Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

(barba’rei or ‏(بربري exists in Arabic, it refers to one of the ethnic groups living
in the region but not the geographic area or the culture of its people as it is
understood in the West. This ignorance has generated numerous legends and
distorted images about the region and its population: the land was seen “as not
only hostile but also as barbaric as the ‘wilds of Africa,’” and the inhabitants of
North Africa were so dehumanized that they “had become objects of
ethnographical curiosity, and even ‘savages’ needing to be civilized.” 31
According to western misconceptions, ‘Barbary’ is the land where
barbarous, ruthless, pitiless, and animal-like sub-humans lived. 32
More,
Westerners mistakenly believe that the inhabitants of Barbary are called
‘Berbers’ because they were wild barbarians, irreligious, and behave
instinctively like ferocious animals. Tassy had left us a resounding testimony:
Many people do not make the difference between the inhabitants of
Barbary and the savages and simply call them animals; they even think
that animals are more estimable than them. … The names Turk,
Muhammedian, Arab, and Moor are sufficient reasons to question these
people’s faith and even make Christians doubt whether they have any
notion of God at all. … Such preconceived ideas could be easily
reversed if they would make the effort of reading history and travel
accounts. They would be convinced that countless people in the world,
some even in Europe, are more ignorant and more savage; and their
customs are more ferocious and brutal than those of Barbary inhabitants
who are today more civilized and more sociable. 33
This excerpt is interesting in the sense that it clearly underlines
preconceptions and prejudices of Westerners about North Africa, and Algiers
31 Thomson, Barbary and Enlightenment, p. 2.
32 For more of the kind see Ralph P. Locke, “Cutthroats and Casbah Dancers, Muezzins and Timeless
Sands: Musical Images of the Middle East,” 19 th -Century Music, 22: 1 (Summer 1998), pp. 20-53.
33 Tassy, Royaume d’Alger, pp. 1-2.
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