Representations of Algerian Identity in School Textbooks for the Teaching of French and English in Algeria Since 2003

This thesis is the first comparative analysis of representations of Algerian identity in French- and English-language textbooks used in Algerian middle and secondary schools since 2003. This study employs critical discourse analysis in addition to content analysis to question the representations of three different identities in the textbooks under analysis: national, cultural and gendered identity. In this research, 14 textbooks of French and English constitute the main corpus of analysis. In addition, interviews with some members of the staff involved in the production of these textbooks constitute secondary data for the thesis. The findings show that the textbooks, which are supposed to bring modernity to the postcolonial country, paradoxically promote different controversial and conflicting representations of Algerian identity. French-language textbooks, on the one hand, construct a sense of national identity by emphasising the oppression of French colonialism and the heroism of colonised Algerians. English-language textbooks, on the other hand, do not highlight Algeria’s colonial past, but rather focus on cultural representations of the present-day nation. Therefore, French-language textbooks can arguably lead to the construction of a culture of resistance by reproducing the image of the French as a ‘devilish entity’, subsequently contributing to diminish the appeal of French language in postcolonial Algeria. In contrast, English-language textbooks construct a culture of peace by focusing on an education based on democratic values and openness. These different approaches to teaching culture in foreign language textbooks have arguably strengthened competition between the two languages and escalated the language and identity problems in postcolonial Algeria. Related to these questions of identity crisis in Algeria is the representation of gender roles in these textbooks. The stereotypical and discriminatory representations of women in these government-produced textbooks contradict drastically with the official position of President Bouteflika towards the empowerment of Algerian women. The analysis of gender visibility and gender roles in the textbooks reveals the persistence of patriarchal legacies from the colonial period. Therefore, this thesis will show how these foreign language textbooks are regressive in their representations of gendered roles, and that this is closely connected to the textbooks’ representations of Algerian national and cultural identity in the postcolonial period.