France, a country with a reputation for romance, is showing no love to their former colony of Algeria. Algeria is a North African country that won its independence from France in 1962 after France occupied Algeria for a 132 years. When France exited Algeria, they took various cultural artifacts that were imperative to Algerian national heritage with most items pre-dating France's invasion in Algeria. They not only took artifacts but other documents of importance such as maps of Algeria's underground sewers, gas pipes and electricity lines. *Blank Stares*
These acts were crippling when Algeria implemented plans for its underground transit system and didn't know what the fuck they were digging through because they didn't have the maps. So why would France want maps of a another country's underground system? Simple, it is another way to make Algeria financially beholden to France, to undermine their independence and sovereignty, and it could be used as a stratagem of warfare if Algeria and France ever engaged in armed conflict in the future. It's a real disadvantage to enter into warfare with a country who has the maps to your country's underground systems and you don't even have them.
My class participated in a discussion in one of my classes about France stealing (yes, stealing because that's what it was) components of Algeria's cultural heritage and needless to say I was disappointed but not surprised by some of the answers my future colleagues gave.
One student said, "Well where is the line to be drawn where artifacts are supposed to have papers."
Let's think about this statement for a moment. The line is drawn when the owner of the said property clearly has no papers for their items. I'm pretty sure France has no papers to these artifacts because they STOLE them. France also doesn't have any papers because ALGERIA DID NOT GIVE THEM ANY! And if you have no papers for historical artifacts that pretty much means you don't legally own them. Furthermore, if France had absolute claim to these objects they would not have put forth a proposal asking Algeria to give up their claims to these items. If something rightfully belongs to you, you don't request that another person relinquishes all claims of ownership to what is supposedly yours. They're trying to finagle Algeria into this position because they know that Algeria has a legitimate claim to these artifacts. The choice given to Algeria is more proof of France's guilt and ambiguity in their right to possess these items.
Another student said, "France didn't steal it because it was a spoil of war."
I guess we're reverting back to the Middle Ages with this statement. Women also used to be spoils of war, so I guess if France had walked away with half of Algeria's women as "booty" then that would have been okay too. These artifacts were not spoils of war. Why? Because France lost when Algeria won their independence. According to this argument the items France took afterwards were not spoils of war since they were not the victor in the war of independence. And I hope to never hear this statement again as an assertion of why one country should keep another country's cultural artifacts after subjecting them to occupied colonialism for 130 years..
Another one of my peers said, "Well, when you have a war and you have a situation where France implemented policies in Algeria and are a part of Algerian history then the area is gray and there is no right and wrong answers."
I told her there was a right answer and that was for France to give back what did not belong to them. The objects stolen pre-date French rule in Algeria, therefore, it is not a part of the unfortunate shared colonial history between Algeria and France. If Algerians completely viewed themselves as French then they wouldn't be asking for these artifacts. They would let France possess them as an indicator of a shared French and Algerian identity.
Another student mentioned that it was a bloody war on both sides but lamented how Muslims were blowing up French cafes during the war of Independence and my professor compared it to a second intifada (100,000 French died in the war). They completely ignored the 1.5 million Algerians who died during the war, the Algerians who died when France initiated aggression against Algeria in 1830 and those who died when France brutalized Algerians to cull dissent and maintain power during their colonial rule. Frantz Fanon wrote about the cultural and physical subjugation Algerians endured at the hands of the French and the psychological toll it took on its inhabitants in his book, The Wretched of the Earth.
The bottom line is that many of my peers do not come from recent histories where their ancestors experienced some form of cultural annihilation so I don't expect some of them to truly understand the ethics and ramifications of stealing another country's culture. As the progeny of those who colonized various parts of the globe it is fitting that some would present the type of arguments above when it is clear that the items were taken illegally. A few brought up the subject of the legalities of France's ownership but could not expand on how France might be legally entitled to these cultural relics. I found this conversation with my peers interesting and scary since we are taught as archivists that the importance of historical relics are essential to a nation's identity and cultural memory. This means that above anyone else they should unequivocally understand why it is imperative for France to return these items to Algeria.
I had the last word in the argument saying France was not providing access to these relics and maps because their possession of these items goes beyond taking what they thought was theirs at the end of the war. I said it was a form of cultural annihilation in the face of a humiliating defeat suffered at the hands of Algeria. My professor laughed and gave me a look as if I was implying something absurd or going too far in my assessment of the situation. I'm pretty sure Algerians would agree with my statement and would not find it ludicrous by any shadow of a doubt.
If France returned the objects it would be an admittance that it was taken wrongfully. What is clear is that by not returning the objects Algeria is denied a chance to transcend its past as a French colony and the suffering experienced during the war of Independence. The return of these items could also heal France's historical wounds but they are recalcitrant to do what is ethical. Instead, they would rather linger in historical purgatory, not fully acknowledging how their actions damaged and continue to effect Algeria. According to the contempt and deplorable treatment shown to Algerians by the French, we know who the real niggas of Paris are and it isn't Jay-Z or Kanye West.
