Arab Press Networks and Imperial Connectivities from Mediterranean Africa to France in the Late 19th Century

Abstract

The press was an instrument of colonial governance. Yet newspapers and print also served to connect populations across borders and demonstrated how trans-imperial flows influenced empires. This article examines Arab print networks in North Africa and France. It argues that print networks assisted with processes of colonial expansion while also providing a forum for Muslim activists and Arab modernists to present their views to foreign audiences. This two-way channel illustrates how imperialism engendered new synergies that would influence political developments in both the French empire and the modern Middle East, suggesting that print networks were central to the entangled histories of empire in the modern period.