From Feraoun to the FLN: Gender and Nationalism in the Algerian War

Presenter(s)

Maximilian Martus

Abstract or Description

With over 60 years passed since the end of the Algerian War for Independence and a plethora of scholarly work dedicated to its events, we should not forget the more focused stories of everyday people who suffered, survived, and died during eight years of complicated war. When we focus on individualized narratives, what we find is that the FLN (Front de libération nationale) carried out a universal revolution which cut across ethno-linguistic, political, and gender divisions using a combination of Algerian nationalism and revolutionary violence. To support this research, we draw from a variety of primary and secondary sources in both French and English, such as the wartime journal of Mouloud Feraoun, an Algerian Kabyle writer whose complicated identity helps provide a unique perspective on this conflict. For the sake of this presentation, we will focus on the relationship between gender and nationalism within the FLN's universal revolution. The FLN leadership clearly used nationalistic rhetoric and promises of greater equality to gain women's support. Still, the FLN was not a monolith, and it is important that we distinguish their utopian ideals from the daily actions of their foot-soldiers. Firsthand accounts like those of Feraoun show us that women were subjected to widespread abuse from FLN rebels who did not share such idealistic notions of gender equality. But these accounts also illustrate the reality that although they suffered from widespread abuse, Algerian women had gained new rights and responsibilities that could not be entirely reversed after independence.

Mentor

Emine Evered