Nabil Boudraa is a native of Algeria in Northern Africa, part of the Indigenous Berber population, and a professor of French and francophone studies in the OSU School of Language, Culture, and Society in the College of Liberal Arts. He recently completed a research trip home.
Where were you working?
The Kabylia region of Algeria, where the biggest city is Béjaïa on the Mediterranean Sea, but my work also took me to small villages and towns.
What languages are spoken there?
My native language is called Berber, and it’s one of the oldest languages in the world. It looks like Greek; the alphabet’s name is Tifinagh. A lot of people in Algeria speak French, and also the Derja dialect, which is a blend of at least seven or eight languages. It has roots in Punic, the language of the Phonecians who came to North Africa 3,000 years ago, then some words in French, Arabic, Spanish, even Turkish.
We don’t use the Berber script (Tifinagh) to write much where I'm from, but the Berbers in Southern Algeria, called the Tuaregs, still use this script. Most people write in French or Arabic, and some use Berber but mostly with Latin characters.
Boudraa recently published a special issue of the Tamazgha Studies Journal. Here the journal title is written in Arabic, French, English and the ancient Berber script Tifinagh.
What was the focus of your work?
This past summer, I had a grant to research ways of uncovering our own version of Berber history through various traces, like literary texts, poetry, folk tales and cinema. The challenge lies in finding what’s hidden behind these cultural products, aiming to find a truer version of North African history.
Our history has always been written by the conquerors — the Romans, the Arabs, the Turks, the French. Our own history has always been written for us, often inaccurately. So how do we, as Berbers, reclaim and rewrite our own history?
I explored several kinds of cultural products, like recipes as well as pagan practices that date back to antiquity. They take me to a time when nothing was written, but they survived thanks to oral tradition. These historical sources serve as handrails guiding me back to the distant past. There is also toponomy: Some villages were renamed by the French when they occupied Algeria and then renamed in Arabic when the Arabs took over, but some places kept their original Berber names.
How much time have you spent working there?
Four or five research trips. My most recent trip was the end of June to the end of August.
What’s a very non-tourist thing to do?
Something people do there is improvised get-togethers. Here or in Europe, you have to say “Oh let’s meet tomorrow, or next week, for a drink, etc.” There, it’s spontaneous. “Let’s go grab coffee, right now.” There’s no calendar, in a way.
What’s the best food you’ve eaten?
My favorite is couscous, but it’s not the one that you know. Back home, couscous is a really elaborate recipe, and it’s one of the oldest recipes in North Africa. It takes a couple hours to make, with a sauce with vegetables and meat, then the couscous is steamed on top of that sauce.
What’s the biggest challenge of working there?
For this last research trip, it was hard for me to work when everybody — and I mean everybody — was relaxing and enjoying the holidays, the summer. I had to take notes, had to visit some ruins or an archaeological site. I felt like I was the only one working.
What’s one thing you wish you could bring back to Oregon?
At home, it’s very easy to do things. Really relaxed, spontaneous, taking things lightly; lots of improvisation, no pressure. If something has not been completed, that’s OK. There, everybody has time. People work, but they work less; they enjoy life a little bit more. Here it’s one deadline after another. It becomes hard to catch a breath.
What’s an important phrase to learn in the local language?
Greetings are important. Wherever you go in small towns and villages, you have to greet people or you are perceived as impolite. “Azul fellawen” means “Hi to you” in Berber, and when you say goodbye, “dgikhk glahna” means “I leave you in peace.”
What do you miss most about Oregon when you’re in Algeria?
What I miss from Oregon when I’m there is the soccer games I play with colleagues and friends here on campus a couple times a week.
What piece of advice would you give others who might travel there?
Two pieces of advice: One would be to be flexible as far as local customs, social norms are concerned. And two, you need to visit more than one part of that large and beautiful country. Otherwise, there are so many things you’ll miss. You have to go to the Sahara Desert — it’s one of the most fascinating landscapes on Earth.
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