E295 | We often assume that as we become increasingly connected to ever larger networks of information and news we become part of larger and more cohesive polities. In this episode, Arthur Asseraf discusses how the introduction of new networks of communication in colonial Algeria generated friction and unevenness instead of expansive flows. Looking at telegraphs, newspapers, cinemas and more we discuss not only the types of intermediaries that flourished in this new environment, but also how news led to new and imagined forms of Muslim belonging in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. From a discussion of telegrams and coffee shops we jump into discussions of pan-Islamism, colonial conspiracy theories, and the nature of polities.
More at http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2017/01/ColonialNews.html
Arthur Asseraf is currently Examination Fellow in History at All Souls College, Oxford and from 2017 will be University Lecturer in the History of France and the Francophone World since c.1800 at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the history of information in the modern Mediterranean and on the colonial and post-colonial history of France and North Africa.
Nir Shafir is a historian of the Middle East whose research examines the intersections of knowledge production, religious practice, and material culture in the early modern world (1400-1800). He curates Ottoman History Podcast’s series on history of science in addition to being one of the co-founders of hazine.info, a website that explores the archives and libraries of the Islamic world. He is currently assistant professor of history at UCSD.
CREDITS
Episode No. 295
Release Date: 23 January 2017
Recording Location: Rethymno, Greece
Audio editing by Shireen Hamza
Music: from Excavated Shellac - Lili Labassi - Mazal Haye Mazal; from archive.org - Egil Daglar Ustunden Asam - Viktoriya Hanim Special thanks to Kara Güneş for permission to use the composition "Istanbul" in the intro and to Monsieur Doumani for allowing us to use "The System/Το σύστημαν" in the outro
Images and bibliography courtesy of Arthur Asseraf available at http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2017/01/ColonialNews.html
