FREN 133 CM - The Beur Question in Films and Texts

Over the last thirty years a new generation of French citizens has emerged. These are young people of French and North African descent, commonly known as beur. Many have grown up in France, in the working class suburbs, or banlieues, of Paris and other major cities, where their immigrant parents worked side by side with the “white” French working class. Many young beur, however, have little relationship to Algeria, Morocco, or Tunisia. Indeed, many know little of their family’s culture and language, and feel more at “home” in France, though with daily discrimination they are always reminded that they are not really “French.” To resolve the physical, psychological and existential pain, some beur attempt to return “home” while others desperately attempt to assimilate into an increasingly hostile culture. Their predicament, the situation of this population is both a modern and peculiarly late modern French one. In this course we will examine the situation of the beur-and an important part entails scrutiny of this epithet and what it means for “identity” through texts and films. The texts will draw on recent political and social commentary on religion (the veil) and culture and we will also read literary texts, by recent novelists. The films will engage a range of topics, such as exile and terrorism, all within the context of the beur experience.

Offered: Every other year

Credit: 1

Course Number: FREN133 CM