Anthropological Explorations of French Travelers and Their Study of Epidemics in the Southwestern Algerian Region in the 19th Century AD

Abstract

This study addresses a set of explorations by French travelers in the southwestern Algerian region which combined social and health life in the region with a focus on their study of customs, traditions, epidemics and diseases that were widespread in the region. It highlights how these journeys combined a scientific and medical character on the one hand and colonial objectives on the other as French travelers and doctors sought to understand the social structure patterns of living and health habits of the local population.

The study also shows that the study of epidemics such as plague cholera and fever was not merely a medical concern but a tool for understanding society and controlling it as travelers linked the spread of diseases to the environment climate and cultural practices of the local population. The French occupation exploited the health situation to increase its intervention in the region.