Before 1954 an Algerian radio marked Europeanization and vulnerability

Evidence

Before 1954, switching on the radio meant giving asylum to the occupier’s words; it meant allowing the colonizer’s language to filter into the very heart of the house, the last of the supreme bastions of the national spirit. Before 1954, a radio in an Algerian house was the mark of Europeanization in progress, of vulnerability. It was the conscious opening to the influence of the dominator, to his pressure. It was the decision to give voice to the occupier. Having a radio meant accepting being besieged from within by the colonizer. It meant demonstrating that one chose cohabitation within the colonial framework. It meant, beyond any doubt, surrendering to the occupier. — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 318 (#expands, via linked claim)

Before 1945, 95 per cent of the receivers were in the hands of Europeans. The Algerians who owned radios belonged mainly to the “developed bourgeoisie,” and included a number of Kabyles who had formerly emigrated and had since returned to their villages. — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 257 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

It may be pointed out, nevertheless—and this argument may have appeared to confirm the conclusions of sociologists—that, pressed with questions as to the reasons for this reluctance, Algerians rather frequently give the following answer: “Traditions of respectability are so important for us and are so hierarchical, that it is practically impossible for us to listen to radio programs in the family. The sex allusions, or even the clownish situations meant to make people laugh, which are broadcast over the radio cause an unendurable strain in a family listening to these programs.” — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 257 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Before 1945 Europeans owned 95 percent of Algerian radios — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 257; Algerian society autonomously reappropriated the radio as a weapon of revolution; Algerians explained radio refusal through family honor and moral taboo — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 257 (+1 more)

Related

• Owning a radio before 1954 meant surrendering the home to the colonizer (similarity 0.90)
• Before 1945 Europeans owned 95 percent of Algerian radios (similarity 0.87)
• Radios let settlers resist cultural absorption by the native environment (similarity 0.87)
• Native non-adoption reinforced the impression of radio as a closed colonial world (similarity 0.86)
• Algerians explained radio refusal through family honor and moral taboo (similarity 0.86)
• Colonized Algerians rejected the radio without any organized resistance, contradicting Western sociological explanations (similarity 0.85)
• Algerian society refused radio because it was modeled on Western family norms (similarity 0.85)
• Algerian society autonomously reappropriated the radio as a weapon of revolution (similarity 0.84)
• The national struggle transformed the radio from hostile object into protective one (similarity 0.83)
• Algerians’ stated radio objections were rationalizations of the occupier’s rejection (similarity 0.83)
• Liberation struggle transformed the radio from submission tool into weapon (similarity 0.83)
• Post-1954 Europeans recognized an information network in native society that excluded them (similarity 0.83)
• Algerian leadership bombed Radio-Alger but failed to silence it permanently (similarity 0.83)
• Radio confirmed settlers’ sense of rightful continuity with the conquest (similarity 0.82)
• French colonial rule counteracted Algerian radio access by banning radio sales. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Owning a radio before 1954 meant surrendering the home to the colonizer #expands (0.80) — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 318
• Before 1945 Europeans owned 95 percent of Algerian radios #corroborates (0.60) — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 257
• Algerians explained radio refusal through family honor and moral taboo #corroborates (0.35) — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 257
• Algerian society autonomously reappropriated the radio as a weapon of revolution #contradicts (0.30)