In recent years, post-Covid, a new place and a new use have emerged in the Algerian cultural landscape: the literary café. “Café” is used for convenience, but it is above all a place (a bookshop, a private living room, a room in a cultural center, or even a café) where writers gather to discuss their latest reads and exchange ideas alongside ordinary citizens, without hierarchy, men, women, and people of all ages. It welcomes students revising their philosophy classes as well as retirees rediscovering Kateb Yacine. Another place, same use: the digital space. Cultural influencers and digital artists are investing in this field and opening up new topics for study and discussion. But at what cost ?
Designated places to exist
A place for intellectual emulation, encounters, and exchanges in the languages of the region where it is located, the literary café must first overcome an administrative imbroglio in order to exist. The café in the Kabyle commune of Tichy, located about fifteen kilometers from Bejaia on the coast, is a case in point : although authorized by the communal people’s assembly1, this initiative has faced a wall of administrative prohibitions. Kamel, the organizer, testifies about complex censorship mechanisms :
“The meetings I coordinate in this space are constantly subject to censorship by the authorities, who pile up administrative obstacles and systematically question the legitimacy of our cultural activities.”
These bureaucratic obstacles are not isolated incidents: they are part of a systematic strategy of control. The dichotomy between the treatment of political and religious activities and that of cultural events reveals a deliberate mechanism for stifling critical thinking. While the former are “authorized, regulated, subsidized, and even secured,” says Kamel, from the Tichy literary café, the latter are viewed with constant suspicion. At times, repression takes especially brutal forms. Ahmed K., organizer of a literary café in the Wilaya of Oran, tells of a violent intervention by the authorities :
“They prevented our conference on transitional justice in Algeria, arresting all those in charge of our association, the paid employees and everybody on the premises, categorically refusing to allow the conference to take place.”
This censorship does not only come from the authorities. “Another type of censorship, more insidious, is produced by a part of the intellectual elite itself, who either support the power structure or do their best to avoid its anger, in order to keep their positions and their advantages”, Kamel continues. “This phenomenon has become more pronounced since Hirak2, creating a conflict at the heart of the intellectual community, between those who defend freedom of speech, sometimes to the detriment of their careers, and those who prefer to avoid conflict in order to preserve their status.”
A member of the Azday Adelsan n Weqqas association (“the literary café of Aokas”), a pretty little coastal town in the wilaya of Bejaia, recounts the evolution of the pressure they have been under: “Between July 2017 and the start of the Hirak in 2019, it was not necessary to request authorization to organize conferences. All you had to do was book the room and invite the speakers.“ However, this relative freedom was only apparent. ”We know that the literary cafés in Aokas have always been closely monitored. Plainclothes police officers were present at all the conferences—since it’s a small town, we know them.” The crackdown intensified with the pandemic and the aftermath of the Hirak.
The intimidation then took on a more direct and sophisticated form. "Among the first direct measures, the association received what could be called a ‘formal notice’. Events quickly unfolded: “In May 2022, the association received a document from the Ministry of Justice stating that a trial against it had been held in October 2021” following a complaint by the wilaya of Bejaia for “religious proselytism.” The dissolution of Azday Adelsan n Weqqas, pronounced in April 2023 by the administrative court of Bejaia, demonstrates the authorities’ determination to eradicate these structures. Since then, a legal battle has been underway, with the association filing an appeal.
These testimonies reveal the extent of the pressure against these initiatives: “We have seen walls tagged with ambiguous messages such as ‘The association is ending its activities,’ with no further details”, continues the member of the Aokas literary café. Paradoxically, each attempt to silence them only strengthens the determination of cultural actors and sparks a wave of solidarity.
These literary events are part of a broader movement to preserve and pass on Algeria’s cultural heritage. In the Kabyle town of Aokas, despite eight banned conferences and the legal dissolution of the literary café, its founders are continuing their cultural mobilization. Rachid T., organizer of literary cafés, also embodies this determination : “An internet café in the city center organizes literary gatherings. Despite Ramadan, we are doing everything we can to keep them going.”
Faced with these attacks on freedom, the Algerian diaspora plays a crucial role. Mainly present in Europe and North America, it is an essential outlet for censored voices. Farid L., a member of a citizens’ collective in Montreal, explains : “We serve as a sounding board for artists and intellectuals who have been silenced. Thanks to our networks, we are able to share their work and ideas beyond the controlled borders.”
Literary cafés stopped, like all other activities, during the Covid-19 period. And, as you know, this period was marked by repression of the Hirak and the entire Algerian people. So the literary cafés disappeared.
The rise of “cultural influencers” in the social media
Faced with this repression, cultural actors soon realized the need to innovate in order to overcome the obstacles placed before them. The Internet has become their main vector of liberation. University Batna2, in Eastern Algeria, was one of the first strongholds of this technological resistance, with the development of alternative platforms. “Our online platforms have become spaces where students can chat freely, professors can share different viewpoints and critical thinking continues to hum”, Karim R. explains. He is in charge of digital activities at the university.
The Internet offers obvious advantages: it attenuates the notion of administrative territory, complicates the implementation of local bans and allows for the massive and instantaneous dissemination of printed material, thereby making censorship more difficult. And there is a remarkable phenomenon which accompanies this transformation : the rise of Algerian “cultural influencers” on the digital platforms. They are young, they are tech-savvy, and these new mediators are creating virtual communities around a variety of different cultural topics. These virtual spaces also allow for the emergence of hybrid forms of artistic expression. Algerian "digital story-telling mingles oral traditions with digital tools and has a particular attraction for the younger generations.
Nabil K., a digital artist in Constantine, is a perfect embodiment of this process: «We reinvent our traditional tales in podcasts, animations and interactive installations. It is a way of preserving our heritage while at the same tome making it attractive and accessible for the Z generation."
Towards a redefinition of Algerian cultural identity
Cultural resistance is not confined to the Internet. Cultural players are developing hybrid models, associating physical and virtual spaces to build resilient ecosystems. “Our centre contains a library which has many books dealing with human rights, justice, and constitutional law, all very rare books. Efforts are being made to get the new generation of students and scholars to use this library”, Hassan M. explains. He is a journalist and hosts encounters in Algiers. And he adds : “In spite of all the efforts made to hinder the activities of the literary cafés, some encounters have really attracted a wide range of participants.“These initiatives are part of a broader movement for the preservation and transmission of the Algerian cultural heritage. Peacefully and boldly : in the town of Aokas, despite eight banned conferences and the judicial dissolution of the literary café, its founders don’t give up. Rachid T., organizer of literary cafés, embodies that determination: “A down town Internet café holds literary encounters. Despite Ramadan, we’ve done everything we could to keep them alive to this very day.”
This resistance is part of a far-reaching redefinition of the country’s cultural identity. By breaking free from the official channels, Algerian creators are at liberty to explore topics that have long been taboo. Young contemporary artists call into question established national narratives, lay claim to a linguistic and cultural diversity which has been hitherto dismissed.
Amazigh (or Berber) culture which has long been marginalized, is now better recognized in alternative spaces. As certain cultural actors have claimed :
“Algerian culture is not dying out. It is mutating, adapting itself and continues to breathe, like a living organism which always finds a way forward, even in the most hostile environment”.
The present history of Algerian culture is that of an extraordinary resilience ; each attempt to muzzle it generates new forms of expression; each prohibition stimulates creators’ inventiveness.
The digital revolution has provided Algerian voices with unprecedented tools to circumvent the obstacles. But more than technologies, it is the unshakeable determination of the creators, thinkers and cultural activists who provide the movement’s force; in order for this revolution to be completely understood, it must be situated within the larger context of the social and political transformations taking place in the Arab world. Far from media simplifications, Algerian cultural effervescence attests to a genuine intellectual and creative vitality.
It reminds us of an essential truth: no system, however repressive, can permanently stifle the voice of a people determined to speak out. There perhaps is where the greatest hope lies for the future of Algerian culture.
Translated by Noël Burch
