Hope and Disillusion. The Representations of Europe in Algerian and Tunisian Cultural Production about Undocumented Migration

Combining digital humanities, cultural studies and migration studies, this chapter analyses the depiction of Europe in Algerian and Tunisian cultural productions about undocumented migration. These cultural productions are used as gateway to imaginaries of migration and imaginative geography. Europe first appears as a fortress and a land that is especially hard to reach as well as a land where everything is possible: a land of freedom where one can succeed and be accomplished. However, Europe is not only the land of hope but also the land of disillusion. Cultural productions about undocumented migration sometimes portray the loneliness of migrants or the racism that they face. These works also speak of the economic hardships, as well as the fear of being expelled from this land that they risked so much to reach. Finally, the present chapter provides a constructive alternative to mechanistic approaches in migration and diaspora studies. We will analyze the different artistic strategies for expressing the agency of the harraga, that are rooted in their imagination, but still evolving in a specific political, social and economic context