To Each His Own Audience: The Performance of Politics and Culture in Interwar Algeria : Politics and Culture in Algeria from the 1930s

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In the 1930s, Algerians participated in a great debate about electoral reform. At the same time, new theatrical productions discussed the larger context of relations between French citizens and Muslim colonial subjects. Plays were performed that dealt with the relations between North Africans and the French colonial state, relations between “European” women and “Muslim” men, and the effects of “European” culture on ways of life in North Africa. This new Algerian theater contributed to political debates in three ways. First, the troupes constituted a form of hybrid experimentation, performing shows that blended European theatrical styles with North African forms of song and movement, in both French and dialectal Arabic. Second, the plays asked questions about relationships between men and women, the French and North Africans, and Muslims and Jews. The plays thus challenged many of the hierarchies that structured Algerian society. Finally, both the theater troupes and Muslim elected officials sought to construct their “audience” in an emerging colonial public sphere.