Culture Shock in American Narratives of Berber Captivity: Attitudes from Algeria

The purpose of this article is to investigate cultural shock in American narratives of Berber captivity in Algeria. As a young and rising country, the United States of America began to cruise the Mediterranean area to build its economy and restart commercial links with Mediterranean ports. However, because the United States had no treaties with any of the North African governments, North African pirate ships began targeting American trade ships. From this perspective, the purpose of this research is to shed light on the experiences of American prisoners in Algeria and to attempt to comprehend the predicament of the families on a personal level for the captives. Cut off from their culture, the captives were completely at a loss because their host culture included different standards of cultural understanding such as religion, food, clothing, gender roles, and traditions. The captives refused to adapt to the host culture by rejecting these norms because, according to them, they threatened their identity.

Keywords: Berber captivity, American narratives, culture shock, Algeria, religion, orientalism