Historical Knowledge in the Maghreb

The book "Historical Knowledges in the Maghreb: Constructions and Usages", coordinated by Sami Bargaoui and Hassan Remaoun, is a collective work published by the CRASC of Oran in collaboration with the Center for Economic and Social Studies and Research of Tunis (CERES). It brings together contributions from Maghrebi and European researchers around a critical reflection on Maghrebi historiography, its methods, its political usages, and its contemporary transformations. The volume is part of a broader renewal of historical studies in the Maghreb, marked by a questioning of the national narratives inherited from the colonial period and the first post-independence decades. The coordinators explain that Maghrebi historians now seek to interrogate the conditions under which historical knowledge is produced, the ideological usages of history, and the mechanisms behind the construction of collective memories. The various contributions address several themes related to the writing of history in the Maghreb. The first part examines the representations of time, space, and territories in medieval, modern, and contemporary Maghrebi historiographies. In particular, the authors analyze how historians and chroniclers constructed the notions of Ifriqiya, tribe, state, and regional identity. These studies demonstrate that historical knowledges are invariably linked to the political and cultural contexts in which they are produced.