Women During The Algerian War Essay

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Who Art Thou?

To what extent did Algerian women’s identity during the Algerian War for Independence (1954-1962) change during the decolonization of Algeria from France? Without women, it may have been impossible for Algeria to escape the tyrannies of France. France at the time was facing one of its darkest timelines after suffering a humiliating defeat to the Germany during WW2 and was in no mood to give up their main trade partner. The extent of which women’s identity changed during the Algerian War for Independence was immense due to their surprise factor, the influence they had on both the French and the Algerians, and the rights they obtained.
I will be comparing two types of media, film and novel, and the messages that they are trying to convey to the audience when it comes to the role of women during this war. The differences between the two approaches differ in many ways spanning from, the type of media, the roles they believed women had during the war, and the view of the women during the war. Frantz Fanon’s novel A Dying Colonialism shows Fanon fixated on the woman’s features, which is what he emphasizes as how women …show more content…

Although the approaches of defining what the women’s role during the Algerian differed, both the film and novel agreed that women were an important factor of winning the Algerian War. Without women, the Algerian men would be fighting against the superpower known as France. Algeria’s strategies revolving around women made it difficult for the French to stop Algerian resistance. During the film, the French couldn’t differentiate between the French and Algerian woman and the novel notes that the French eventually tortured even French citizens believing that they were Algerians. The Algerian women population was too difficult to

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