Orientalism and Colonization in Algeria: René Basset and his Archives

René Basset dedicated his life to the University of Algiers, becoming one of the greatest specialists in Arabic and Berber languages of his time. His personal and academic correspondence, meticulously preserved by EHESS since 2014, forms the heart of this event at BULAC. These letters reveal the reality of a researcher whose science was forged on the colonial terrain, between academic rigor and political stakes. From January 5th to March 1st, 2026, the public will have access to rare documentation that sheds light on the close links between scholarship and colonial administration. It is a unique opportunity to analyze how history is constructed through the intimate archives of a man at the heart of the Algerian system.