The colonization of names : symbolic violence and France's occupation of Algeria / Benjamin Claude Brower.
| Author/creator | Brower, Benjamin Claude author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | New York : Columbia University Press, [2025] |
| Copyright Date | ©2025 |
| Description | xii, 340 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Note on translation and transliteration -- Introduction -- What is in a name? -- "Tell me your name" : precolonial naming practices in northwestern Africa -- "Wherever the flag flies" : the état civil in Algeria, conquest and sovereignty, 1780s-1830s -- "Am I that name?" : Algerians make their names known, 1827-1840 -- In others' names : making the Algerian name French, 1850s-1870s -- A colonial état civil -- Conclusion: Remember their names. |
| Abstract | "Violence causes harm and extends power in many different ways. Best known is physical violence, meaning the wounds and deaths that weapons inflict upon living bodies. However, violence also exists in symbolic forms, such as language, individual words, and beliefs, all of which can do harm and even kill. The Colonization of Names focuses on one modality of symbolic violence-the forced imposition of new personal names by colonial authorities-and uses it to examine France's colonization of Algeria. While most of the violence of this renaming was invisible, it did not go unfelt. In as much as a personal name decides one's sense of self and place in society, imposing new names distorted and even destroyed Algerian identities and social institutions. Upon this destruction the French state extended its power, interpellating colonized subjects by their new names before its laws and commands. Focusing on the nineteenth century, this book draws upon previously unstudied records in the colonial archive, along with published historical documents and specialized studies, which together provide insights on four different northwest African naming traditions, Arabo-Islamic, Berber (Amazigh), Judeo-Arab, and modern French names. With the aid of literary and critical theory, author Benjamin Brower shares new insight into the name and its relationship to power and subjectivity. The result is an exploration of the many unseen forms of colonial violence that still persist to this day"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index (pages [285]-328) and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version http://id.loc.gov/entities/relationships/onlineversion Brower, Benjamin Claude Colonization of names New York : Columbia University Press, 2025 9780231561099 |
| Issued in other form | ebook version : 9780231561099 |
| LCCN | 2024056005 |
| ISBN | 9780231216012 |
| ISBN | 9780231216029 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0231216025 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0231216017 paperback |
| ISBN | electronic book |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | Order on Demand Title | Order On Demand | ✔ Available | Click to order this title |