Colonial Zaytuna: The Making of a Minaret in French-Occupied Tunisia

In March 1892, eleven years after the establishment of the French protectorate in Tunisia, a congregation of ulemas, religious scholars, and students, as well as representatives of the waqf administration (Jamʿiyyat al-Awqāf) gathered in the ṣaḥn of the Zaytuna Mosque to lay the cornerstone of a new minaret. The pre-exiting tower, whose latest major renovations dated from the seventeenth-century Ottoman Muradid times, was deemed hazardous; it was therefore entirely demolished and replaced by a large-scale replica of the nearby Hafsid Kasbah Mosque of Tunis. The new minaret of the Zaytuna Mosque rose in tandem with the Saint Vincent de Paul Cathedral of Tunis, and simultaneously with the nascent French neighborhoods of Tunis outside and along the medina walls. This article explores the intricate and fascinating context of the construction of a monumental minaret in a city that was gradually severing ties with its Ottoman past and surrendering to a newly established colonial rule. It questions the role and aspirations of the French administration in the minaret project, the reasons that led to the revival of the Almohad architectural style in the late nineteenth-century Maghrib, and the legacy left by the re-appropriation of this style in North Africa.

Self-Minoritization

This article looks at the process through which the Ibadi Mzabi community in the Algerian desert “minoritized” itself during the colonial period, leading into the 1948 elections to represent the Mzab Valley on the newly created Algerian Assembly. This representation legally and effectively incorporated the Mzab into French Algeria and ended its special status as a French protectorate. Mzabi self-minoritization, Ghazal argues, was a process of performative differentiation based on a sectarian identity. It was initiated by the colonized and negotiated with the colonizer, emerging at the intersection of colonialism and the institutionalization of political representation in colonial Algeria. Ghazal defines this process as self-minoritization to attribute a proactive role for, and more agency to, the colonized in claiming a “minority” identity and negotiating a special status within the colonial order.

Predominance of English cotton fabrics in Tunisia and Morocco in the context of the Protectorate 1912-1922

According to French and British sources, the English cotton fabrics, dominated in many years in the French protectorate, in Tunisia and Morocco, mainly between 1912-1922.This situation can be explained by several factors, Such us the continuity of capitulation régime for many years, after the fall of Tunisia and Morocco under the French dominance.

Is Tunisia Ready for a Jewish Museum? Perspectives on the Current Debates Surrounding the Status of Jewish History in My Country

This chapter charts the genesis of the Museum of Jewish-Tunisian Heritage in Tunis. Jewish culture has been exhibited in Tunisian museums since the beginning of the French Protectorate in 1881. Until recently, however, the idea of a museum entirely dedicated to Jewish-Tunisian history and culture was simply unconceivable in Tunisia, as Judaism was solidly understood as being tied to Israeli politics. Kazdaghli explains how the Jewish-Tunisian community, domestically and overseas, have seized the so-called ‘Jasmine Revolution’ and the democratic ideals it purports to push for the establishment of a joint-venture Museum of Jewish-Tunisian Heritage in Tunis. In a context of new democratic achievements, the museum project is publicised as an instrument of social change, a partner to the democratic transition. However, the chapter shows that such a project proves a difficult exercise as the organising committee navigates cultural taboos surrounding Judaism in Tunisian society, as well as conflicting patrimonial opinions within the community itself, in Tunisia and within the diaspora.

Muhammed ben Yusef: From a “Golden Cell” to the First 5-year Plan (Commemorating the 65th Anniversary of Independence of the Kingdom of Morocco)

Muhammed b. Yusuf (1909–1961) — a key person in political history of Morocco in the middle of the 20th C. With his intronization in the beginning of the French colonial rule Muhammed b. Yusuf started in his biography a long and winding road from a puppet sultanate as an instrument of the French Protectorate, to the leadership in the liberation movement, becoming a symbol of nationalism and a father-founder of the independent Moroccan statehood restored in 1956.

RABAT'S GARDENS AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE INTENSIVE INFLUENCE OF EUROPE ON THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPES OF NORTH AFRICA

The article examines the formation of a neo-Mauritanian landscape and architectural style of Morocco, new for North Africa, during the reign of the French protectorate in the first half of the 20th century. A historical retrospective of the works of French architects, descriptions of the gardens and parks of the city of Rabat, built and reconstructed during the rule of the French protectorate, are given. Brief information is given about the redevelopment of the city, according to the ideas of the modern structure of colonial cities that existed at that time, described in the works of French architects. The process of landscape-architectural organization of the garden space is analyzed. The main planning and design features of the Moroccan gardens of the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the significance of the main elements that embody symbolic, religious and practical ideas, are revealed. It has been established that when designing the gardens, French architects tried to combine several styles, including landscape and architectural techniques traditional for Islamic gardens, inscribing them into the classical French regular layout characteristic of the European Art Nouveau period.

INFLUENCE OF FRENCH GARDEN CULTURE ON URBAN GREENING IN VIETNAM

The article analyzes the role of the French protectorate in the development of the greening system of major cities in Vietnam. The article presents political, economic and religious facts that influenced domestic policy in the field of urban planning and landscape architecture in the period from 1858 to 1954. The French protectorate period was an important milestone in the history of Vietnamese architecture. The French made significant changes to the construction art of Vietnam with its traditional wooden architecture. They built homes using new technologies such as mansard roofs, terraces, and balconies, and also used new materials for Vietnam - cement, steel, concrete, ceramic tiles, and slate. It is shown that in the initial period of French rule in Vietnam, only European traditions were used in architecture and Park construction, and after the 1st world war, with the acquisition of a certain negative experience, they began to take into account the traditions of local construction art and the climatic conditions of the region. A significant contribution of French specialists was made in the first attempts to select types of woody plants for urban gardening that meet the requirements of safety and street hygiene. French influence in the garden culture of Vietnam shifted the vector of development of this area of activity towards Europeanization. This is especially evident in the structure of urban squares and the ways in which plants were formed according to the laws of European topiary art, which required regular planning.

Progressive Realisation of Muslim Family Law: The Case of Tunisia

From the time when women's rights were not placed high on the agenda of any state to the time when women's rights are given top priority, Tunisia's gender-friendly legislation requires a fresher look. One would be forgiven for thinking that Tunisia's reforms started after they gained independence from France in the 1950's. In fact, it was during the French Protectorate that reformers started rumours of reform, arguing amongst other issues for affording women more rights than those they were granted under sharia law, which governed family law in Tunisia. After gaining its independence, Tunisia promulgated the Code of Personal Status, which was considered a radical departure from the sharia. It is considered to be the first women-friendly legislation promulgated in the country. It could be argued that Tunisian family law underwent, four waves of reform. The first wave started during the French Protectorate. The second wave started in the 1950's with the codification of Tunisia's family law, which introduced women-friendly legislation. The third wave started in the 1990's with changes to the Code of Personal Status, and the latest wave commenced in 2010. In this article, I analyse the initial, pioneering phases of the reforms resulting from the actions of a newly formed national state interested in building a free society at the end of colonial rule, as well as reforms that have taken place in the modern state since the Arab uprising in Tunisia. As a result of the various waves of reforms, I argue that Tunisia should be seen as the vanguard of women-friendly legislation in the Arab world.