“Islam” and “Muslimisme” in the official discourse and categorical apparatus of the French authorities in the 1920s

Abstract

Throughout history, France and the Muslim world have been connected in various ways. Their interactions have ranged from constructive collaboration to colonial (or semi-colonial) domination and mutual animosity. In this article, the author seeks to examine the nuances of the discursive mobilisation and contextualisation of terms such as “Islam” and “Muslimisme” within the public and secret documents of French diplomacy and colonial administration during the 1920s. He attempts to address the following questions: What was the terminological and semantic conflict surrounding the aforementioned concepts? What were the objectives of the French officials in articulating one or another aspect of “Islam” and “Muslimisme”? Contemporary neocolonialism and a necessity to study its historical genesis and forms determine relevance of the article. The author makes use of insufficiently researched archival and published material. This, in conjunction with the nature of the research question, provides the rationale behind the originality of the analysis presented in the essay. He employs the methodology of the “history of concepts” and comparative-historical analysis to examine the intricate interrelationship between the discursive mobilisation of “Islam” and “Muslimisme”, on the one hand, and the practical policies of Paris, on the other. The author draws on a range of sources to inform his analysis, including French diplomatic documents, the notes and reports of Marshal Hubert Lyautey, books and pamphlets by various French experts and public figures, and material from the French and Algerian press. He concludes that the semantic colouring of “Islam” and “Muslimisme” in the French official discourse of the 1920s was not homogeneous. This perception included a sense of superiority close to Orientalism, a perception of the backwardness of “Islamic civilization” and its incompatibility with the Western socio-political order, and a perception of “Islam” as a potential danger, especially if it was combined with other religious (pan-Islamism) and/or socio-political challenges (pan-Turkism, Bolshevism). Concurrently, the Third Republic’s authorities frequently regarded Islam as a means of securing Muslim allegiance and enhancing France’s “soft power”.