Written by Lara Defterios
Hamid Cheriet, better known by his stage name Idir, was an internationally acclaimed Algerian singer from Aït Lahcène, located in the mountainous Kabyle region. He rose to fame entirely by accident in 1973, with a last-minute appearance on Radio Algiers with A Vava Inouva, sung in Berber. This lullaby, inspired by the traditional songs of his childhood, encapsulates the extent to which Idir’s cultural identity is bound up with his work. The Kabyle people, forming a branch of the North African region’s indigenous Amazigh or Berber populations, are a minority in Algeria. Born in 1949, Idir experienced the groups’ marginalisation by a postcolonial Algerian state, characterised by repression and Arabism. Settling in France after the Algerian War of Independence as a result, Idir would not perform in his homeland for 38 years. It appeared, then, somewhat ironic that upon his passing in 2020, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune made the heartfelt remarks quoted in this article’s title: “Algeria loses one of its monuments.” This article seeks to understand these dynamics, and reconcile Idir’s message of multiculturalism and peace with an evolving Algerian cultural and national identity.
In order to position Idir in the Algerian narrative discourse, it is necessary to examine his work as a reflection of his Kabyle heritage. The use of the Berber language and instruments was a key aspect of this. Cheriet’s stage name itself, Idir, meaning “He will live”, is a Kabyle name given to children born with sickness. Furthermore, inspired by the traditional melodies of older female singers in his community, and contemporaries like friend Lounes Matoub, Idir incorporated the shepherd flute, bendir, tambourine, and darbuka, into his music for global audiences to hear. This can be noted in one of Idir’s most famous songs, A Vava Inouva (“Little father”), a lullaby in Berber in which a daughter warns her father about an approaching ogre: “I fear the forest ogre Father Inouva / O Ghriba Girl I fear it too.” When the song was recorded in 1973, Idir reportedly paired flared jeans with the traditional Kabyle burnous. And in testament to the warmth of its message, it has been broadcast in 77 countries and translated into fifteen languages.
For Idir, the preservation of his indigenous heritage is an integral aspect of what it means to be Algerian. For Kabyle Berbers, whose traditions were increasingly marginalised by the state, Idir’s music shifted their perceptions to recognition and pride. More widely, though, it came to engender a vision for a united Algeria. The artist’s album Identités for example, released in 1999, featured collaborations with French, Spanish, Armenian, Ugandan, French, Raï and Scottish singers. This sentiment was mirrored in the Algerian diaspora, where A Vava Inouva for instance, produced a new nostalgia for the homeland they had been pushed to flee. In this way, Idir creates what Professor J.E. Goodman, terms cultural pathways: that is, here, the use of decolonisation, Kabyle traditions, and modern technology, to preserve indigenous culture. Anthropologist Jean-Loup Amselle, similarly, describes these processes of cultural identity formation pathways as branching interconnections. Indeed, sociologist Pierre Bourdieu recognises this unifying message which, combined with Idir’s calm and courageous constitution, had a lasting impact on the ordinary Algerian family.
Idir’s music was also poignant as a result of its political context of cultural erasure within Algeria. This can be traced back to French rule, where writers like Mouloud Mammeri, Mouloud Feraoun and Kateb Yacine had to employ French to preserve Amazigh culture. Frantz Fanon draws on this in his seminal work in postcolonial studies in Algeria, asserting, alongside mentor Aimé Césaire, the profound impact of colonialism on the erasure of African heritage. Over time however, the region saw a reclaiming of indigenous North African traditions in response to cultural erasure, which no doubt permeated Idir’s thinking. In 1962 for instance, Makerere University in Uganda hosted the Conference of African Writers. Its emphasis on indigenous language, for the first time, attempted to reconcile the expression of the creative and emotional self-hindered by the imposition of French and Arabic on local peoples. As Kabyle intellectual Jean Amrouche remarked, “I think and write in French, but I cry in Kabyle.” A remark by Idir to the UNESCO Courier vividly reflects this sentiment: “They give me an Algerian passport, but I have to get permission to speak my own language.” Furthermore, in 1969, the first Pan-African Cultural Festival was held in Algiers, with the participation of postcolonial thinkers Joseph Ki-Zerbo and René Depestre. In neighbouring Tunisia, French ethnographer Jean Duvignaud published a book and documentary about the heritage of indigenous Shebikans, hosting presentations attended by Idir’s contemporaries. Similarly, in preserving Kabyle traditions, Idir shifts perceptions of his heritage from one of erasure, to one of value.
The Berber population was also subject to linguistic and cultural repression by the postcolonial Algerian state after the Algerian War of Independence, ending in 1962. Despite this, Idir strikes a delicate balance between resistance and apoliticism in his work. The aftermath of Algerian independence saw further consolidation of power by an Arabist Algerian state, and the resettlement of the Kabyle population in France, including Idir. Resultant tensions with the country’s Berber population came to a head in 1980, when a conference in Tizi-Ouzou by writer Mouloud Mammeri on ancient Kabyle poetry was cancelled by the authorities. The incident triggered what became known as the Berber Uprising, which foregrounded the Berber Cultural Movement. 2001 saw a particular resurgence of political violence towards the Kabyle people during what became known as the Black Spring, where the death of a 19-year-old Kabyle student saw 200 killed and 5000 injured. Idir did not hesitate to comment on this: “Political singer? No. But politically engaged? Yes. I’m a child of the Algerian revolution of independence.” In 2001, in fact, his concert at Le Zenith, Paris, raised support for the Kabyle region. However, his lyrics emphasised power through cultural heritage, as opposed to a direct critique of the Algerian government. Because Kabyle storytelling is rooted in oral tradition, Idir had an unwavering faith in the power of poetry to overcome political conflict and upheaval. In a 2009 interview, he cited 18th– century Kabyle poet Si Mohand, whose verses are still remembered and transmitted without writing today. In this way, Idir’s artistic medium and intentional use of the Kabyle language are acts of resistance and faith in a contemporary Algeria that continues to erase Berber heritage.
And indeed, when engaging in a political message, Idir promotes multiculturalism and tolerance. This is not without a note of melancholy and nostalgia for his homeland, fostered in a community of the Algerian diaspora in France. Idir’s vision for the future is a decidedly peaceful one: his work does not engage with activism for the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), or the political climate in Algeria that he finds “explosive.” He is also opposed to the Arabisation, and Islamisation, of the Algerian state, and an advocate for its freedom and diversity of language, heritage, and ethnicity. His 1993 album, Les chasseurs de Lumières, “Light Hunters”, reflects these themes of liberty and peace in exile during turmoil and political unrest at home. A 1995 collaboration with Raï Cheb Khaled, similarly, conveyed this yearning for tolerance between Berbers and Algerians. Towards the end of his life, this messaging appeared more hopeful, when, in 2018, Idir performed at a concert in Algiers for the first time in 38 years, in honour of the Berber New Year. Thus, years after his passing, his humanism and extraordinary efforts in the preservation of his indigenous heritage are recognised today.
Ultimately, Idir’s work provides a crucial insight into contemporary Algeria’s relationship with its history and cultural identity. Put this way, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was very much correct when he described the Berber poet as a “monument” of Algeria. There remained a disconnect, however, between the postcolonial Algerian state, and the diversity of identities subject to cultural erasure within it. As seen here, it is an example of a nationalism that continues to grapple with imperial legacies and its narrative discourses regarding its ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity. For Idir, Kabyle heritage is not incompatible with a modern Algerian nation and ought to be revalorised, despite its marginalisation by the state. These tensions help to explain why the artist remarked that, while living in exile, he was “being killed by the small fires of not being able to sing in his own country”. Idir’s work, in response, preserves Amazigh culture and heritage for future generations, providing a powerful and timely message on tolerance and multiculturalism. It is fitting to conclude with his message of hope with peaceful protests he witnessed in 2019: “I admit that these moments were like a breath of fresh air,” he added. “And since I have pulmonary fibrosis, I know what I’m talking about.”
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Identity Hunters 