19th Century French Orientalism and the Algerian Burnous

Abstract

In 1830, France invaded Algeria and began the first major European settler-colony in Africa. Not long afterwards, Algerian-influenced clothing items began to appear in Paris. The most popular was the burnous, a white, woolen cloak which was worn frequently by the majority of people in Algeria. The burnous was adapted to meet French tastes, and quickly became a popular fashion item. This fit into a longer French tradition of sartorial orientalism, which was particularly prominent in the 18th century. For them, Algeria fit into the ‘Orient’ and they understood Algerian culture primarily through this lens. Since the height of turquerie (Turkish/ ottoman focused orientalism) in the preceding century, the relationship between France and the nation they borrowed from had changed from allies to colonizer and colony. However, the constructions of Algerian culture seen in descriptions and representations of the burnous are largely consistent with this older tradition of orientalism. This consistency shows that French understandings of the Orient were not significantly impacted by the realities of colonialism until later in the empire’s history.