The colonial French empire expanded to include Algeria, a province in the Ottoman Empire, in 1830. This expansion came with many assumptions about inherent difference between the French colonizers and the native Algerians. Scholars such as Edward Said have used the term Orientalism to describe this set of ideas about differences between the people of the Occident and people of the Orient. In artistic portrayals of this region sent back to France by early travelers, Orientalist ideas fit into a kind of aesthetic. Like the aesthetic of the picturesque which was defined by an appropriation of natural elements as well as a lack of visible time, expansive horizon, and breathtaking lighting to serve the audience’s preconceived ideas of natural beauty, the aesthetic of Orientalism used these same elements as well as preconceived notions of inherent differences between the French and the Algerians to promote French consumption f Orientalist portrayals of Algeria.
The representation of Algeria for French consumption took many forms such as photography, painting, and writing about the newly colonized region. I argue that although these portrayals of Algeria were fashioned in a form of “documentary realism” meant to give the French an idea of what life there was actually like, these representations were inherently biased by Orientalist misconceptions.
Carlotta Ruffalo, ’14
Majors: English – Creative Writing Concentration, Environmental Studies
Sponsor: Devan Baty