محمد بن أبي شنب والمنهج الاستشراقي

Abstract

Because of this great nation statusand the paramount importance of its heritage, God sent qualified men who devoted themselves to serve and preserve it. They worked hard, their days and nights, to keep it alive through publication and investigation. They did not get bored or tired. Their main concern was to achieve the best interest and welfare of the nation. Mohamed Ben Abi Cheneb was one of them. Mohamed Ben Abi Cheneb was one of the Algerian personalities who lived during the period of the French colonization and were marked by its encyclopedic characteristics. He was a writer, a poet, a translator, a publisher and an investigator. However, being as a publisher and an investigator held the largest share of his efforts and time. He wrote numerous books as well as articles in various fields (literary, social and historic fields). It was mentioned by his contemporaries and historiographers that he was very intelligent, humble and reverent. In addition to Arabic, he mastered many languages. This helped him to learn from cultures of several civilizations and debated in their languages. However, French was the language of his studies, specialization and his association with orientalists chambers, at the level of institutions or individuals. This was the thing that led some researchers to describe him as an orientalism supporter while others denied that. However, other researchers have called for studying the legacy of the man more seriously. Between this and that, Mohamed Ben Abi Cheneb remains a personality who requires further research and care to be fair with him and give him his rightful position among the ranks of Arabic and non-Arabic writers and investigators.