This book provides an analysis of issues of gender in
beur (French-born people of North African descent)
literary texts and films, its basic contention being
that gender is a crucial element in the construction
of beur identity. Focusing on the literary and
cinematic devices adopted in order to describe and
define beur female identity, this study shows how the
texts under examination provide effective
reinterpretations of Western texts and canons that
would be impossible without a deep knowledge of the
originals. The use and reinterpretation of
autobiographical narration, fictional narration in
the third person, multivocal and polyphonic
narration, prove that beur literary texts can be
inscribed à plein titre within the Western literary
tradition. A similar approach is adopted for cinema,
stressing the elements of continuity that tie beur
films to the colonial production as well as to the
postcolonial non-mainstream productionof the second
half of 20th century.
beur (French-born people of North African descent)
literary texts and films, its basic contention being
that gender is a crucial element in the construction
of beur identity. Focusing on the literary and
cinematic devices adopted in order to describe and
define beur female identity, this study shows how the
texts under examination provide effective
reinterpretations of Western texts and canons that
would be impossible without a deep knowledge of the
originals. The use and reinterpretation of
autobiographical narration, fictional narration in
the third person, multivocal and polyphonic
narration, prove that beur literary texts can be
inscribed à plein titre within the Western literary
tradition. A similar approach is adopted for cinema,
stressing the elements of continuity that tie beur
films to the colonial production as well as to the
postcolonial non-mainstream productionof the second
half of 20th century.