Auteur: Aures
Date: 2008-08-08 18:23:39
Aures : book reviews (suite)
Comparativement aux recherches des deux premiers livres, commentés lors des messages précèdents, celles du livre d'aujourd'hui sont très récentes (époque post-coloniale) et elles sont faites, en Aurès, par un chercheur algérien. Il s'agit du livre intitulé :
- BIJOUX ET BIJOUTIERS DE L'AURÈS, ALGÉRIE: Traditions and innovations. By Tatiana Benfoughal. 1997.
- Commenté par: Amal Rassam (Queens College, CUNY)
- In: The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2/3. (1999), pp. 568-569.
The Aurès mountain region in southeastern Algeria constitutes a classic refuge area where the indigenous Berber-speaking population has, until fairly recently, managed to preserve much of their cultural traditions in the face of successive invasions. The high and rugged mountains with their narrow passes provided a safe haven for the people who lived clustered in small villages tucked into the sides of the mountains.
Protected by their relative isolation, the Shawiya Berbers of the Aurès maintained a distinctive ethnic and cultural identity expressed in their language, their social organization, and their aesthetic expression. Benfougha1's book, Jewelry and Jewelers of the Aurès, concentrates on traditional jewelry of the Aurès and its role in expressing and preserving the cultural identity of the people who make it, wear it, and pass it on from one generation to the next.
The book is divided into three parts:
• The first part reconstructs the historical roots and evolution of jewelry (in terms of motifs, forms, and techniques) in North Africa.
• The second part is devoted to a detailed description of Aurès jewelry and the techniques used to make it.
• The third and shortest part focuses on native artisans and their traditional role in the region.
Benfoughal traces some of the basic motifs and shapes that identify Aurès jewelry back to the late Neolithic period; metal bracelets with serpent heads found in ancient sites are not too different from silver bracelets worn by Aurès women today.
Jewelry excavated at the site of Carthage (circa 840 B.C.) reveals the diffusion of Egyptian symbols and motifs ( e.g., the scarab, the eye, and the solar discus) which are commonly found inscribed on Phoenician and Carthaginian bracelets, amulets, and diadems. But, as the author points out, the most important artistic and technical legacy was that of the Romans who defeated Carthage to become masters of North Africa. As a result of the Roman legions' success in penetrating the Aurès mountains, the remote region was brought into direct contact with rich cultural life of the Roman coastal cities.
Benfoughal, in fact, traces the distinctive styles and techniques used in Aurès jewelry-such as filigree, granulation, and decoupage-to these early Roman influences.
The nine centuries following the Romans witnessed the integration of the region into the sphere of Arab and later Ottoman @!#$ civilization. Aurès artisans translated classical @!#$ decorative styles and motifs into a distinctive regional style that came to identify traditional Aurès jewelry and distinguish it from other Algerian styles.
Benfoughal devotes the main part of her book to a detailed description of this "traditional" Aurès style, illustrating it with a wealth of photographs of the jewelry found today in the Musée de 1'Homrne in Paris, the Musée de Borda in Algiers, and in the private possession of Aurès women.
Throughout the colonial period, local artisans selectively incorporated Western styles and techniques into the traditional silver jewelry of the Aurès that remained in high demand well into the 1950s.
By the 1960s, gold jewelry had made its way into the region and quickly came to supplant the traditional silver jewelry now seen as old-fashioned and unstylish.
In the last part of her book, Benfoughal assesses the impact of this change on the local artisans. This is a well written and beautifully presented essay on innovation and tradition in the design and production of silver jewelry among a small Berber-speaking group in the Aurès region of Algeria.
AMAL RASSAM
Queens College, CUNY
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Remarque:
Renseignements supplémentaires : pour ceux qui comprennent encore le parler amazigh des Aurès, la tcawit/ hcawit, ils peuvent écouter le document audio posté sur dailymotion. Elle explique brièvement le travail du métal noble des auresiens, l'argent, ainsi que des commentaires sur la bijouterie en général. (Cherchez la vidéo portant le titre- Awras: bijouterie traditionnelle)
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