Berber Culture On The World Stage: From Village To Video

257 Pages·2005·4.58 MB·English

by  Jane E. Goodman

Anthropology / Middle East / World Music Goodman
BERBER
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“Sure to interest a number of different audiences,
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from language and music scholars to specialists on CULTURE
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North Africa. . . . [A] superb book, clearly written,
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analytically incisive, about very important issues ON THE
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that have not been described elsewhere.”
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WORLD
—John Bowen, Washington University

C
U STAGE
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In this nuanced study of the performance of
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cultural identity, Jane E. Goodman travels from
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contemporary Kabyle Berber communities in
Algeria and France to the colonial archives, R
identifying the products, performances, and media E
through which Berber identity has developed.
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In the 1990s, with a major Islamist insurgency
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underway in Algeria, Berber cultural associations
created performance forms that challenged
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Islamist premises while critiquing their own village
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practices. Goodman describes the phenomenon
of new Kabyle song, a form of world music that E
transformed village songs for global audiences.
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She follows new songs as they move from their
producers to the copyright agency to the Parisian O
stage, highlighting the networks of circulation and From Village
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exchange through which Berbers have achieved
L to Video
global visibility.
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JANE E. GOODMAN is Associate Professor of
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Communication and Culture at Indiana University.
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While training to become a cultural anthropologist,
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she performed with the women’s world music
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group Libana.
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Cover photographs:
Yamina Djouadou, Algeria, 1993,
by Jane E. Goodman. Textile
photograph by Michael Cavanagh.
The textile is from a Berber women’s
fuda, or outer-skirt.
Jane E. Goodman
http://iupress.indiana.edu
1-800-842-6796 INDIANA
Berber Culture on the World Stage

JA N E E. GOODM A N
Berber Culture on
the World Stage
From Village to Video
indiana university press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected]
© 2005 by Jane E. Goodman
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions con-
stitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Infor-
mation Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goodman, Jane E., date
Berber culture on the world stage : from village to video / Jane E. Goodman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-253-34629-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-253-21784-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Berbers—Algeria. 2. Algeria—Ethnic relations. 3. Algerians—France—History. 4. Music—Performance—
Algeria. I. Title.
DT283.2.G66 2005
305.89′33065—dc22
2005006229
1 2 3 4 5 10 09 08 07 06 05
For my father, Richard, and my late mother, Arlene

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Orthography and Translation xiii
Introduction 1
part one: circuits
1. The Berber Spring 29
2. Refracting Berber Identities 49
3. The Mythical Village 69
part two: texts
4. Collecting Poems 97
5. Authoring Modernity 120
6. Copyright Matters 145
part three: performances
7. Staging Gender 165
8. Village to Video 184
Epilogue 197
Notes 201
Works Cited 219
Index 233

Acknowledgments
This work would not have been possible without the generous assistance, hos-
pitality, and interest of a great many people. I take this opportunity to thank
them. In some cases, I omit their last names to protect their privacy.
Fanny Colonna introduced me to Algeria and welcomed me into her home
on numerous occasions. Without her support, I may never have chosen Algeria
as a ¤eld site. I am deeply grateful.
The ethnomusicologist Mehenna Mahfou¤, whose own work centers on
Kabyle women’s songs, made contacts for me in his former ¤eld site and home
village, and introduced me to most of the singers and poets with whom I
worked. Fully aware that our work would overlap to some degree, he neverthe-
less encouraged my project from start to ¤nish. I thank him for his ongoing
support and friendship.
The Djouadou family, Abderrahmane, Zoubida, Taos (setsi), Larbi, Hacina,
and Zakkia, opened their homes and themselves to me, both in Algeria (for ten
months in 1993) and the suburbs of Paris (for nine months in 1994 and 1996).
They patiently bore with me as I learned to speak Kabyle, met my many ques-
tions with generous and thoughtful discussion, and supported my work on
every level—showing me how to dance Kabyle-style, assisting me with transla-
tions, and making contacts for me with other community members. I owe
Abderrahmane, Zoubida, and their family a profound debt that only lifelong
friendship can begin to repay.
I thank the family of Yamina Tameqwrant (“old”), Bachir, Yamina Tamezyant
(“young”), Mohamed, and Abdullah Djouadou, who invited me for many cous-
cous dinners and evenings of conversation. Yamina Tameqwrant graciously re-
corded and explained her songs, and Bachir spent hours passionately discussing
with me the intricacies of local and national politics. Bachir also helped me to
develop a census of the village, arranged for me to visit other sites in Kabylia,
and bequeathed to me his substantial collection of newspaper clippings on Ber-
ber politics. I thank the family of Amar, Zhor, Jejjiga, Na Zahara, Nouara, Hakim,
Sabrina, and Karina Djouadou, who invited me sight unseen into their home in
Algeria in the summers of 1990 and 1992 and helped me to establish a base in
their community. I thank Noura Haddab, who offered her friendship as both of
us moved between Algeria and France, and who helped me understand the
complexities of diasporic life for young women. Hamid Kacet and Belqacem
Beloucif provided invaluable assistance with my work on the village community
in Paris. Finally, I extend my thanks to the many other men and women from
both the Algerian and Parisian sides of my host village who offered their friend-
ship and support, including: Zhor and her family, Na Jejjiga and her family,