Takaleed al 3amya: Blind traditions

I believe I was fifteen when I first realised something was amiss with some of our customs and traditions.  They seemed incomplete, odd, a mixture of many cultures resplendent with bits and bobs of other traditions from other countries, I always wondered which part was truly Algerian and which part was imported and passed off as a new tradition.

The wide diversity Algeria boasts in terms of its traditions is primarily due to the diversity that lies within the country geographically with influence in the east from Tunisia and Libya, the West from Morocco and in the South from the Sahara, Mali etc, hostorically through many a civilisation and from the influx of new ways from the Mediterranean basin and Europe.

Traditions are a set of customs, ways to connect the present to the past that people of the same group or country adhere to, I will focus on celebrations' rituals.

In a traditional Algerian wedding, most brides would pay homage to the country’s diversity by donning a traditional attire from all regions; a Karakou from Algiers, a Caftan from the West, a Fergani Dress from Constantine, a Chedda from Tlemcen and L’haf from the Sahara etc, most of these dresses are intricately decorated with gold threads, pearls and lace, heavy looking, unnecessarily expensive and unpractical to wear anywhere, the bride would usually add an evening gown followed by the white wedding gown as a finale.  This is done almost chronologically, reflecting the history of Algeria and the influences of the civilisations that went through our land, from Romans to Ottomans to French, with the latter introducing the white gown and making it the final piece in our wedding rituals.

In recent years, we have seen new trends appear, always reflected on wedding rituals and traditions, such as wearing outfits from India (Sari, shelwar) and hair and make up imported from Lebanon and other non identified customs embraced by the women of Algeria and calling them traditions.

Are traditions supposed to evolve and change? Aren’t they supposed to be set by our forefathers for safekeeping and passed on to our descendants? Or are we experiencing the invention of new traditions?  Which are usually propagated for personal, commercial, political, or for national interest but ultimately alter the core customs.

Algerian celebrations such as weddings are in constant change, a new tradition appears every season, from outfits to music to ritual.  Algerian women seem to be under the impression that changing our traditions and moving them closer to the west or to what they perceive as modern will bring modernism and advancement,  our beautiful traditions are being vandalised by bored women of society, who have too much money and too little sense.

Since we’re in England, let us compare; if you look at English weddings, you will notice consistency, the traditions are almost set in stone and the process of the ceremony and the party are respected as they have been passed down from great grand parents to great-grandchildren, tradition is revered and respected.

Our country is a young one with a strong identity but alas a young personality, still trying to find its bearings, I understand until that happens things will keep moving, evolving and changing, but not traditions, our traditions have been passed down from our forefather, and here lies our dilemmas, who are these forefathers? Yes they are the Romans, the Ottomans, the Berbers and the Arabs.  We cannot deny the strong influence a long era of French-Algeria has had on our traditions and our way of life today either, in fact our current traditions were mostly set during the years that followed the occupation and until the independence.

Algerians seem to claim traditions from all over the world and call it their own because they practiced them once.  A nation has to learn to embrace the traditions of its ancestors, embracing new traditions from different cultures cannot be done on a whim of some socialite because she/he thinks it's on trend, if old customs start to gradually be replaced by new and unrelated ones, we will have nothing to transmit to our children and grandchildren.

Now, no longer that shy fifteen yar old gilr, I want to meet the women who started this Algerian wedding tradition which consists of 9 to 12 dress changes (one equally, if not more repulsive than the other) the 4 hours fashion show with tables of people who sit miserably waiting until the bride decides to come out between dress changes, waiting for their cakes before they defect or risk boredom induced psychosis

A traditional (in an unconventional way) Dz-Chick

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Title: Blind traditions - as per my father
The white wedding dress became popular after Queen Victoria wore a white gown at her wedding to Albert of Saxe-Coburg