Language, space and identity (re)construction in the works of Mehdi Charef, Tony Gatlif and Farid Boudjellal

My dissertation critically assesses the evolution of Beur productions (1980s - 21st century) with reference to the socio-cultural and economic conditions of their development. I am interested in identity (re)construction in the work of three Algerian origin artists in France: Mehdi Charef, Tony Gatlif and Farid Boudjellal. I examine texts and films like Le thé au Harem d’Archi Ahmed (1983), Petit Polio (1999), Je suis né d’une cigogne (1999) and Exils (2004). My interest lies in analyzing the impact that these “minor” artists and their chosen art genres have on mainstream cultural productions. Besides focusing on the second generation immigrants in France (the Beurs), the authors challenge also the canonical “Frenchness” or “Europeanness” beyond borders, thus promoting the concept of cultural hybridity. I argue that constant displacement, change of political, social and cultural contexts have significantly transformed the dynamics between the center and the periphery. Furthermore, I provide evidence that “French” identity has undergone a continuous transformation over time and has become a substantially diverse and lively construct. I stand for a new approach to the fixed French identities, one that includes a pluriethnic and multilingual francophone body, and for a redefinition of cultural boundaries reshaping the relationship between self and otherness. My thesis has two major sections (language and space) divided respectively into four chapters. The first two chapters look at different ways in which the Franco-Maghrebi literature and cinema forge new ways of expression within French language and culture. The first chapter is mainly focused on the importance of mastering French by the Beur artists, while in the second chapter I insist on more elaborate stylistic dimensions such as postcolonial irony in the given texts. The last two chapters critically analyze how the artistic productions of Charef, Gatlif and Boudjellal situate themselves in the French socio-cultural context by trespassing borders of a cultural, literary, linguistic and geographical order. This multiple border crossing leads to a movement of these texts to different locations within the main culture. At the esthetic level, this movement between different borders promotes the innovation and the creativity that the Beur artists bring to France.Ph