INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Culture of Resistance: Between History, Memory, and the Imaginary

Bejaia, August 19–20, 2026

Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Soummam Conference 

 Organization, General Framework, and Context

The High Commission for Amazighity is organizing the international conference entitled “Culture of Resistance: Between History, Memory, and the Imaginary,” in coordination with the Ministry of Moudjahidine and Rights Holders, the National Commission for History and Memory, and the Directorate General of National Archives under the Presidency of the Republic, in partnership with the Wilaya of Béjaïa, the TECLANG Laboratory of M’Hamed Bougara University of Boumerdès, and the Algerian Scientific Association of Onomastics (SASO).

This scientific meeting is part of the commemorative activities marking the seventieth anniversary of the Soummam Congress (August 20, 1956 – August 20, 2026), which represents a pivotal milestone in the course of the Algerian Revolution and a decisive turning point in its political, military, and institutional organization, as well as in the establishment of the foundations of modern national consciousness.

The Soummam Conference was held from August 13 to 20, 1956, in the Soummam Valley. It contributed to structuring revolutionary action by defining political references, organizing leadership, consolidating national decision-making unity, and shaping resistance across various domains. This strengthened revolutionary cohesion and granted the Algerian cause clearer national and international dimensions. Consequently, the Conference became a foundational reference in collective memory—not merely as an organizational event, but as a pivotal moment in constructing a comprehensive political vision for liberation.
Holding the conference in the city of Bejaia carries special symbolic significance, given its historical and cultural depth in the national consciousness. This geographical choice transcends spatial considerations, evoking a symbolic context that reconnects the event with its human and geographical references and affirms continuity of meaning between past and present.

Within this framework, “Culture of Resistance” is approached as a concept extending beyond military action and political decision-making to encompass collective memory, the social imaginary, and the system of values, symbols, and narratives accompanying the liberation process. Resistance, from this perspective, is not merely a temporary confrontation, but a long-term cultural process that contributed to shaping national identity and collective awareness-an influence that continues to inform present representations and future visions.

Accordingly, the conference aims to reread the revolutionary experience through rigorous, critical, multidisciplinary approaches grounded in historical sources and testimonies as essential intellectual and human capital for understanding the past. It also seeks to open an academic space for dialogue on the political, cultural, and symbolic dimensions of resistance, strengthening the link between scientific research and memory responsibility, and contributing to the consolidation of a balanced historical awareness that situates the national experience within its emancipatory and civilizational dimensions.

Scientific Problematic

The conference is structured around the central question:
How does a culture of resistance take shape at the intersection of history, memory, and the imaginary, and how does it contribute to constructing collective identity within contexts of domination, colonialism, and their aftermath?

Culture of resistance is not reduced to a temporary reaction to forms of domination; rather, it is understood as a continuous process manifested in languages, oral and written narratives, literary and artistic productions, symbolic practices, and educational and cultural policies. It thus constitutes a field for understanding history and preserving memory.

From this perspective, the conference adopts a multidisciplinary approach bringing together history, literature, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, translation studies, and language didactics to deepen understanding of the interconnections between culture, memory, and identity.

The meeting aspires to serve as an international scientific forum gathering specialized researchers to address issues of memory, cultures of resistance, and imaginaries across different spatial and temporal contexts. Through a comparative lens, resistance is examined not merely as a historical event or political stance, but as a cultural and mnemonic construction expressed through languages, narratives, representations, and symbolic practices.

In this context, cultural productions become a space for affirming and sustaining historical continuity. Literature, languages, and the arts contribute to shaping a collective memory grounded in dignity and belonging. The theoretical framework of the conference draws on intellectual and literary references that conceive of creativity as a resistant cultural act-rearticulating identity and embodying memory in colonial and postcolonial contexts.

Thus, the concept of culture of resistance requires moving beyond a narrow, event-based understanding of resistance toward seeing it as a continuous historical and mnemonic trajectory. This opens reflection on how narratives of struggle, survival, and dignity are constructed, and on the role of languages, artistic productions, and symbolic representations in building sustainable collective memory.

Key questions include:

• How does culture become a space of resistance?
• How do history and memory interact in shaping narratives of resistance?
• What role does the collective imaginary play in transmitting and reproducing these narratives?
• How do literary, artistic, oral, and written expressions contribute to shaping shared memory?
• How does culture of resistance endure in contemporary contexts marked by globalization and technological transformations?

Scientific Objectives

The conference aims to establish an international academic space dedicated to studying cultures of resistance in their historical, mnemonic, and imaginary dimensions, and to provide renewed readings of the relationships between culture, memory, and identity.

Through multidisciplinary perspectives, it seeks to analyze diverse forms of resistance as manifested in literary, intellectual, and philosophical productions emerging in colonial and postcolonial contexts, uncovering symbolic and narrative mechanisms that shaped collective consciousness and representations of self and other.

Objectives include:

• Highlighting the role of the Soummam Conference in shaping collective resistance culture.

• Strengthening interdisciplinary dialogue on culture of resistance.

• Analyzing the dialectic of history, memory, and imaginary in collective awareness formation.

• Emphasizing the contribution of cultural productions to identity consolidation and national narratives.

• Developing a comparative approach with international and humanistic dimensions.

• Promoting cultural and memorial heritage as a driver of scientific research and intellectual renewal.

Conference Themes

Axis 1: The Soummam Conference – A Historical Study

*Historical contexts
*Internal and external transformations
*The unifying dimension of the Algerian state

Axis 2: Resistance – Definitions, Cross-Approaches, and Reconfiguration

*Cultural, linguistic, and onomastic resistances
*Resistance culture versus invasion culture
*Geographical and unifying dimensions

Axis 3: Literature of Resistance – Narrative, Sublimation, Politicization

*Historical periods and symbolic figures
*Diasporic influence
*Women’s writing, gender, tradition, modernity

 Axis 4: Orality and Writing

*Folktales, songs, oral poetry
*Heroic figures
*Comparative analyses

Axis 5: Resistance Culture, Imaginary, and Aesthetics

*Linguistic and stylistic innovation
*Myths and beliefs
*Literary translation challenges

Axis 6: Teaching and Learning Resistance Culture

*Language-culture didactics
*Writing history in national languages
*Educational policies and decolonization

Participation Requirements

Proposals must include:

• Paper title
• Full name
• Institutional affiliation
• Abstract (300 words)
• Five keywords

A short CV must be attached and sent to:

secretariat@hcamazighite.dz

Conference Languages

Arabic, Amazigh, French, English

Important Dates

Abstract submission deadline: May 1, 2026
Notification of acceptance: June 1, 2026
Final program: July 5, 2026
Conference dates: August 19–20, 2026

Conference Chair

Mr. Assad Si El Hachemi
Secretary-General of the High Commission for Amazighity

Scientific Committee

• Zghidi Lahcene, President of the National Committee for History and Memory, Chair of the Scientific Committee.
• Benramdane Farid, Professor of Higher Education and President of the Algerian Academy of Proper Names, Chair of the Scientific Committee.
• Lang Fafa Danfa, Executive Director of the Pan African Centre for Cultural and Linguistic Competence (PACCL), The Gambia, Member.
• Louloub Habib Hassan, President of the Association for Research and Studies on the Union of the Greater Maghreb, University of Carthage, Tunisia, Member.
• Maghdouri Hassan, Director of the National Museum of the Mujahid, Representative of the Ministry of Mujahideen and Rights Holders, Member.
• Medjahed Leila, Professor of Higher Education, Head of the TECLANG Research Laboratory, Mohamed Bougara University of Boumerdes, Member.
• Harrach Mohamed El Hadi, Professor of Higher Education, Abou El Kacem Saadallah University, Algiers, Member.
• Ziki Ali, Professor of Higher Education, Abou El Kacem Saadallah University, Algiers, Member.
• Outmani Settar, Professor of Higher Education, Abderrahmane Mira University, Bejaia, Member.
• Hamzaoui Mourad, Director of Mujahideen and Rights Holders of Bejaia Province, Representative of the Governor of Bejaia Province, Member.
• Kacimi Zine Eddine, University Professor, Akli Mohand Oulhadj University of Bouira, Member.