Charlie Hebdo: The Politics of French Identity & Exclusion

On January 7th, 2015, two gunmen attacked the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Later identified as two French brothers of Algerian descent linked to Al-Qaeda, the shooting was perceived as a targeted and deliberate attack on the freedom of speech. Millions throughout the world declared Je suis Charlie, in solidarity with the victims and in defense of free speech. Critics argued back and forth over whether Charlie Hebdo\u27s right to free speech is in fact absolute, or if it\u27s content could be considered hate speech. This thesis offers an alternative angle to this discourse, and that is a discussion on the narratives of French identity at play within the Je suis Charlie movement. What did it mean to declare oneself Charlie? Who was not Charlie, and why? These are the questions I seek to answer in my thesis by placing the event within the historical context of French Enlightenment, Revolution, and colonialism