Algeria in Foreign Documentary Sources « ASDE »

Our research consists of exploring, identifying, studying, analyzing, and translating any archival document, manuscript, or historical and literary chronicle—whether overlooked or original—whose content and scope provide new insights into various aspects of the social, cultural, and political history of Algeria from the 16th to the 19th century. As specialists in foreign languages, the members of this PNR project work individually and within their respective disciplines to fill this research field. Their goal is to provide original and innovative elements that open new perspectives in research and enrich historical knowledge across various strata of Algerian society during political and diplomatic conflicts and relations—notably with Spain, the Ottoman Empire, and the Regency of Algiers—as well as the German strategy during French colonization. The various studies based on the exploited, identified, analyzed, and translated texts will constitute the results of our research, which we will compile into a directory or database. This resource will serve not only pedagogical purposes for undergraduate and postgraduate students but also for researchers and historians, contributing to a better understanding of Algerian history during this era, particularly its cultural, socio-political, and anthropological dimensions, as well as for the National Archives and the general public.

Objectives:

- Identification, collection, study, and translation of literary and historical documentation (Spanish, Ottoman, and German) related to our country, in order to highlight various testimonies regarding our society, rulers, and culture, as well as our image and representations by the "Other" during the periods of conflict with the Spanish Monarchy and the Hispano-Ottoman confrontations in the early modern period.

- Making the data and analyses of our research available to historians, researchers, and other interested parties.

- Disseminating our directory and database containing the results of our research.

Actions Taken / Planned:

- Analysis of various documents to evaluate and understand the gaze, approach, and objectives of the "Other."

- Importing foreign raw material concerning our modern history, evaluating it, and then translating it to make it available to our historians, students, and researchers for a better knowledge of documents held abroad related to our history and country during Hispano-Algerian and Ottoman relations.

Expected Results / Perspectives:
The study of certain works, archives, and historical or literary manuscripts of considerable historical and memorial value. This will contribute to a better understanding of historical knowledge by navigating the various stakes of the imaginary representations and cultural practices of the "Other"—which were often intentionally rejected or denied for the purposes of domination and colonization. We aim to restore this knowledge by demystifying discourses that were often detrimental to our socio-cultural values.