The University of Kansas associate professor of anthropology has just published a book addressing the history and identity of this part of northern Africa, “The Invention of the Maghreb: Between Africa and the Middle East” (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Hannoum argues that French colonials invented the region and, by the same token, created an immense field of study around it. Hannoum said that colonial invention of the region of northern Africa also involved the invention of Africa as a Black continent and the Middle East as an Arab bloc. “The region itself is not a natural entity — the region is a conception, a reconfiguration, a colonial invention,” Hannoum said. “The book is not designed only for scholars who work on the Maghreb.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 15, 2021 10:41 UTC