الترجمة والاستشراق في الجزائ ر تحت الاحتلال الفرنسي

Abstract

During the French campaign against Algeria, Orientalism was oriented to support its colonial ambitions. Among the French soldiers who arrived in our country were a number of translators, writers and thinkers who cared about eastern society and the nature of their lives and their thinking. Orientalists aimed to explore Algerians' lives and their religious, linguistic, cultural and historical situations by translating religious texts and studying the Arabic language in its various dialects, as well as addressing Algeria's history and popular heritage...So was French orientalism in Algeria to serve the intellectual and civilizational project claimed by France or was it the facade that concealed its colonial ambitions and missionary endeavours? It is the question what we will consider in this paper by defining the concept of orientalism and addressing its beginnings first and then focusing on the French orientalism in Algeria and its relationship with translation with a particular interest given to the most important personalities in the field and their efforts to support French conquest of Algeria. We concluded through this study that Orientalism imposed itself in Algeria through the French colonial campaign and included several areas in Algerian society in order to study its thinking pattern and the nature of its living. The efforts of the Orientalists focused on studying Arabic and Berber in its various dialects, in addition to researching Algerian history, folklore and Islamic religion with diverse means, including translation, which was a vital tool for communicating with members of society and a powerful tool to activate the fields of literature, history, religion and jurisprudence. So, oriental studies, with all their inclinations and tendencies, analyzed society and revealed its ways of thinking and dealing with various social, political and religious issues under the pretext of spreading the values of civilization and culture. However, the main goal is to support the French presence in Algeria. Indeed, Orientalism was to support the colonial goals, but it left a huge amount of work in various fields, and translation was an aid in transmitting religious and historical texts and studying its linguistic and folklore heritage.