Scientific event

Traditional games, in both their tangible and intangible dimensions, express the identity construction and the value system of societies. They also reflect their collective memory, which preserves cultural traits, patterns, and conceptual structures passed down through generations. These games thus provide an image of the popular and social imagination of these societies, through the representations they incorporate regarding religious, social, cultural, economic, and even political structures.
Within this intervention proposed during the internal discussion seminar of the research department "The Imaginary and Social Processes", we review the aspect related to popular religiosity in the studied community, in connection with the ritual practices of certain traditional games that represent a facet of the cultural specificity of the Tesba region.
The game of "Al-Koura" (the ball) in this region expresses an integrated whole of symbolisms through the diverse rituals it involves, including:
The symbolism of making the ball.
The symbolism of the season in which it is played.
The symbolism of the players' age and gender.
The symbolism of the traditional dishes dedicated to it.
The symbolism of the reward after it ends.
This is in addition to other traditional games, such as the gender-disguise game (the ritual dance), where each of them expresses specific rituals, such as rites of passage, rituals of good omen and invocation, and rituals of protection.