Rethinking the History of the Mujahidat During the Algerian War
Competing Voices, Reconstructed Memories and Contrasting Historiographies
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18949152 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ryme Seferdjeli (University of Ottawa, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 238-255 |
| Publication date | 2012-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Interventions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-801X • E-ISSN: 1469-929X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1369801x.2012.687902 |
| OpenAlex | W1580020263 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 8 |
Literature on the participation of women in the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) during the Algerian War of 1954–62 has largely focused on one group of women FLN activists, the mujahidat. The mujahidat were women who left their homes and families to join the FLN armed guerrilla bands, the Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN). Within the historiography, two conflicting views on the mujahidat have emerged: that the FLN-ALN and male combatants by and large accepted their presence in the ALN, or alternatively that they were on the whole hostile to the presence of women. This essay examines these contrasting views on the history of the mujahidat and argues that, although divergent, studies on women in the ALN are not necessarily opposed, and may be largely complementary. Indeed, the debate over the mujahidat opens the way to new questions and reflections about the ways in which the history of the mujahidat has been written, and illustrates the diversity of women's experiences during the war, the contradictions found within the sources, and the contrast between different sources. More important, this debate also raises the question of the use of oral testimonies – the main source for the history of the mujahidat. A focus on silences – what is not said – in oral testimonies opens the way to reflections about the ways female participants have reflected on their own roles in the war in a postcolonial setting, as well as the ways historians have approached women's testimonies
Citizen journalism · Historiography · Home front · Oral history · Political science · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Anthropology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · Gender Studies · History · Law · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · North African History and Literature
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |