Rural and Urban Practices of Wearing a Female Head Covering in the Maghreb

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2022-4/83-100

Abstract

The article is devoted to women’s head covering practices in the Maghreb countries (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco). Head coverings are an essential part of women’s costume in North Africa. Their name, material of manufacture, color, design and method of production vary depending on the region and locality, which in turn makes this item a kind of visiting card of its owner. The author analyzes two vestimentary traditions that had developed by the end of the 19th century — urban (Arab) and rural (Berber). Despite the similar shape of veils used by women in the city and in the village, these were endowed with different symbolic meanings. In the 20th century, under the conditions of modernization and decolonization, rural and urban veils became meaningful in different contexts: for example, urban veils enjoyed greater prestige than rural ones, which resulted in them being perceived as national symbols of the new North African states, and rural veils’ use continued at the level of personal daily practices in the regions where they were originally used. The author aims to clarify the reason for such different life trajectories of the objects of one type.