Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Topic · History

North African History and Literature

North African History and Literature is a research topic within History. Science Explorer counts 5.9k research works in it since 1954. 16.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the complex legacy of French colonialism in North Africa, particularly focusing on Algeria. It delves into topics such as the Algerian War, colonial identity, postcolonial literature, North African history, decolonization, Berber culture, the French empire, colonial law, Amazigh activism, and memory studies.

  • Algerian War
  • Colonial Identity
  • Postcolonial Literature
  • North African History
  • Decolonization
  • Berber Culture
  • French Empire
  • Colonial Law
  • Amazigh Activism
  • Memory Studies
Research works
5.9k
fractional, since 1954
In the world top 10%
942
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+30%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead North African History and Literature research?

By volume, France and the United States publish the most (561 and 184 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 France 561 works
  2. 2 United States 184 works
  3. 3 Algeria 76 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 71 works
  5. 5 Canada 44 works
  6. 6 Morocco 42 works
  7. 7 ?? 38 works
  8. 8 Italy 32 works
  9. 9 Germany 27 works
  10. 10 Spain 24 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

France: 51.1%United States: 16.8%Algeria: 6.9%United Kingdom: 6.4%6 others listed: 18.7%51%largest
France561 · 51.1%United States184 · 16.8%Algeria76 · 6.9%United Kingdom71 · 6.4%6 others listed206 · 18.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead North African History and Literature research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Université Paris Nanterre publishes the most North African History and Literature research, followed by Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Université Paris NanterreFrance 18 works
  2. 2 Université Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneFrance 16 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 15 works
  4. 4 Aix-Marseille UniversitéFrance 15 works
  5. 5 Université Rennes 2France 13 works
  6. 6 École des hautes études en sciences socialesFrance 11 works
  7. 7 Institut d'Etudes Politiques de ParisFrance 10 works
  8. 8 Université Sorbonne NouvelleFrance 10 works
  9. 9 Sorbonne UniversitéFrance 9 works
  10. 10 Centre d’histoire de Sciences PoFrance 9 works

Who are the leading researchers in North African History and Literature?

The most-cited researchers publishing on North African History and Literature include Luis Martı́nez.

  1. 1 Luis Martı́nez Spain 1.6k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is North African History and Literature research done?

The largest centres of North African History and Literature research in 2022–2025 are Paris (France), Lyon (France), Nanterre (France) and Rennes (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Nanterre, Lyon and Rennes.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Paris France 205 works
  2. 2 Lyon France 37 works
  3. 3 Nanterre France 26 works
  4. 4 Rennes France 22 works
  5. 5 Montreal Canada 20 works
  6. 6 Marseille France 19 works
  7. 7 Nantes France 18 works
  8. 8 London United Kingdom 17 works
  9. 9 New York United States 16 works
  10. 10 Toulouse France 14 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. NanterreFR · 25.7 works65×
  2. LyonFR · 37.0 works30×
  3. RennesFR · 21.6 works26×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in North African History and Literature than the world average.

See North African History and Literature on the map

Where is the best place to study North African History and Literature?

Among universities, judged by research, Université Rennes 2, Université Paris Nanterre and Aix-Marseille Université score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 10.2857%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Université Rennes 2: 12, 29.0%Université Paris Nanterre: 18, 11.5%Aix-Marseille Université: 15, 9.8%Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne: 16, 11.2%Sorbonne Université: 9, 1.8%Université de Lille: 9, 3.1%Université Sorbonne Nouvelle: 10, 5.6%Université Rennes 2Université Paris Nan…Université Paris 1 P…Aix-Marseille Univer…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Université Rennes 2France 75.629.0%110.1×12 +132.2%
2 Université Paris NanterreFrance 67.311.5%65.1×18 +138.5%
3 Aix-Marseille UniversitéFrance 61.29.8%38.0×15 +78.0%
4 Université Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneFrance 58.411.2%74.2×16 +21.8%
5 Sorbonne UniversitéFrance 45.91.8%14.6×9 +149.1%
6 Université de LilleFrance 45.73.1%21.4×9 +312.3%
7 Université Sorbonne NouvelleFrance 38.25.6%63.0×10 +44.6%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is North African History and Literature research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 30% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are North African History and Literature.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.