PROJECT OF ENGINEER F.-E. ROUDAIRE ON THE CREATION OF THE INNER SEA IN ALGERIA AND TUNISIA: HOW THE IMPERIAL AMBITIONS CORRELATED TO THE PRACTICE OF CONQUERING IMPERIAL SPACE

He article is devoted to the study of the French imperial discourse of the last third of the XIX century in correlation with the imperial space. The special role of the imperial discourse in the representation and organization of North African space is emphasized. We used the following sources: first, the article "The Inland Sea in Algeria" by the French engineer, geographer, and topographer F.-E. Roudaire, published in 1874, as well as his reports to government commissions. These sources are irst introduced into the scientiic circulation in Russian historiography. The texts of F.-E. Roudaire will be regarded as an integral part of the imperial discourse, which is inseparable from the imperial space. The interrelation of F.-E. Roudaire 's ideas with the ideas of the French civilization mission, the economic feasibility of colonization, and the political necessity of colonization popular among French propagandists will be studied. The texts of F.-E. Roudaire help understand how imperial ambitions were connected with the scientiic practices, and the discourse of imperialism with the space of the empire. Special attention is paid to the representation of the Chott Basin (salty drying lakes), where the inland sea was planned. The Chotts were presented to readers as a "hostile" space. According to the author of the project, it was necessary to soften and civilize the Chotts. It was possible to do this through their complete transformation. F.-E. Roudaire believed that the inland sea in place of the Chots would improve the climate, open up new trade routes, enhance the prestige of France and prevent the threat of militant tribal rebellions. The Inland Sea project would have entailed a transformation of the natural spatial environment and historical landscapes, with the consequent appropriation of this space by Europeans, but it has never been implemented. Nevertheless, F.-E. Roudaire's ideas illustrate how engineers, scientists used and constructed the discourse of imperialism, contributed to the formation of colonial ideology, and the "hostile" space of the empire helped them justify the idea of European domination.

imperial space, imperial discourse, project of the inner sea, Chott Basin, F.-E. Roudaire, French Colonies, Algeria, Tunisia

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