Resilience and Resistance: North African Jews during the Colonial Period

Catalog description

This seminar examines the multifaceted experiences of Jewish communities in the Maghreb during the colonial period, spanning from the early 19th century through the independence movements of the mid-20th century. We will explore how these communities navigated the social, political, and cultural landscape of colonial rule, focusing on key themes that shaped the Jewish experience in colonial North Africa. These themes include the impact of French colonial policies, evolving legal status, the involvement of French Jews in colonial dynamics, the rise and decline of the Judeo-Arabic press and literature, the emergence of Jewish women's writing, rabbinical responses to colonialism, and Jewish participation in anti-colonial movements. By analyzing a diverse range of primary sources—from rabbinical responsa and colonial legal documents to Judeo-Arabic literature and photographs—we will examine how Maghrebi Jews confronted, subverted, and negotiated the colonial order while reconfiguring their cultural and religious identities. By the end of the course, students will have developed a deeper understanding of the transformations in Jewish religious, cultural, and social life during the colonial period in North Africa. They will be able to evaluate the varied strategies of adaptation and resistance employed by Jewish communities in response to colonial rule. Students will also strengthen their ability to analyze a broad range of primary sources. Finally, they will learn to apply interdisciplinary approaches, drawing from history, postcolonial studies, Jewish studies, and literary analysis, to better understand Jewish life under colonial rule in the Maghreb