabylia shop-signs, placards, androad signs are still in Tifïnagh or in French. Mass manifestations took place infavor of the Kabyle Berber language and culture both in Kabylia and in Algiers[On Kabyle demands and actions in the seventies, see Chaker, 1984a:175;Roberts, 1980:351-359.].


Several historical processes have contributed to individualize the Kabyleregion in Algeria and to develop the present Kabyle Berber identity extendedbeyond the traditional limits of villages and confederations [According to Roberts(1983:210-235), the development of a Kabyle identity and the specificity of theKabyle region in Algeria is due to the formation of an intellectual elite and acommercial middle class. Chaker (1984a:176) argues that the demand for therecognition of Kabyle and Berber has reflected large and widespread aspirations,diffused through all social strata. This would be linked to a Kabyle identitydeveloped from the increasing expansion of the community, previously based ona village or a confederation of villages, which now comes to include all theKabyle region with an extension to the other Berber-speaking regions.]. We canconsider the following processes: the inclusion in a centralized state, whereasKabylia had enjoyed a certain independence before colonization ( Abrous,1988:12-13; Roberts, 1981:198); the colonial identification of the Kabyles bymeans of linguistic and ethnographic studies and art collections (Chaker, 1989:20-21, 89; cf. Lacoste-Dujardin, 1984. On the relations between colonialidentification, the nationalist model, and identity, see Anderson, 1991:163-185);the inclusion of people from Kabylia, previously differentiated by villages, intocollective displacements principally due to the school system and to emigration[Pilgrimages in Anderson's terminology, 1991:47-65; 113-140. See the EcoleNormale de Bouzaréa, probably the most important centre for Berber studies,where 89% of all students were from Kabylia before the Second World War. Ona critical analysis of the function of the Ecole Normale, see Colonna, 1972,1975.The so-called Berber Policy of France, however, aimed to diffuse French, not Ber-ber. Chaker (1989:83-91) writes that the school policy of France, which wouldhave privileged Kabylia, was more a political construction than a concretelydeveloped plan. Nevertheless, Kabyles gave weight to literacy and education andmade use of the limited possibilities of the colonial school system, probably inconnection with the overpopulation of Kabylia and the necessity for diversifyingthe family economie strategy, in which, for example, one son could study andguarantee a salary by working in the colonial system, while other males of thefamily should emigrate (Chaker, 1989:85). Acquisition of French in Kabylia tookplace probably more through emigration than through colonial education policy.As Roberts (1981:189) writes, "the impact of French colonialism...led to thereorientation of Kabyle emigration away from the Arabophone interior andtowards France, with the result that French replaced Arabic as the secondlanguage of most Kabyle males". Other aspects to be considered in terms ofcollective displacement are the effects of the military service of Kabyles duringthe First World War and the forced regrouping of villages put into operation bythe French army during the decolonizing war.]; the temporary return to Kabyliaof emigrants, which contributed to a diffusion of the works of intellectual elitesamong larger strata of the Kabyle population [See the detailed study on Kabyleemigration by Direche-Slimani, 1992, in particular on the first contacts with theFrench Units and interactions for the development of an anti-colonialist discourse


and the FLN (Direche-Slimani, 1992:56-58). See also Chaker, 1989:33,47-58.];the symbolic impact of writing in Kabyle Berber and the cultural vivaciousnessstimulated by the activity of prestigieus writers such as Jean and Taos Amrouche,Mouloud Feraoun, and Mouloud Mammeri (See Chaker, 1989:21-24; Merolla,1996: 28-31; 35-40).

Another pivotal aspect in the construction of the Kabyle community wasthe mass participation to the liberation war. However, internal conflicts set theKabyle leaders at the margins of the FLN (Front de Liberation National). Thelanguage question, although not explicitly mentioned, was probably at stakeduring the war as well as during the unrest that took place just after Independenceunder the leadership of Hocine Aït Ahmed, which ended with the militaryoccupation of Kabylia [H.Aït Ahmed is presently leader of the opposition partyFFS. On the episodes mentioned, see analyses in Carlier, 1984:347-371; Chaker,1984a:174; Direche-Slimani, 1992:91-98; Mira, 1986: 99-108; Ouerdane, 1986:109-115.]. As Roberts (1982:334) writes: "The nationalist perspective embodiedin the Soummam platform was specifically 'Algerian', not pan-Arab nor evenArabo-Muslim. It implicitly amounted to a political rather than a culturalconception of Algerian nationality, one that would have found room within thenation for non-Arabs and even for non-Muslims. The defeat of the Interior and ofits Kabyle general staff costs the Algerian revolution both these principles.... Asfor the Kabyle community itself, the defeat of the Interior disrupted the process ofits political integration into the Algerian nation".

Today the specificity of Kabylia in Algeria is visible politically. Theincreasing inclusion of North Africa into a globalizing economical system hasbeen interwoven with the growing opposition of the so-called fundamentalistIslamic movements (See Burgat, 1988a; Ferdinand and Mozaffari, 1988; Mulder,1981; Wessels, 1981. On 'fundamentalism' and Mntegralism' see Burgat 1988b,1988e). Yet, in Kabylia, opposition to the government has not been listed by suchmovements, but by parties that propose a multicultural framework in which,among other platforms, official recognition will be given to mother tongues suchas Berber and Arabic dialects [This trend was seen in the distribution of votes toparties such as Front des Forces Socialistes and Ressemblement pour la Cultureet la Democratie during the last administrative elections, before the process ofdemocratization was interrupted by the government. See Beke, 1993; De LaGuérivière, 1989; Heller, 1990; Iratni and Tahi, 1992; Tahi, 1992.]. This politicalspecificity can be related to the fact that, from the point of view of a minority,Islamic fundamentalism tends to reinforce the homogenizing effect of nationalismand globalization. Fundamentalism presents itself as hegemonie and ecumenicalby asserting, within the unity of the Islamic Umma, "the foundations for a Muslimnational identity transcending tribal, local and regional distinctions; a strictlyscripturalist Islam and, with it, the hegemony of urban and literate society over theilliterate rural population" (Serpa, 1991:199). Under these aspects,


fundamentalism invites to a further assimilation of those communities that aremarginalized by the processes activated by nationalism and globalization.

In the civil conflict, which erupted after the interruption of thedemocratizing process in 1992, both the Algerian government and the so-calledIslamic fundamentalist movements, seeking for an ally, have shown certainflexibility towards the language question. Under pressure of extendeddemonstrations in Kabylia and in Algiers, the government instituted the HighCommission for Amazighity in April 1995. Nevertheless, the attitude of thegovernment seems to remain ambiguous and the integration of Berber in theschool system and in the media is proceeding at a snail's pace. A contradiction inthe government's policy is that, whereas a solution for the Berber Question isputatively being sought, the identification of the national self with Arabic andIslam is emphasized in the fighting against the 'fundamentalist' organizations.

In the making of Algeria, Arabic and Kabyle Berber have becomeconnoted in terms of opposite allegiances. That is, Algerian national identity hasexcluded the autonomy, and even the very existence, of the Kabyle community thathas reinforced its defmition largely by participating in the national construction.In the present situation, it is difficult to foresee whether the Berber-based partieswill play a strategie role in the resolution of the Algerian conflicts or whether theaspirations they express will be silenced by authoritarian governments.

GENDERED CONSTRUCTIONS, NATIONALIST DISCOURSE,AND THE ORIËNTALIST VEIL

Nationalisms as historical practices differ to a large extent, and yetnational constructions point out a shared paradox concerning gender: thefemininerepresentation of a community conceived essentially in masculine terms (the'fraternity' mentioned by Anderson, 1991:7). As often expressed in literary andpolitical texts, the community is created or birthed by men's action while thecommunity as essence is nurtured or represented by the metaphor of Nation asWoman, the object of male action and desire (Parker et al., 1992; Schipper, 1987;Stratton ,1994). We can think of the use of the metaphor nation-woman in thefamous novel Nedjima by Kateb Yacine or in the writings by Franz Fanon, inwhich the historical agents and hewers of liberation are the Algerian men [As towomen in Fanon's texts, McClintock (1997:98) writes that they are customized"designed agents": they are invited (by men) into revolution. See section below.].

Another shared feature of nationalisms is a certain ambiguity towardsestablished gender distinctions. Nationalism requires men and women to takeactive part in the fight, often stimulating changes in the previous male/femaledistinctions. Yet, as Kandiyoti (1993:380) writes, "on the one hand, nationalist


movements invite women to participate fully in collective life by interpellatingthem as 'national' actors: mothers, educators, workers and even fighters. On theother hand, they reaffirm the boundaries of culturally acceptable feminine conductand exert pressure on women to articulate their gender interests within the termsof reference set by nationalist discourse". This mechanism is particularly clear inthe case of the Algerian Family Code adopted into law in 1984. The AlgerianConstitution guarantees fundamental equal rights of women and men as citizens(for example equal right to work and equal pay), but the 1984 Family Code, thatdeals with the status of men and women in the family, limits legal equality in themarriage. Announced and revised several times, as a matter of debate anddemonstrations, the Family Code reconfirmed a series of gender inequalities, suchas the following: the man is the head of the family while the wife must obey anddefend him and respect nis parents and relatives; the man has the right to signdocuments ("for the children", etc.) while the woman can only sign when she hasbeen legally authorized to do so; the man has the right to initiale divorce with fewrestrictions, while detailed limiting reasons allow a wife to initiale divorce; a manmay marry a non-Muslim woman but a woman may not marry a non-Muslim man.The 1984 Family Code is a mediation between the heavy influences of long-standing social practices and Ihe expeclalion of changes and power sharing raisedby women's involvemenl in Ihe liberalion war (see Lipperl, 1987:214-218).

The ambiguily in Ihe nalionalist discourse towards established genderdistinctions is at the basis of different approaches on gender and nationalism(Kandiyoti, 1993,1996; Yuval-Davis and Anlhias, 1989; Yuval-Davis, 1997). OnIhe one hand, nalionalisl movements and stales are seen as modernizing factors,since they modify previous gender distinctions and they implement un-gendered'neutral' rights for everybody (such as nationalily). On the other hand, the nationis qualified as 'gendered' since men conslilule Ihe model for Ihe Cilizen: womencan acquire civil righls bul Ihe 'male' norm is nol challenged. Accordingly,differences in inlerests between women and men are not taken into consideralionand the civil rights of women are the firsl lo be challenged. When economical,religieus or other problems arise, women are soon demanded 'to go back home'.A common aspect in these interprelalions is that, as Kandiyoti (1993:377) writes,"Ihe integration of women...somehow follows a different Irajeclory from that ofmen".

Moreover, the nationalist project for community is at stake even thoughnationalism engages a debate on women's condition. An example is given by thediscussion on the use of the veil by Muslim women. Leila Ahmed (1992: 144-168)writes that, broadly speaking, nationalist movements in North Africa havedeveloped two main alternative discourses on the veil: a secularist attitude thatcalls for the abolition of the veil and of segregation and a traditionalist one that,in contrast, is in favor of wearing the veil and partially in favor of segregation.Although the latter presents itself as defender of the religious tradition and


cultural continuity, both these attitudes are dynamic reactions to colonialism.They activate their discourse on women in their nationalist opposition to colonialand post-colonial domination. The secularist attitude wants to abolish both theveil and segregation since these practices are seen as obstacles to development andfreedom from economical and political Western hegemony. Conversely, thetraditionalist attitude sees cultural continuity as the way to oppose and overcomeWestern hegemony (Cf. Hjarpe, 1983,1988). The consequences of these attitudesin organizing society and in men's and women's lives are largely different (see, forexample, in Turkey, Iran, and Yemen [Berkes, 1998; Browing, 1985; Kandiyoti1993, 1996; Molyneux, 1982, 1998; Paidar, 1996; de Groot, 1996]), but in bothcases society (and not women) is the central subject under discussion. Therefore,the use of the veil becomes emblematic of sefi^ratjön since changes in thefemale/male distinctions are seen as cultural alienation, whether they areintegrated into the nationalist project or not (Ahmed, 1992:144-168).

The link between cultural alienation and changes in gender distinctionsin Islam was established by the oriëntalist discourse on the Middle East accordingto which the opposition between male domination and female passivitysummarized the lives of men and women in Muslim countries. Female passivitywas seen as fïxed in the past for good, without paying attention to endogenoushistorical changes. Moreover, Orientalism generalized on the condition of womenin Muslim countries. As Lazreg (1988:94-95) writes: "Algerian women have...noindividuality. What is true of one is true of all; just as what is true of Algerianwomen is also held to be true of all women deemed to be like them over the spacegenerously defined as the 'Muslim world' or the 'Arab world'." Orientalism thuscontributed to set Muslim women in an a-historical and immutable tradition(Larzeg, 1994:204-206). This implied that changes concerning gender distinctionsand women's condition could only take place in Islam when colonization andmodernization imposed them. Women's condition became the indicator todetermine whether social and cultural changes were taking place in colonizedcountries. Acculturation (intended as cultural alienation from Muslim tradition)was justifïed and implemented by colonial policy as an improvement on thetraditional woman's condition. Under this aspect, according to Ahmed (1992:244-245), the colonial discourse made use of the language of the first feministmovements—strongly opposed within European countries—to define the men ofthe dominated cultures as oppressors of their women. Such a discourse stigmatizedthe culture of the Others and justifïed 'la mission civilisatrice' of colonizingcountries.

THE BERBER QUESTION AND KABYLE BERBER WOMEN IN ALGERIA

An example of the gendered mechanism underlying the colonial discourseand the reactions against it, before and during the Independence War, is given by


the positions on Berber society and Berber women held by Augustine Hanoteau(1867), Si Ammar ou Boulifa (1904) [The oppostion between Hanoteau andBoulifa is presented in detail by Tassadit Yacine. See the new edition ofRecueildepoésies kabyles by Boulifa (Yacine, 1990: 13-32)], and Franz Fanon (1959).

The colonial discourse towards Berbers was Janus-faced. Colonialmilitary servants, administrators, politicians and uni versity researchers developedtwo main attitudes on Berber society and Berber women. On the one hand,Berbers were depicted as the "bons sauvages" of North Africa and as the Romancivilization's heirs who only aspired to be reintegrated into Western civilizationby French colonization (see Masqueray, 1885:261-265; Fremeaux 1984:29-46).Anthropological differentiation between Arabs and Berbers was initiallyconstructed around elements such as the blonde hairs and blue eyes of the Kabyles(forexample, see Masqueray, 1882:333). Sociological elements of differentiationwere seen in the democratie village organization and in the women's condition.Kabyle Berber women were appreciated since they worked in the gardens outsidethe houses and they did not wear the veil (Masqueray, 1886, 1914). Thesepractices would demonstrate that Berber women enjoyed a higher status than Arabwomen did (Fournel, 1875; Sabatier, 1883; Raineau, 1934) [As to the studies onthe Berber woman's condition, see Lacoste-Dujardin, 1984, 1990; Bujéga, 1924;Gaudry, 1928; Goichon, 1927; Hacène, 1926; Lefévre, 1939; Maunier, 1930;Vigier, 1933]. On the other hand, Berber society was stigmatized as being moreretrograde than the Arab one was. Also in this case, a major example was foundin the Kabyle Berber woman's condition, one that was presented as particularlybackwards since women were disinherited—namely, that they could be marriedoff before puberty and even sold to their husbands (Hanoteau, 1867; Coulon,1930). The stigmatization of Berber society gained political credibility after theinsurrection of Kabylia in 1870, but could not erase the first attitude of Berbers as"bons sauvages".

The first attitude seemed appreciative of Berber society and the secondone was openly depreciative, but their difference was more apparent thansubstantial. Both positions implied and asserted the superiority of la civilisationfrangaise, but they diverged in their strategy. However different the selection ofBerber cultural traits was, it was instrumental to the construction of FrenchAlgeria. One attitude aimed at dividing Arabs and Berbers was by prospecting thepossibility of assimilating the latter (as they were "heirs" to the Romans) [On the'Kabyle myth', see Ageron, 1972: 267-292. Criticism on the presumed philo-Berber cultural policy of France is discussed in Chaker, 1989:83-91.]. The otherattitude intended to oppose Berbers and Arabs, without fancying the assimilationof Berbers (See Lucas and Vatin, 1975). Hanoteau, general of the French army,expressed the latter position. As in many studies of the period, the condition ofwomen was the indicator for the 'development', and for Hanoteau's judgment, ofKabyle society: "La position civile et morale de la femme dans la société kabyle


est des plus misérables et témoigne de la civilisation peu avancée oü se trouveencore cette société: elle est bien inférieure a celle que la législation musulmaneassure a la femme et, sous ce rapport, la loi du Coran, fidélement observée, est unprogrès incontestable sur les usages kabyles" (Hanoteau, 1867:287) [The civil andmorale positions of women in Kabylie society is among the more miserable wehave ever witnessed and stands as testimony to a civilization only partiallyadvanced today: as a social system, it is quite inferior to the legal accommodationsaccorded the woman by Muslim practice as dictated by the Qur'aan.].

The negative representation of the Kabyle society was called into questionby Si Ammar ou Boulifa, professor at the Ecole Supérieure des Lettres (Faculty ofArts) of Algiers, who criticized Hanoteau's interpretation of Kabyle women's socialposition. Boulifa wrote that Hanoteau, from the outside, could not grasp thelanguage and the customary aspects in full significance nor the central role ofwomen in Kabyle society. First, Boulifa refers to positive elements in the Kabylewoman's condition such, as those pointed out in the "bon sauvage" colonialistposition. Then, hè critically examines the negative factors mentioned by Hanoteauand hè explains that women's disinheritance should be seen as the 'remedy' forextreme parceling of land in Kabylia after the nineteenth century. Turning tomarriage, Boulifa stated that Kabyle women were not sold. The mistake was inthe faulty translation of the verb agh (as to whether it means 'to buy' or 'to take' awife), and in the miscomprehension of the custom of the 'price of the bride' thatwas not intended to buy or to sell a wife. Conversely, this custom was intended tohonor the bride. Boulifa also writes that women hold the honor of men and theirfamilies and they are the 'central pillar of the house'. Moreover, referring topersonages such as Fatima n'Soumer, Lalla Khadidja, and Chirnsi, Boulifa assertsthat women had played most important political roles in Berber history. Showingthat the condition of women depended on several factors, such as family socialstatus, age, position within the family, etc., Boulifa gave an insider's view that wascertainly more detailed and appropriated than the view expressed by Hanoteau.And yet, when Boulifa wrote that disinheritance was a social 'remedy', hè assumedthe perspective of the patriarchal family's interests in society, without taking intoaccount the severe consequences of such a practice on the lives of individualwomen. Taking a wider view, Tassadit Yacine writes that "ce sont en réalité lesdominants que sont les hommes et a fortiori les marabouts que Boulifa, homme etmarabout, défend" (Yacine, 1990:22) [it is, in reality, husbands and men whopredominate as a fortiori spiritual sages, both of whom Boulifa, husband andspiritual sage, defends.]. In both cases, the discussion was on women, but theorganisation of society was concerned: "Boulifa comrne Hanoteau, en défendant<leurs> femmes, ne font en réalité que conforter les systèmes qu'ils représentent.Aucun des deux n'a ressenti la nécessité de laisser la parole aux femmes elles-mêmes"(Yacine ,1990:28) [Boulifa as well as Hanoteau, in defending [their] wivesand women, in reality do more than appease the system that they represent.Neither of the two feels deeply compelled to share or to relinquish the right of free


speech to the woman.]. The point is that the Identification between women andsociety tends to silence specific women's interests and covers the multiplicity ofwomen's voices, situations, and hopes.

About half century after the debate between Boulifa and Hanoteau, FranzFanon's innovative analysis and criticism of colonialism dismantled the oriëntalistdiscourse on Algeria and Algerian women. However, Fanon played down specificquestions on the Berber woman's condition submitting them to the nationalistposition that denounced the differentiation between Arabs and Berbers as colonialpropaganda.

We can look at Fanon's discussion of the colonial policy of the veil in hisfamous L'An cinq de la révolution algérienne (1959). In the chapter titled'Algeria Unveiled', Fanon shows that the attention colonization paid to the veilwas linked to a Western phantasm: "the veil worn by women is at once noticed bythe tourist.... For the tourist and the foreigner, the veil demarcates both Algeriansociety and its feminine components" (Fanon, 1989: 35-36). He then denouncedthe implication of the colonial 'battle' of the veil and the relation establishedbetween veil and the 'woman as nation' metaphor by colonial policy. "Still today,in 1959, the dream of a total domestication of Algerian society by means of«cunveiled women aiding and sheltering the occupier> continues to haunt thecolonial authorities" (Fanon, 1989: 39). Algerians opposed a fierce reactionagainst French unveiling of both women and Algeria and, Fanon goes on, theliberation war gave start to a new dynamism: whether the veil was worn or not, itwas against colonization ["To the colonialist offensive against the veil, thecolonised opposes thé cult of the veil. What was an undifferentiated element ina homogeneous whole acquires a taboo character.... Upon the outbreak of thestruggle for liberation, the attitude of the Algerian woman, or of native society ingeneral, with regard to the veil was to undergo important modifications" p.47."j.In the beginning, the veil was a mechanism of resistance.... In a second phase,...the veil was abandoned in the course of the revolutionary action" (p.63). Thedynamics of the veil during colonization is clearly outlined by Fanon. On thecontrary, the pre-colonial practices concerning the veil are only treated in afootnote (Fanon, 1989:36, footnote 1).

Analyzing the relations between gender and nationalism in Fanon's text,Anne McClintock writes that such a footnote position implicitly denies thehistorical dynamics of the veil ["Fanon denies the historical dynamism of the veiland banishes its intricate history to a footnote" (McClintock, 1997:97).]. Fanonpresents the veil as a 'neutral' cultural element to whom only colonialism gavemeaning by assigning the function of emblematic indicator of women's servitude[McClintock's comment (1997:97) concerns the definition by Fanon of the veil as"a formerly inert element of the native configuration " and "an undifferentiatedelement in a homogeneous whole" (Fanon 1989:46,47).]. This discourse is linked


to the fact that in Fanon's text women's national agency is mediated by women'sdomestic relations to men who designate their wives, sisters, and daughters tobecome involved in revolutionary activities [See McClinton's reading (1997:98),and her quotation from Fanon 1989:51: "At the beginning, it was the marriedwomen who were contacted. Later, widows or divorced women weredesignated."]. That is to say, women do not participate in Algerian revolutionautonomously and they are no historical agents for themselves. Therefore, Fanondoes not discuss the gendered interests and conflicts inscribed in the history of theveil prior to colonialism (See the analyses of the history of the veil by Mernissiand Ahmed). In McClintock's reading (1997:99-100), Fanon applauds the anti-colonial nationalist engagement of women and the changes that nationalistrevolution induces in society, but hè is "reluctant to acknowledge any genderconflict" prior to the Algerian anti-colonial war.

Turning to the Berber question, we note in Fanon that there are fewreferences to internal differentiation in contrast to the extended descriptions andinterpretations of the differences between Arab and Berber societies in colonialdiscourse. Fanon just only asserts that in the course of the Algerian revolution"the Kabyles were no longer <the men of the mountains>, but brothers who withOumrane and Krim made things difficult for the enemy troops" (p.84). Few pageslater, hè adds that Kabyles had to learn Arabic to fight against France (1989:91).When we look at the link Fanon established between society and language, theArabic language characterizes the 'woman as nation' metaphor from the(secularist) nationalist side [He followed the secularist attitude of nationalistmovements towards the woman's condition (Fanon, 1959, Chapter 3, "TheAlgerian family"]: "the Arabic language was the most effective means that thenation's being had of unveiling itself' (1989:91-92, my italics). Fanon explainsthat, after 1956, the situation changed [In 1956, the revolutionary "de laSoummam" took place, and the nationalists decided to use the language of theoccupiers to combat them. The Voice of fighting Algeria thus starled to broadcastin Arabic, in French, and in Kabyle] and the nationalist army and broadcastsstarled to utilize the French language. This new language strategy waspragmatically intended to support the fighting against colonization. However, weunderstand that the subordination of the Berber language was maintained becauseArabic and French were the main channels to fight against colonization.Remarkably, Fanon asserts that "the new language of the nation could then makeitself known through multiple meaningful channels" (1989:92). By 'multiplechannels' hè implied an opening to linguistic diversities that was not to be foundin the language policy of Independent Algeria (Chaker, 1989:93-108).

Whether the references to the Berber question are rare in L'An cinq de larevolution algérienne, those to Berber women are relegated in the same footnotetreating the history of the veil prior to colonization. The footnote position that hasstricken the attention of McClintock assumes a new dimension: it minimizes the


dividing colonial policy that Fanon criticizes ["The originality of Kabyle womenconstitues, among others, one of the themes of colonialist propaganda bringingout the opposition between Arabs and Berbers" (Fanon, 1989:31, note 1)], but italso minimizes the originality of the Berber woman's social condition. Fanonshortly mentions that Kabyle women did not wear the veil and comments that theyhad developed other defense mechanisms to react against domination. However,hè does not specify what other mechanisms were at work. Their condition is seenas an exception that did not change the general dynamism of the veil undercolonial pressure. The text by Fanon, one of the finest discussions of Frenchcolonial discourse and practice in the Maghreb, offers an example of how thenationalist position determines the submission of both gender and minorityquestions to the construction of one homogeneous Algeria.

After Independence, nationalism made a political taboo of "the Berberquestion". This approach not only reduced the Berbers to "museum objects" (seeAbrous and Chaker, 1982; Mazouni, 1969), but also invited to reformulate theissue of Berber women in the frame of the Algerian woman's condition. Thesimilarities and analogies in women's conditions of life all over Algeriastrengthened this approach (see, for example, Abrous, 1988; Gadant, 1981;Gordon ,1968; Hakiki and Talahite, 1984; Lacoste-Dujardin, 1981; Lippert,1987;Rezig, 1983). And yet, as a consequence, the specific location of womenbelonging to a linguistic minority within Algeria was silenced. This trend can berecognized even in feminist studies sensitive to power relationships andhegemonie discourses (see Achour, 1990; Larzeg, 1994). As Kandiyoti(1993:380) writes, "feminism is not autonomous, but bound to the signifyingnetwork of the national context which produce it."

The issue of the Berber woman's condition has been interpreted in thelight of colonial discourse and Western hegemony. We have seen that colonialdiscourse tried to create an ethnic and social opposition between Arabs andBerbers. All the same, social, cultural and political processes have contributed toform new awareness in the Berber-speaking population of the Maghreb. A'modern' Berber identity has developed in Kabylia (see Plantade, 1993; Roberts,1993), but analogous processes have taken place in other regions such as in theTuareg areas and in the Moroccan Rif. In this sense, denying attention to what itmeans to be a Berber woman in Arab nations smoothes away the differencesbetween specifically women's interests and the nationalist's interest to deny theexistence of a minority. On the other side, speaking as Berber women (and onBerber women) is particularly complex, since it means to discuss the developmentof Berber identity from within the community and, at the same time, to engage adebate with the discourses on women organized by Orientalism and bynationalism.


VOICES OF WOMEN FROM KABYLIA: NOVELS

Two recent novels express the complexity, and the contradictions, ofspeaking as a Kabyle Berber woman. These novels, that can be included in whatI call the Kabyle literary space (Merolla, 1995), organize their discourse on beinga woman and being a Kabyle in the light of the discourses structured by thedifferent forces and approaches mentioned above. A comparison between thesenovels and oral narratives will shed light on the multiplicity of women's voices,situations, and hopes expressed in narratives that, as literary genre and context ofproduction, are organized by different frames of reference [On the inclusion ofdifferent genres in the Kabyle literary space, whether they are created orally orby writing and whether they are produced in Kabyle or in French, see alsoMerolla, 1996.]

The novels presented are Le printemps désespéré (Desperate Spring) byFettouma Touati (1984) and Illis u meksa (The Daughter of the Shepherd) byLaura Mouzaia (1994). [This section is based on Merolla, 1996, 1998b.]

The Kabyle community is central in these two novels, as it is shown inthe wording and in the narrative qualifications of setting, characters, and style oflife. At the level of the wording, the reference to the Kabyle community is giventhrough the use of Kabyle words, sayings and proverbs intertwined in the Frenchtext. [Most of the terms and sentences in Kabyle are translated directly in thetext. Glossing is one of the most common techniques to signify 'difference' fromthe referential language, French in this case, but translations and notes have beeninterpreted as an indication of 'auto-ethnography'. In the Kabyle situation, itshould be borne in mind that Kabyle had only recently acquired a written form.This means that the implied reader is certainly a literate in French but, even whenAlgerian and Kabylophone, he/she may have not acquired literacy in Kabyle.Moreover, in the discussion on the 'implied reader' due consideration should begiven to the fact that the editorial market and the literary tradition of thereferential language oriënt writers in the use of translations and notes.] Theselinguistic interactions also achieve a distance from standard French. Thedefinition of the community as 'Kabyle' can be inferred from qualifications ofsettings and characters [Under this aspect, texts by women and men writers fromKabylia merge into a collective narration of the Kabyle community. See Merolla,1995, 1998.] and from references to oral production. [As to oral elements andtheir function in the narrative strategy, which are not presented here, see Merolla,1996:236-245.] Kabylia always remains the center of these novels, a point of com-parison with the city of Algiers and France. [In both novels, the definition of thecommunity as Kabyle includes a continuity between Kabylia and Algeria. Never-theless, there is a striking 'silence' about Arabic in Touati's novel; while inMouzaia's novel, an association of Algerian and Berber history omits problematicissues within the established continuity.] Yet the Kabyle community is


immediately set in the larger context of the Algerian nation. Both Le printempsdésespéré and Illis u meksa present a family in a specific historical andgeographical context: Kabylia during the Algerian Independence War.

The interaction between French and Kabyle at the level of wordingcorresponds to the qualification of the characters in terms of the languages spoken,that is Kabyle and French. Kabyle is the language of the community, while girlswho attend school or university in Le printemps désespéré use French. BothArabic and French are connoted as prestigious languages in Illis u meksa. In Leprintemps désespéré, characters and style of life are qualified as 'Kabyle1 ingeneralizing phrases [For example, such as: pour une vieille femme kabyle,comme toute femme kabyle, les femmes kabyles, or pour les critères de beautékabyles, la mentalité d'un Kabyle, la société kabyle.} or by the use of specificallyKabyle names such as Sekoura and Faroudja, deriving from the Kabyle tasekkurtand tafeut. In Illis u meksa, a 'Kabyle' qualification of characters and life style isnot confined only to generalizing sentences, but can also be inferred from therecurrent expression chez nous, in the use of the possessive adjective in the firstplural form, nos, and in the use of the expression ma tribu. [See, for example, pp.15,16, 20, 24, 33,34,48, 69,72, 74,124,160,165. As to the few cases in whichthe first plural form refers to Berber or Algerian identities, see the followingsection.] The heroine is qualified as daughter of a shepherd, i.e., illis u meksa, butshe is not described physically in any detail nor is she given a name. Place ofbirth, female gender, and status, are the fundamental qualifications of thischaracter.

Turning to the relationships between Kabyle community and Algeriannation, we observe that both novels establish historical and cultural continuity. Inthe novel by Touati, this is expressed in generalizing sentences associating Algeriaand Kabylia and in the appelation les algériennes that qualifies Kabyle characters.[See the subtitle and, for example, p. 123.] In the novel by Mouzaia, colonizationand war clearly unify Kabylia and Algeria: Kabylia is said to be the center of therebellion against France and this rebellion constructs a new Algeria. In bothnovels, when the setting is France, the terms Maghrebians, Algerians, and Arabsoverlap in the perspective of the characters, be they French or Kabyle. [SeeTouati, 1984: 46-47, 166, 168; Mouzaia, 1994:102, 108, 152, 161.] In Touati'snovel, only once is the adjective 'Berber' used (in a description of a dress), whilein Mouzaia's novel, Berber history and the land of the Berbers are mentioned.

It is worth underlining that in both novels the continuity between Kabyliaand Algeria becomes a strategy to evade the official perception of Kabyleness asa risky localism in Algeria. Continuity also covers the sensitive political andcultural issue of the Berber question.

In Illis u meksa a strategy of omission is to be found in the exceptional


use of the adjective 'our'. As seen above, first-person pronouns and adjectivesusually refer to Kabyle people and culture, but there are two exceptions: when 'ourhistory' is opposed to French history, 'our' refers in one case to Algerian history[See p.21, where the use of nous refers to the Algerians who fought in the SecondWorld War] and in other two cases to Berber history. [The Numidians areopposed to the Gauls; Berber History is ignored in French history books, pp. 126-127, 164.] This use of 'our history' smoothes over the fact that Algerian historyis not assimilable to Berber history. Moreover, Berberness as a transnationalidentity, along with the so-called localism, is also perceived by Algerianinstitutions as jeopardizing the national identity of the country. [Tamazya, theBerber land, would correspond to the regions where Tamazi yt is spoken, i.e., fromMorocco to Libya and to the south of the Sahara.] Another element is the silenceabout the controversial relationship between the Kabyle language and the nationallanguage in Algeria. [This point is only implied when the narrator explains thatthe girl (and probably her sisters) knew the language spoken in Marseille betterthan that spoken in Algiers (p. 160).] This silence is contrasted by the mention ofa character who speaks Occitan (Mr. Garnier who is a storyteller of proletarianactions), which points to the existence of linguistically oppressed minorities inFrance.

In Le printemps désespéré, the Arabic language strikingly 'disappears'from the Algerian context. Even when the setting is Algiers, the adjective 'Kabyle'attributed to the characters suggests that the dialogues be in Kabyle. In the othercases, the absence of linguistic specification leads to the interpretation, since thenovel is written in French, that the dialogues are spoken in French (See pp.41, 59et seq.). Similarly, it is possible to guess that one male character is not a 'Kabyle'when hè once refers to Kabylia by saying parmi vous, [Mohammed, ex-friend ofFatiha, p. 158] but linguistic specification is omitted in the dialogues between himand the other characters. This absence of references to the Arabic language doesnot mean that there is no sign of the different components of Algeria. Adifferentiation between Arabs and Kabyles is made twice and in both cases;Kabyles are defined as being more rigid and conservative towards women thanArabs are. (SeeTouati, 1984:56,121). The utter silence about Arabic thus avoids,but also implies, the problems concerning the Berber question in Algeria. At thesame time, putting the Kabyles in a negative light opposes the 'bon sauvage'clichés of French colonization.

The issue of Kabyle identity is raised by rural girls drained by emigrationfrom lower-middle class penury. In particular, emigration exacerbates the diffi-culty all young Kabyle women encounter, and emigrant girls explicitly mentionidentity questions. However, the identity dilemma does not lead young women todeny Kabyle identity but, paradoxically, to assert it fully (See Touati, 1984:80-81;Mouzaia, 1990:161). On this point both novels are adamants, the 'Other' cannotand should not represent a workable cultural alternative. In particular, France


does not offer an alternative to the relationship between men and women nor tofriendship. In Le printemps désespéré, French partners and friends ask Algerianmen and women to deny their culture, (See Touati, 1984:166; See also: "lis étaienttous la, en conquérants" (p. 167) [They are all already there, as conquerors.]. Inthe novel by Mouzaia, groups of disparate nationalities are associated by theircondition as oppressed in France: the French working class, the linguistic minorityof the Occitans, the emigrants from Italy, Spain, and Romania as well as theemigrants from Algeria and the Maghreb. On the other hand, these groups havedifferent connotations when the context is that of the Algerian war. Whencolonialists from Spain and Italy repatriated France, for example, they arepresented as being more racist than the French are.) men exercise their 'instinctsas male protectors' and are unable to receive and give ( See pp.73, 168-169). InIllis u meksa, the narrator does not go into the relationship between men andwomen in France, but a French woman defines all men as mad and egotistical. [See the marriage of Arlette (p. 105). See also: "Arlette qui ne put retenir seslarmes et sa colère (Arlette, who can hold back neither her tears nor her anger).«Mais ils sont fous, tous des egoïstes, bon sang»" (p. 139) (They are nothing butfools, these egoists!).]

Looking at the connotations of the adjective Kabyle in the two novels, wesee that Kabyle is synonymous with traditionalism when it is used in descriptions,events, and comments concerning women's conditions. In Touati's novel, Kabylerefers to the traditionalism of old women and young men who interpret norms,values, and power relationships rigidly. In Illis u meksa, the criticism of Kabylefocuses on the community that is seen as masculine in its ideology. [See: Etl'hon-neur kabyle qui se conjugue au masculin (p.40). "Other horizons" are desired bythe heroine but they are "doubly locked out."] Kabyle men, les hommes de cheznous, are qualified ironically by a physical and intellectual prudery that requiressilence from women. They putatively impose silence and seclusion for the sakeof their honor but they are said to desire, actually, the annihilation of women'sexistence.

In both novels, exclusively the 'educated gids' feel the dilemma of beinga woman and of being a Kabyle. The other characters neither question nor asserttheir Kabyleness: men and old women are presented as simply "being" Kabyle.Fathers, brothers, and husbands are often presented as making violent use of theirprivileges. A generation gap raises questions about the older women who, in theirroles as mothers and mothers-in-law, impose on girls the respect for those normsof subordination based on gender, age, and status to which they themselves havesubmitted. [In Le printemps désespéré, the functional role of Subject is attributedto girls, while the external narrator is usually associated with the externalfocalizer. In a number of cases, however, focalization lies with a girl. This meansthat the perspective of the girls is privileged above those of the other characters


(Bal, 1985:110). Illis u meksa is a frame-narrative in which there are three levelsof narration that correspond to three separate texts. In the largest text, thefunctional role of Subject is initially attributed to the unity of "little girl andmother". Then the role of Subject is constantly assigned to the girl. As a whole,the girl's aim overwhelms that of the little-girl-and-mother' unity. The agent ofnarration and focalisation is consistently adult I and dominance is thus given tothe view and voice of the (young/adult) girl.]

The alternative female model envisaged by the young women pivots onbreaking the spatial dichotomy in gender terms and on speaking up in favor ofschool education and against arranged marriages. This alternative model is meantto stimulate the women of the community. On its own, this is not suffïcient toovercome the dilemma of being a woman and of being a Kabyle, a dilemma thatcan be overcome only through mediation with the men of the community.Different narrative strategies in the two novels reach this same aim.

In Touati's novel, a solution for the dilemma of being a woman and beinga Kabyle is made feasible by a differentiation between a "good Kabyle tradition"and a "bad Kabyle tradition". The division between the younger generation ofbrothers and husbands and the older generation of fathers and grandfathersdelineates a division between a conventional and misogynist Kabyle tradition,violently criticized, and a tolerant and open Kabyle tradition, strongly appreciated."Respect for others" is the element that is associated with "honor and dignity" inthe (good) Kabyle "old school". "Tolerance" in this novel seems to be afundamental element in the construction of Kabyle identity. The "good" tradition,on which also the young rnen can finally rely, allows the possibility ofreconciliation between gender identity and Kabyle identity. Yet the problematicmatch between being a Kabyle and being a woman is not totally resolved in themediation offered by the reference to a "good" tradition: the last character whospeaks in the novel is an emigrant girl, Malika, who defines such a match a"compromise" and keeps on hoping to obtain "everything". [Yet Malika herselfremains caught between Algeria and France: she looks back with regret to theblue sea and pleasant climate of Algeria, so that this land is objectified as natureand is no longer seen as culture.]

In Mouzaia's novel, the emigrant girl does not solve the contradictionbetween being a woman and being a Kabyle by denying the community, but sheoutlines a project for a new community. The alternative definition of being aKabyle has to be sought both in changes within the community and in persistenceof the feminine aspects of the cultural heritage. [For example, the beauty of oralnarratives and of the traditional colours and designs in weaving and pottery.] Thefather, the referential "homme de ma tribu", personifies male domination, innegative terms. The / narrator asserts her desire to kill her father and her refusalto share her life with a man of her culture since this would mean marrying patri-


archy and female subordination to one another. Yet the mediation with the menin the community is suggested through a differentiation among male characters.In fact, a detailed attention is paid to individuals in Mouzaia's novel, and innatequalities can lead men to moderate their masculine privileges. Instead of anAlgerian society presented as rigid and, at the most, not at all or very little "indivi-dualistic", specific individual qualities make all the difference in theconcretization of norms and values in social and affective relationships.Mediation is also suggested through the appeal to change addressed to fathers andbrothers, the "men of the tribe". Reconciliation between change and historico-cultural continuity and a new horizon for women will characterize a newcommunity. [The necessity for a reconciliation between continuity and bhangeis also pointed out in the appeal to God. The Divine Truth is said not to changeand is defined as unique, authentic, antique, and beautiful; but it is also said thatit should be adapted to the present time because only the times are changing(pp. 130, 166, 167).]

In search of a new definition for the Kabyle woman, the young heroinesof these novels each seem propose an alternative identity for the whole community.Although ambiguities and contradictions between being a woman and being aKabyle are not fully solved in the novels by Mouzaia and Touati, their commondiscourse reveals a preliminary delineation of what we can call a feminine projectfor the construction of a renewed Kabyle community. This project seeks a newbalance between men and women in their community.

VOICES OF WOMEN FROM KABYLIA: ORAL NARRATIVES

Turning to the oral narratives Known as timucuha, [This section is basedon the analysis of the timucuha published by Dallet (1963, 1967, 1970), and ofpersonal collections (1992). See Merolla, 1996. The corpus of narrativespublished by Moulièras (1893) and the study by Lacoste-Dujardin (1970) are thereference texts for comparison.] the frame of reference in the construction ofgender and community changes conspicuously. Timucuha are usually considereda female genre, but the collections of this genre include narratives recounted bymen and by women storytellers. [The question of whether they were a male genre(or just recounted by men and women alike) is still open (Merolla, 1994, 1996).]

Timucuha express and construct the identity of the group imrnediately atthe level of language that delimits the boundaries of narration and comprehension,namely the Kabyle dialect and local village variant. The community of Kabylespeakers is also implicitly inferred in the differentiation between rural setting,which corresponds to the community of speakers, and the urban setting, whichcorresponds to the world that is bcyond the Kabyle-speaking region. Yet thisdifferentiation does not indicate two closed worlds (Mammeri, 1975/1991:66).


The Arabic/Kabyle difference gi ves raise to humorist devices, such as the sequencein which the guards think that the hero is Malik, the Archangel, because hè speaksin Arabic (Dallet, 1967:121). The use of humorist devices tends to differentiateArabic and Kabyle without constructing an opposition on such a linguisticdifference, but it implicitly recognizes the prestige of Arabic: it is the hero whoalso speaks Arabic, the language of religion. On the other hand, the Muslim/non-Muslim difference is linked to the strong opposition between humanity/non-humanity.

With regard to gender, a fïrst orientation is given by the symbolic systemwhere space and activities are organized around the male/female distinction. AsLacoste-Dujardin (1970:482-483) pointed out, in the house the main beamrepresents the man and the central pillar is the woman. In the village, both theman's word and his world are the village assembly, while the woman's word andher world are the house, the garden, and the fountain connected by the abrid, thefootpath. Accordingly, men's activities take place in the external world (the field,the forest, or faraway countries), while women's activities take place in the internalworld (the house, the garden, the village area) and fecundity is generaled by theculturally determined interaction between femininity and masculinity.

Another orientation can be retraced in the narrative pattern and thenarrative models, which delineate a system of roles and qualifications that womenand men should or should not have. [The framework constituted by the regularrelationships between roles and characters is defined here as a narrative pattern.The whole of the qualifications attributed to a certain class of characters isdefined here as a narrative model.] There is a numerical prevalence of heroes overheroines, which points to the centrality assigned to male characters. [As regardsthe quantitative terras, the ratio is about 3:1 heroes/heroines in the corpuscollected by Dallet. This numerical prevalence of male characters is, however,modest when the Dallet corpus is compared to the Mouliéras corpus, collected inthe nineteenth century, in which the ratio is about 7:1 heroes/heroines. TheMouliéras corpus shows a lack of autonomy of female characters, and a literaryinfluence of the Thousand and One Nights narratives. This raises questionsconcerning place and gender: the story teller(s) of the Mouliéras corpus were onlyKabyle men emigrates in the town of Oran, outside the Kabyle-speaking area.]Likewise, there is a preference for sons over daughters, and the male primacy andthe unity of agnates are generally asserted. As it is to be expected of narrativescreated in a patrilineal society, the preference for masculinity is further demon-strated in the system of names and appellations, in literary devices, in narrativestructures, and by comments.

The relationship between humans and non-humans further reveals howthe definition of the community is affected by gender distinctions. Human femalecharacters should not marry extra-humans, while male human characters can


marry extra-human beings. This is related to the position of male and femalecharacters with regard to culture: female characters can be driven into extra-humanity, while male characters win the extra-humans to humanity and to culture.The only exception, that of the girls from the city of the king of the Infidels whoare successfully married to ogres, suggests that belonging to extra-humanity andto another religieus community can overlap. That is, male characters can, bymarriage, bring extra-humans into humanity, whereas female characters cannot.Consequently, extra-human female characters can be integrated into humanitywhile male extra-human characters cannot. [Details and references to specificnarratives in Merolla, 1996:72-73.] Yet there is a relative balance betweenmasculinity and femininity in the studied corpus of oral narratives. This relativebalance is expressed in qualitative terms.

With regard to female models, age is the first criterion to determinewhether a female character is positively connoted (young) or she is denoted as arisk for society (adult or old). [On the ambiguous connotations of adult and oldwomen, see Merolla, 1996:71-73, 83-84, 95-103.] The status of the femalecharacter specifies this categorization by age. For example, a well-defmed classof girl is assigned the role of Subject: the yelli-s wwergaz, the daughter of a man.This is a rural heroine who has to be young, clever, productive and fertile. She isassertive, but she is expected to control her words because speaking freely couldaffect her fertility and it might establish a man/woman relationship that goesbeyond mere speaking. The aim of the rural heroine is to acquire a house and ahusband. Once this need is fulfilled, a new problem arises: how to remain in thehouse and (or) married. This second problem is solved by having children or isattributed fully to the woman's intelligence. Young women characterized by ahigh status, such as the daughters of sultans or the marvelous women with magicalpowers, do not play the role of heroines ('Subject'), but they are brides ('Helper'and 'Object') for the heroes. [On the charachters' classification by Subject, Helper,Opponent, Sender, Object, and Receiver see Bal, 1985.]

Four heroines assert female autonomy. Our first example is the story ofthe rural girl Fadma. Fadma is not only a cultural heroine but also a social heroine(see Dallet, 1967, no 10). She is opposed to the ogress and to her father, who failto handle culture and society. As Lacoste-Dujardin (1970: 326-327) writes, theogress is beyond control and represents negative femininity. Fadma's father isunable to deal with her negative femininity and hè allows his own interest toprevail over the collective interest. Where the father fails, the daughter succeeds:she founds a village, as does Mqidec in other narratives, the hem par excellencein Kabyle oral narratives. In the story of the Kabyle Cinderella (See Dallet, 1970,no.3), there is recognition of the female manipulation of the public sphere and ofthe superior intelligence of the girl, who surpasses her husband. Specific women'sinterests, such as monogamy and the privileges attributed to one's own child, aresanctioned by the actions of other two heroines, respectively Lalla Lekima and the


intelligent widow (See Merolla, 1996: 73-84).

When we take into consideration narratives told by three malestorytellers, a radical view of female characters can be discovered. [Por example,the negativity culturally attributed to the incapacity of girls to remain silent isstressed by the narrators' comments. See qualifications of female characters givenin AU Ousdidène-Ouhdidène (Dallet, 1967, nolO) and Les deuxfrères (1963, no9), and in the narratives Celui qui épousa sa cousine paternelle (Dallet, 1970,nr.8) and Fiez-vous aux femmes! (Dallet, 1970, nr.9).] Particularly in onenarrative a very form of 'misogyny' takes place: the infidelity of all women isasserted through the sequences of actions and is overly manifested in the finalmoral of a narrative declaiming that women are worse that demons. [Yetnarratives told by male storytellers can express a re-evaluation of women whenindividual logic is asserted. This is even found in narratives by the same threemale storytellers previously mentioned: when in a narrative individual interestsuccesfully contrasts the unity of the agnates, the relationships between malecharacters and their daughters or mothers may be re-evaluated.] On the otherhand, in narratives recounted by women storytellers the narrator tends to moderatethe principle of male superiority. The mechanism at work is the positive emphasisposed on female qualifications (i.e. intelligence) already present in the narrativepattern and models. But still, the fundamental principle of the community remainsthe patrilineal family and the primacy of men, which are not open to discussion.

COMPARISON

These two novels by Touati and Mouzaia from Kabylia give voice tospecific interests of young and educated women belonging to a linguistic minorityin Algeria. The comparison between these novels and oral narratives points outcontinuity and changes in the gendered construction of the Kabyle community andother encompassing communities.

The construction of community and gender in Leprintemps désespéré byFettouma Touati and Illis U meksa by Laura Mouzaia is rooted in the worldnarrated by the timucuha, but all elements are radicalized. First, the use of Frenchin the novels immediately necessitates the explicit identification of the communityas Kabyle. This is evident at the level of the linguistic interactions betweenFrench and Kabyle, and in the descriptive emphasis on the qualification of placesand characters. Second, the spatial and social dichotomy presented in oralnarratives is converted into an absolute form in the novels: the house is the onlyaccepted female space, while men dominate outdoors and indoors. This dichotomyin absolute terms is violently criticized as being traditional and is contravened inrelation to the telos of the novels: a women's aspiration to happiness and to socialrespect in a renewed community. Third, the dialectic between rural and urban


settings in the timucuha [The rural setting coincides with a Kabyle space.] isreplaced in the novel by a three-term differentiation, between Kabylia andemigration in Algiers and in France. [France is alternatively connoted positively,as far as freedom from the spatial dichotomy in gender terms is concerned, andnegatively since there is an institutional and individual attemp to acculturate theimmigrants. France does not offer an alternative to the relationship between menand women nor to friendship.] Similarly, the continuüm given by the IslamicUmma is replaced by continuity between Kabylia and Algeria. [This does notpreclude numerous descriptions of religieus practices in the novels. In Touati'snovel, religious practices involve the older generation while, among the girls,only the orphan girl looks to religion for spiritual comfort (see Touati, 1984:127,141). Religion tends to be censured according the well-known view which aversthat religion is a "sedative used by the rich to tranquilize the poor". Islam inparticular is defined as a form of colonization of women by men. In Mouzaia'snovel all Kabyle characters are Muslim and appeal to God. The narrator ofteninvokes and addresses God, but does not hesitate to question the absence ofDivine intervention in a few dramatic moments.] However, in the novels, thecontinuity between the Kabyle community and the Algerian nation is characterizedby covert contradictions.

Turning to the male/female relationships, we have seen that the oralnarratives indicate the link between choice of partner and community. Theproblem posed in the novels about mixed marriages by nationality can becompared to the opposition between Muslim characters and non-human beings (ornon-believers) in the oral narratives. [On the necessity to control women'sreproduction, since women reproduce the community and its borders, see Yuval-Davis and Anthias, 1989.] In the novels, relations and marriages between menand women belonging to different nationalities or religions either do not take place(in Mouzaia's novel) or are not successful (in Touati's novel). However, this pointpresents nuances in the novels' discourse, since the relations between KabyleWomen and men is strongly criticized. For example, in Illis U meksa the 'adult I'narrator declares that she will never share her life with a man of her (Kabyle)culture (Mouzaia 1994:124).

Similarly, continuity and differences can be established between novelsand oral narratives as far as women's models are concerned. Novels and timucuhashow a multiplicity of female models in relation to criteria such as gender, age,and status [In the narratives, status refers to the difference between daughters ofa man and daughters of a sultan, while in novels differentiation is established byeducation and language(s) spoken.], but in both genres the heroines are 'rural'girls. In the oral narratives, the rural heroines are the "daughters of a man",Which indicates that they belong to the average Kabyle family. In the writtentexts, the rural heroines belong to the lower-middle class. Moreover, features suchas being young, virgin, and possibly beautiful give a common model for girls in


oral narratives and in novels.

And yet there are numerous differences. In the oral narratives, heroinespursue their female aims without upsetting the patrilineal order. In contrast, inthe novels educated girls are the principal agents of social and cultural change: theradical heroines oppose established features in their appearance as well as in theirbehavior. In the timucuha the heroines know how, when, and to whom they canspeak, [It is the bride, the daughter of a sultan, who speaks only when addressed,keeps silent or speaks in the negative form. At the same time, silence is used inthe timucuha as a weapon women can use towards unwanted husbands] while inthe novels the heroines criticize the conventional silence of women. In the firstcase attention is paid to the positive norm (when women are allowed to speak); inthe other case, attention is paid to the negative norm (to when women are notallowed to speak).

As to the models for old women, a difference to be described is that olderwomen are a cultural risk in the timucuha while, in the novels, they are theprincipal defenders of established norms and values (whether in a rigid form or ina milder form when in adaptation to the new needs expressed by girls). In thenovels the relationships between women is central, particularly as far as mothersand daughters are concerned. This is not to say that such a relationship is notrelevant in oral narratives; for example, a number of narratives are structured onthe consequences of a girl's being an orphan. Nonetheless, the normativepatrilineal logic of the timucuha emphasizes the mother/son relationship.Hierarchy and antagonism between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are alsodescribed in novels, while not openly brought out in oral narratives. [In timucuhathere is opposition only between the cruel mother of Ahmed and the wife ofAhmed (Dallet, 11:6).]

In the oral narratives, the right handling of established genderdistinctions founds the community. Women's voices moderate the principle ofmale primacy, but do not rebel against it. In the novels, being a woman and beinga Kabyle are seen as a contradiction since the Kabyle community is gendered inmale terras. The system of social relationships, that also imply affectiverelationships, is indicted since it is centered on the subordination of young women.And yet the violent criticisms vented in the texts by Kabyle women writers isintended to invent an alternative for women and for the whole community. Thealternative is different from the model offered or imposed by the Other, and it isbased on changes and continuity.

The necessity for continuity within the community can be retraced in thelove for the "old school" of dignity and respect or for the feminine aspects ofKabyle heritage. The necessity for change can be retraced in the social criticismand in the appeal for change addressed to Kabyle women and men. The women


are addressed, for mothers and mothers-in-law impose on girls the respect forthose norms of subordination to which they themselves have submitted and againstwhich many girls are not able to rebel. The men are challenged, since they haveto give up their authority and are asked to change from being masters to beingcompanions. The dilemma posed by being a woman and being a Kabyle is notfully solved, but a female project for a new Kabyle community takes form.

CONCLUSION

Kabyle oral narratives and, apparently, novels by Kabyle women writersquestion the Oriëntalist dichotomy between male domination/ female passivity inthe Maghreb and the nationalist denial of Kabyle specificity. The way gender andcommunity are articulated in these genres suggests that one should re-examinewhich space has been allotted to women in the Kabyle community and whetherKabyle specificity can be simply considered as a consequence of colonial policy.

The community/gender dilemma in Le printemps désespéré by FettoumaTouati and Illis u meksa by Laura Mouzaia focus on the specific interactionbetween the Kabyle community and women's identity. As far as Kabyle identityis concerned, narrative strategies try to avoid both oriëntalist and nationalistdiscourses on Berbers. The Kabyle/Arabic opposition and the official perceptionof Kabyle identity as menacing are smoothed away. At the same time, rebellionagainst subordination uses a language shared by many Algerian women writersand, under this aspect, the novels by Touati and Mouzaia can be seen as aninstantiation of a more general situation in women's writing from Algeria. (Cf.Achour, 1991, 223-339; Achour and Rezzoug, 1991, 4-14;Accad, 1977, 1978;Déjeux, 1987, 1993).

The timucuha are beyond the process of national construction. Therelationship between community and encompassing collectivities is expressed bythe relationship between Kabyle specificity, based on language and anchored inthe villages' organization, and the Islamic Umma. In this framework, self-assurance and prestige of Arabic interweave. As for the construction of femalegender within community, the oral narratives indicate that individual female aimsare pursued and sanctioned. An autonomous space is allotted to female gender,but this space does not include rebelling against the patrilineal order. The gender-related views in female terms find their limit in the acceptance of theencompassing male primacy, which the social organization of the communityemphasizes. Once male primacy is brought under discussion, and this is whathappens in the novels, the male/female dialectic in the world of the timucuha isinevitably interpreted as a lessened and unsatisfactory possibility of genderrelationship. Other horizons are looked for.


Colonial policy, oriëntalist discourse and nationalisra variouslycontributed to interweave the Berber Question and the Question of Women inAlgeria. The colonial discourse, by defming Algerian women as dominated bymen, could use the Nation/Woman metaphor for stigmatizing and disrupting thecolonized culture. The polemics on Berber women's condition is part and parcelof this colonial aim. When the oriëntalist discourse on women and theNation/Woman metaphor are criticized by nationalism, generalizations on thenational condition of women tend to silence specifically women's interestsand—among facts—differences linked to the power relationship between thenational community and minorities.

BlBLIOGRAPHY

Abrous, D. (1988). L'honneur et l'argent des femmes en Algérie. Peuplesméditerranéens, 44-45:49-65.

Abrous, D., & Chaker, S. (1982). De l'antiquité au musée : Berberité ou ladimension in-nomable. Revue du Monde Musulman et de laMéditerranée, 48-49(2-3): 173-197.

Achour, C. Ed. (1990). Dictionnaire des ceuvres algériennes en languefrangaise.Paris: L'Harmattan.

Ageron, C.R. (1972). Politiques coloniales au Maghreb. Paris: PressesUniversitaires de France.

Ahmed, L. (1992). Women and gender in Islam. New Haven/London: YaleUniversity Press.

Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities. London/New York:: Verso [Newedition 1991].

Anzaldua G. (1987). Borderlands/La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute.Bal, M. (1985). Narratology. Toronto/Buffalo/London: University of Toronto

Press.Beke, D. (1993). De Berberse identiteit en het nieuwe meerpartijenstelsel en

Algerije. Afrika Focus, 9(1-2): 125-142.Berkes, N. (1998). The development of secularisation in Turkey. London: Hurst.UBlaid, S. (1977). La Kabylie au XlXè siècle. Bull.Etudes Berbères, 12:3-23.Brenier-Estrine, C. (1995). Bibliographie berbère annotée: 1993-1994. Aix-en-

Provence: IREMAM.Browing, J. (1985). Ataturk's legacy to the women of Turkey. Durham: Univ. of

Durham.Bujéga, M. (1924). Aper9us sur Ie caractère de la femme kabyle. Buil. de la

Société de géographie d'Alger et de l'Afrique du Nord, 29:47-61.Burgat, F. (1988a). Islamisme au Maghreb. Les Temps modemes, 500:73-11$.

. (1988b). De la difficulté de nommer 'intégrisme, fondamentalisme,islamisme'. Les Temps modemes, 500:119-139.. (1988). L'Algérie: de la laïcité islamique a l'islamisme. Maghreb,


Mackrek, 121:43-59.Camps, G. (1980). Berberès. Aux marges de l'histoire. Toulouse: Edition des

Hespérides.Camps, G. (1983). Comment la Berbérie est devenue Ie Maghreb arabe. Revue

de l'Occident Musulman et de la Méditerranée, 7-24.. (1984). Avertissement. Etre berbère. Encyclopedie Berbère, 1:7-48.

Carlier, O. (1984). La production sociale de l'image de soi: Note sur la 'criseberbériste' de 1949. Annuaire de l'Afrique du Nord, 347-371.

Chaker, S. (1980). Emergence du fait berbère en Algérie. Annuaire de l'Afriquedu Nord, XIX:474-484.. (1984a). Langage et identité berbère (Algérie/migration): un enjeu desociété. Annuaire de l'Afrique du Nord, 173-180.. (1984b). Textes en linguistique berbère. Paris: CNRS .. (1987). Amaziy (Ie/un Berbère). Encyclopedie Berbère, IV:562-568.. (1989). Berberès aujourd'hui. Paris: L'Harmattan.. (1992). Langue berbère et influence frangaise: Ie point sur une questiondelicate (Algérie-Kabylie). Présence Francophone, 40:79-98.

Colonna, F. (1975). Une fonction coloniale de l'ethnologie. Libyca, 1972:259-267.. n.d. Instituteurs algériens 1883-1939. Algiers: OPU.

Coulon, A. (1930). La femme kabyle. Bulletin de la soc. géographique d'Algeret de l'Afrique du Nord, 124:553-575.

Dallet, J.M . (1970). Contes kabyles inédits. Vol III. Fort-National (Algeria):FDB [Vol I, 1963; Vol II1967].

De La Guérivière, J. (1989). Des berbéristes ont formé un embryon de parti légal.Paris: Le Monde, 15 February.

Direche-Slimani, K. (1992). Histoire de l'émigration kabyle en France auXXèmesiècle: Réalités culturelies et réappropriations identitaires. [Dissertation].Aix-en-Provence.

Fanon, F. (1959). Studies in a dying colonialism. London: EarthscanPublications, 1989.

Ferdinand, K., & Mozaffari, M. Eds. (1988). Islam: State and society.Copenhagen: Scandivians Institute of Asian Studies; Great Britain/USA:Curzon Press/The Riverdale Company.

Fremeaux, J. (1984). Souvenirs de Rome et présence fran$aise au Maghreb: essaid'investigation. Connaissance du Maghreb, Paris:29-46.

Gadant, M. (1981). Les femmes, la familie et la nationalité algérienne. Peuplesméditerranéens, 15:25-56.

Gaudry, M. (1928). La Femme chaouia de l'Aurès. Etude de sociologie berbère.Paris: Geuthner.

de Groot, J. (1996). Gender, discour se, and ideology in Iranian studies: Towardsa new scholarship. D.Kandiyoty, Ed.:29-49.

Goichon, A.M. (1927). La Vieféminine au Mzab. Etude de sociologie. Paris:Geuthner.


Gordon, D. (1968). Women ofAlgeria: An essay on change. Cambridge, Mass:Harvard Univ.Press.

Hacène, A. (1926). La Femme kabyle. Buil. de la Société de géographie d'Algeret de l'Afrique du Nord, 31:164-182.

Hakiki F., & Talahite.C. (1984). Human sciences research on Algerian women.Social Sciences Research and Women in the Arab World, pp. 82-89.London, Dover, N.H., and Paris: Unesco.

Hanoteau, A. (1867). Poésies berbères populaires de la Kabylie du Jurjura.Paris: Impr.impériale.. (1990). Note sur la position de la femme chez les Kabyles (1867). In:A.S. Boulifa (Ed.), Recueil depoésies kabyles (1904), Paris: Awal.

Heller, Y. (1990). La Kabylie est partagée entre la fierté et l'inquiètude, LeMonde, 20 June.

HjaYpe, J. (1983). The attitude of islamic fundamentalism towards the question ofwomen in Islam. In Bo Utas (Ed.), Women in Islamic Societies, pp. 12-25.Copenhagen: Scandivians Institute of Asian Studies; Great Britain:Curzon Press.

Hjarpe, J. (1988). The contemporary debate in the Muslim world on thedefinition of human rights. In K. Ferdinand & M. Mozaffari (Eds.),Islam: State and society, pp. 26-38. Copenhagen: Scandivians Instituteof Asian Studies; Great Britain/USA: Curzon Press/The RiverdaleCompany..

Iratni, B., & Tahi, M.S. (1992). The aftermath of Algeria's first free localElections. Government and Opposition, 26(4):466-479.

Kandiyoti D. (1993). Identity and its discontents: Women and the nation. In P.Williams and L. Chrisman (Eds.), Colonial Discourse and Post-ColonialTheory, pp. 376-391. New York/London/Toronto: Harvest/Wheatsheaf:.. Ed. (1996). Gendering the middle east. London and New York::I.B.Taurus Publishers.

Lacheraf, M. (1953). La colline oubliée ou la conscience anachronique. Le JeuneMusulman, 13 February (reprinted in Lucas and Vatin 1975, text 65).

Lacoste-Dujardin, C. (1970). Le conte kabyle. Paris: La Découverte.. (1981). Diversité et changement dans les röles des Algériennes. In A.Michel, A.Fatoumata-Diarra & H.Agbessi-Dos San tos (Eds.), Femmes etmultinationales, pp. 247-254. Paris: Karthala.. (1984). Genese et évolution d'une représentation géopolitique: l'imagekabyle a travers la production bibliographique de 1840 a 1891.Connaissances du Maghreb, pp. 257-277 . Paris: CNRS.

Lazreg, M. (1988). Feminism and difference: The perils of writing as a womanon women in Algeria. Feminist Studies, 14(1), Spring, 8:81-107.. (1994). The eloquence of silence: Algerian women in question. NewYork and London: Routledge.

Lefévre, L. 91939). La femme kabyle. Paris: Sirey.Lippert, A. (1987). Algerian women's access to power: 1962-1985. In I.


Markovitz, (Ed.), Studies in Power and Class in Africa, pp. 209-232[Notes: 358-364]. New York and Oxford:

Lucas.Ph., & Vatin, J.C. (1975). L'Algérie des anthropologues. Paris: Maspero.Mammeri, M. (1975). Culture savante et culture vécue en Algérie, Libyca, 1975:

211-219 [Reprinted in M. Mammeri, Culture savante, culture vécue.Etudes 1938-1989. Algiers: Tala, 1991: 64-73.

Marais, W. (1939). Comment l'Afrique du Nord a été arabisée. Annales del'I.E.O. d'Alger, 1938:1-21/5-17.

Masqueray, E. (1882). Ouad Abdi. Bulletin de Correspondance africaine, 332-333.. (1885). Tradition de l'Aouras oriental. Bulletin de Correspondanceafricaine, 111:261-265.

Masqueray, E. (1886). Formation des cités chez Ie populations sédentaires del 'Algérie (Kabyles du Djurdjura; Chaouia de l 'Aouras; Beni Mzab). Paris:Leroux [Reprinted 1983. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud].

Maunier, R. (1930). La Femme en Kabylie. Paris: Geuthner.Mazouni, A. (1969). Culture et enseignement en Algérie et au Maghreb. Paris:

Maspero.McClintock, A. (1997). 'No longer in a future heaven': Gender, race and

nationalism. In McClintock A., Mufti A. and E.Shohat (Eds.), Dangerousliaisons: Gender, nation, and postcolonial perspectives, pp. 89-112.Minneapolis/London: University of Minnesota Press.

Merolla, D. (1994). Le conte kabyle. Encyclopedie Berbère, Vol XIV: 2082-2088.. (1995). Peut-on parier d'un espace littéraire kabyle? Etudes etDocuments Berber es, 13:5-25.. (1996). Gender and community in the Kabyle literary space: Culturalstrategies in the oral and in the written. Leiden: CNWS Publications.. 1998a. Costruzioni sessuate della comunita: nazionalismo e pratichenarrative, section 'Interventi' . Etnosistemi, V(5).. (1998b). Une narration au féminin de la communauté: Etre une femmeet une kabyle dans Le Printemps désespéré et "Illis u meksa. Cahiers derecherches des institutes néerlandais de longue et de littératurefranqaises, (November).

Mira,T. (1986). Aït Ahmed et Ie F.F.S. 1afsut, 3:99-108.Molyneux, M. (1982). State policies and the position ofwomen workers in the

People'sDemocratie Republic ofYemen 1967-77. Geneva: InternationalLabour Office.. (1998). Women's rights and political conflict in Yemen 1990-1994. InR. Wilford and R.L. Miller (Eds.), Women, ethnicity and nationalism, pp.133-149. London/New York: Routledge.

Mouzaia, L. (1994). Illis u meksa. Algiers: ENAL.Mulder, D.C. Ed. (1981). Secularisationinglobalperspective. Amsterdam: VU

Publications.


Ouerdane, A. (1986). Genese de la 'crise berbériste' de 1949. Tafsut, 3:109-115.Paidar, P. (1996). Feminism and Islam in Iran. In D. Kandiyoti (Ed.),

Gendering the middle east, pp. 51-67. London and New York::I.B.Taurus Publishers.

Parker A., et al. (1992). Nationalisms & sexualities. London and New York:Routledge.

Plantade, N. (1993). La dimension berbère au Maghreb: Unbrefapercu. Bulletinof Francophone Africa, 4: 76-78.

Raineau, M. (1934). L'Algérie aux cent visages: Chez les musulmanes nonvoilées de la Kabylie. La Géographie, 111:332-341.

Roberts, H. (1978a). Notes on relation of production, form of property andpolitical structure in a dissident region of Algeria: Pre-colonial Kabylia.Development Studies, University of East Anglia, No 38, December.. (1978b). Kabylia in transition. The Maghreb Review, 3(8):16-21.. (1980). Towards an understanding of the Kabyle question incontemporary Algeria. The Maghreb Review, 5(5-6): 115-124.. (1981). Algerian socialism and the Kabyle question. Monographs inDevelopment Studies, No 8, East Anglia.. (1982). The unforeseen development of the Kabyle question in Algeria.Government and Opposition,l7(3):3l2-334.. (1983). The Kabyle question in contemporary Algeria. Government andOpposition, 18(2):218-235.. (1993). Historical and unhistorical approaches to the problem ofidentity in Algeria. Bulletin of Francophone Africa, 4:79-92.

Robertson, R. (1990). After nostalgia?: Willful nostalgia and the phases ofglobalisation. In B.S. Turner (Ed.), Theories of Modernity andPostmodernity,pp.45-61. London, Newbury Park and New Delhi: SAGE.

Sabatier, (1883). Etude sur la femme kabyle. Revue d'anthropologie, VI:56-69.Sahli, M. (1953). La colline du reniement. Le Jeune Musulman, 2 January,

[Reprinted in Lucas and Vatin 1975, Text 64],Saldivar-Hull, S. (1991). Feminism on the border: From gender politics to

geopolitics. In F. Have (Ed.), pp. 292-307. Urbana/Chicago: Universityof Illinois Press.

Schipper, M. (1987). Mother Africa on a pedestal: The male heritage in Africanliterature and criticism. African Literature Today, 35-54.

Serpa, E. (1991). The fundamentalist reaction and the future of Algeria. AfricaInsight, 21 (3): 194-203.

Stratton, F. (1994). Contemporary African literature and the politics of gender.London and New York:: Routledge.

Tahi, M.S. (1992). The arduous democratisation process in Algeria. The Journalof Modern African Studies, 30(3):397-419.

Touati, F. (1984). Le printemps désespéré. Paris: L'Harmattan.Vigier, R. (1933). La Femme kabyle: quelque remarques. Paris:Geuthner.Wessels, A. (1981). Muslims in contemporary times and the problem of


secularisation. In D.C. Mulder ( Ed.), Secularisation in GlobalPerspective, pp. 47-66. Amsterdam: VU. Uitgeverij.

Yacine, T. (1990). Pourquoi reéditer Boulifa? In S. Boulifa (Ed.), Recueil depoésies kabyles, pp. 13-32. Paris: AWAL

Youssi, A. (1991). Un trilinguisme complexe. In C. and Y.Lacoste (Eds.), L'Etatdu Maghreb, pp. 272-277. Paris: La Découverte.

Yuval-Davis, N. (1997). Gender and nation. London: Sage.Yuval-Davis, N., & Anthias, F. Eds. (1989). Woman-nation-state. Basingstoke:McMillian.