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The Colonization of Names: Symbolic Violence and France’s Occupation of Algeria by Benjamin Claude Brower is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is The Colonization of Names: Symbolic Violence and France’s Occupation of Algeria about?

French colonization dismantled Algerian names. Under the occupation that began in 1830, not only were Algerian towns and streets renamed in honor of French figures, but personal names were forced to follow French conventions and norms. Colonial authorities simplified and transformed Algerian names to suit their administrative and legal purposes, crudely transcribing and transliterating Arabic and Berber. They imposed a two-part name and surname model that stripped away the extended family ties and social context inherent to precolonial naming practices.This groundbreaking history of personal names in nineteenth-century Algeria sheds new light on the symbolic violence of renaming and the relationship between language and colonialism. Benjamin Claude Brower traces the changes Algerians’ personal names suffered during the colonial era and the consequences for individuals and society. France’s imposition of new names, he argues, destabilized Algerians’ sense of self and place in the community, distorted local identities, and compromised institutions such as the family. Drawing on previously unstudied records, Brower examines different northwestern African naming traditions and how colo

Who reads The Colonization of Names: Symbolic Violence and France’s Occupation of Algeria?

Author

Benjamin Claude Brower

Publisher

Columbia University Press

Published

2025

Language

EN

ISBN

9780231216012

Category

nonfiction

Subjects

Political Science, Government & Politics, Social_sciences