Sex, Law, and Sovereignty in French Algeria, 1830-1930

354 Pages·2019·4.128 MB·English

by  Judith Surkis

SEX, LAW, AND
SOVEREIGNTY IN
FRENCH ALGERIA,
1830–1930
Series editor: Elizabeth S. Anker, Cornell University
CORPUS JURIS: THE HUMANITIES IN POLITICS AND LAW PUBLISHES BOOKS AT THE
INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN LAW, POLITICS, AND THE HUMANITIES—INCLUDING HIS-
TORY, LITERARY CRITICISM, ANTHROPOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGIOUS STUDIES, AND
POLITICAL THEORY. BOOKS IN THIS SERIES TACKLE NEW OR UNDER-ANALYZED ISSUES
IN POLITICS AND LAW AND DEVELOP INNOVATIVE METHODS TO UNDERTAKE THOSE
INQUIRIES. THE GOAL OF THE SERIES IS TO MULTIPLY THE INTERDISCIPLINARY JUNC-
TURES AND CONVERSATIONS THAT SHAPE THE STUDY OF LAW.
SEX, LAW, AND
SOVEREIGNTY
IN FRENCH
ALGERIA,
1830–1930
Judith Surkis
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LONDON
Copyright © 2019 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review,
this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any
form without permission in writing from the publisher. For
information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512
East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at
cornellpress.cornell.edu.
First published 2019 by Cornell University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Surkis, Judith, author.
Title: Sex, law, and sovereignty in French Algeria, 1830–1930 /
Judith Surkis.
Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2019. | Series:
Corpus juris | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019006301 (print) | LCCN 2019011011
(ebook) | ISBN 9781501739514 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501739521
(epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501739491 | ISBN 9781501739491
(cloth) | ISBN 9781501739507 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Islamic law—Algeria—History. | Domestic
relations (Islamic law)—Algeria—History. | Muslims—Legal
status, laws, etc.—Algeria—History. | Women—Legal status,
laws, etc.—Algeria—History. | Algeria—History—1830–1962.
Classification: LCC KQG469 (ebook) | LCC KQG469 .S87 2019
(print) | DDC 349.6509/034—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019006301
Cover image: Hayv Kahraman, The Triangle, 2012. © Hayv
Kahraman. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery,
New York.
For Leïla

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Translation and Transliteration xv
Map of the ex-Regency of Alger (1834) xvi
Introduction 1
Chapter ONE
Bodies of French Algerian Law 27
  TWO
Polygamy, Public Order, and Property 55
  THREE
Making the “Muslim Family” 90
  FOUR
Civilization, the Civil Code, and “Child Marriage” 119
  FIVE
Special Mœurs and Military Exceptions 152
  SIX
Conversion, Mixed Marriage, and the Corporealization
of Law 181
  SEVEN
The Sexual Politics of Legal Reform 217
  EIGHT
Colonial Literature and Customary Law 250
vii
viii /(cid:3) CONTENTS
  EPILOGUE
Sex and the Centenary 282
Bibliography 295
Index 325
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure
(cid:2) 1 Map of the ex-Regency of Alger (1834) xvi
(cid:2) 2 Eugène-Hippolyte Forest, Le Sérail en émoi , lithograph, 1830 2
(cid:2) 3 Antoine Adolphe Fonrouge, Jean-Jean au sérail d’Alger ,
lithograph, 1830 3
(cid:2) 4 Cornille (Victor Auguste Laurent), U ne infidèle ,
lithograph, 1830 29
(cid:2) 5 Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin, M idjeles, Tribunal
supérieur musulman (Tlemcen) , from L ’Algérie
photographiée: Province d’Oran (1856–1857) 70
(cid:2) 6 Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin, M auresques en visite,
costume de l’intérieur (Alger) , from C olonisation française
de l’Algérie et voyage de Napoléon III en 1865 84
(cid:2) 7 Map of official colonization, Sidi Bel Abbès and
environs (detail), 1902 105
(cid:2) 8 Official model of genealogical tree, 1873 111
(cid:2) 9 Taleb Abdesselem, L ’Afrique du nord illustrée , 1928 220
10 Max Radiguet, “Polygamie,” from Le Journal Amusant , 1923 248
11 PEM, “Le Centenaire à Montmartre,” from L e Sourire , 1930 286
ix