Culture and identity in Algeria

Everyone can agree on that culture is an imperishable treasure for each human being in so far as it takes him through the darkness to the break of the day. Culture injects vitality both in the brain of the citizens and in the body of the families, schools, universities, states, etc. Besides, it provides concret prospects and reasonable solutions for crises. It is almost by definition the spirit of the nation. In short, as a vector for cohesion and change, it is what gets us to the finishing line on so many tough issues within present-day societies (intolerance, racism, violence, rejection of diversity, undermining of identity, etc) .

However, some underdeveloped countries which include Algeria play down culture’s role in the social nucleus or the family unit placing too much reliance on natural transformation of attitudes that may never come about without education. A stunning mistake which put them at the back of the queue. Though I don’t personally consider culture something systematically marginal, folkloric or the like in our country, I don’t consider it too extremely impregnated in the consiuousness of my compatriots. That’s is to say an ideal fitting their tastes, inclinations and lifestyle. The climate of complacency created by this «cultural vacuum» accounts for the fact that the governmental budget allocated to culture is very small, our publishing market is in agony, the investment in new technologies and research fall to nearly zero, the coordination of cultural policies among and between different state sectors turned out to be defective and, most ironically, only few minority of people, even among the ruling class goes to libraries, cinemas, festivals, cultural events, etc. It looks very much like the book is deprived in this materialistic vision secreted by «rent income demagogy» of its symbolic values in raising people’s awareness and channeling the restlessness of the street. As a result, youngs are very confused. Having been overtaken by the contagion of heredetary orality (the most notable feature of traditional societies), they don’t know today what they need to do in order to adjust their everyday life to modernity. This complex process without which there is a major risk of seeing the country descend very quickly into the quagmire of decline. Culture is indeed somewhat of great relief. Its aim is to show us, on the far horizon, how flexible and dynamic society is. Of course, never had a country withstood in the last few decades a prolonged and terrible ordeal as Algeria. That ordeal (civil war) could easily slide into some kind of complete failure if algerians hadn’t yet what Franco-Tunisian sociologist Sophie Bessis called «national heritage of pain» [ patrimoine national de la douleur] or what can be simply summed up in the formula “resistance capital” acquired during the independence struggle (1954-1962).

It is true after all that culture cannot be a permanent solution but allows, in my view, countries to stay afloat in the most critical moments in their history. If Algeria lacks today homogeneity and suffers both from cultural and identity schizophrenia, it is because it didn’t want to fortify in the past this “capital of resistance” by “a capital of knowledge”. For instance, in many areas, connections between culture and identity have become strained (school education, historical research, national memory, etc). Nevertheless, it has been established that the longer the country lives with such a dual conflict between its identity and culture, the less likely it strenghthens its social fabric. A hysterical stance to be cautiously optimistic about. Well, many people in the deep Algeria still believe culture totally useless. The reason : our governants have caused for them real hardships (low purchasing power, growth of unemployement, misunderstanding of youth concerns, etc.,) and will perhaps by acting this way cause them much more in the future so that to kill their democratic fervour. It is, indeed, a question of hogra! [despise in algerian colloquial language]. Our elites have destroyed the strong meaning of culture and are not recognizing where the basic needs lie for the average citizen. Further, they haven’t built suitable conditions for smooth social dialogue which can contribute to a new and modern concept of citizenship. Obviously, it is known that the more institutional acknowledgement of diverse identities and languages is encouraged, the less grassroots will be able to fall back on their culture borders. Culture is very special ; it is not to be disregarded anyway, I think.

Crossroad of various civilizations, Algeria has a particularly rich cultural heritage. But racked for centuries by colonial exploitation and violence, this latter undergo nowadays crispation, generation gap and takes definitely steps backwards in terms of cultural developement. Something that reflects «a bleak picture of unmoving time, loss of common fate, wothlessness of a nation which hasn’t any enemy except intimate…» to borrow columnist Kamel Daoud own words (Le rond national, impact24, info, october, 27th, 2015). This generated among citizens an unintented feeling of «identity distress». Officials who praise themselves on being «unity builders» have neglected anything related to «culture reality» [le fait culturel]. They haven’t neither willingness nor strategy to keep it (culture) alive in the mainstream of society. The fact that algerians are still facing identity syndrome (Arab, Berber…French-alike, etc.,) tends to confirm this. In the big cities for example, unemployed youngs didn’t something apart taking seat before walls, watching time go by or selling tickets in unsafe underground car parks, etc. Yet, like best machines, tools, apparatus, etc., culture can be useless if only their users are unable to make it work. In order to do this, they must read the handbook, understand its instructions, then go through the roots of possible malfunctions. In other words, identify the «malaise» and then influence those who take the key decisions at the top. Before being other thing, culture is above all an idea that we have to think in mind! Really, it is a shame that our identity is reviled or ignored because we haven’t daring, ability or honesty to portray our character flaws and criticise ourselves.

In general, culture in our landscape is so cute on the outside, but inside leaves much to be desired. I am convinced that we cannot ask a citizen who is struggling morning and evening to make ends meet to promote culture. This is evidence that even today, despite the high developement of technology in the world, there is a ravaging phenomenon of illitracy in Algeria combined with poverty which is no longer tolerable, in my opinion. The country is fallen behind because it has for a long time cheated on its anthropological realities (inevitable consequence of colonialism). Some of these failures could have been avoided in different ways, but for reasons which cannot be fully explained here (militarism, dictatorship…), they persisted. Carrying on so will demand an agonizing and difficult reappraisal of our national drama. It appears now as though identity issues were heading towards a dilemma, often ending with extremism or exclusion : islamism, arabism, berberism amongst other things… Equally, identity notorious for its hazards, is too often manipulated by our authorities. Depending on historical context, closely related with liberation war, it served and still serves interests of our elderly ruling class who try to get hold somehow or other of what are known as keys of «national unity», the cornerstone of Army-FLN state-policy.

In conclusion, culture cannot put an end to the violence and the desperation that lead our young to flee to Europe and western countries, but in larger run it should do more for them. Change depends mainly on how we perceive world issues. With time and strong support from state, culture can change gradually some of our deeply rooted archaic visions and ensure that things improve. The starting point is undoubtedly school programs where, now, our identity values which were taken by officials for granted are very badly taught. Algeria will be engulfed in underdevelopement trauma that is likely to last for decades if we do nothing.

Kamal Guerroua
9 novembre 2015