Cultural memory and amnesia: the Algerian War and ‘second-generation’ immigrant literature in France

Hiddleston, Jane

doi:https://doi.org/10.3828/jrs.3.1.59

Hiddleston, Jane

Journal of Romance Studies (2003), 3, (1), 59–71.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/jrs.3.1.59
Language: English
Pages: 13

Abstract

This article analyses the complex ways in which memories of the Algerian war resurface in literary texts by ‘second-generation’ immigrants in France. Taking as a starting point recent discussions of the difference between ‘history’ and ‘collective memory’, I examine how recollections of the Algerian war complicate both of these terms. While the ‘history’ of the war was subjected to censorship and distortion, the memories recurring in the work of the ‘second-generation’ immigrants Leïla Sebbar and Mehdi Charef do not consist of a coherent testimony but of a series of partial, spectral traces. Furthermore, myths of collective identification are unsettled and undone, since both writers emphasize the singularity and isolation of immigrant memories, and their dissociation from myths of community. Finally, I conclude by questioning this focus on the irreducibly intimate or personal sphere, drawing attention to the problematic implications of political disengagement and suggesting that memory should be conceived as a complex conjunction of the singular and the collective.

FormatArticle

£25.00

READ THIS ARTICLE

If you have private access to this content, please log in with your username and password here

Alloula, Malek (1986) The Colonial Harem, trans. Myrna Godzich and Wlad Godzich (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press). The Colonial Harem Google Scholar

Barthes, Roland (1980) La Chambre claire: note sur la photographie (Paris: Seuil). La Chambre claire: note sur la photographie Google Scholar

Barthes, Roland (1993) Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography, trans. Richard Howard (London: Vintage). Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography Google Scholar

Begag, Azouz (1997) Dis Oualla! (Paris: Fayard). Dis Oualla! Google Scholar

Boyarin, Jonathan (1994) ‘Space, time and the politics of memory’, in Remapping Memory: The Politics of Timespace (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press), 1–37. Space, time and the politics of memory Remapping Memory: The Politics of Timespace 1 37 Google Scholar

Charef, Mehdi (1989) Le Harki de Mériem (Paris: Mercure de France). Le Harki de Mériem Google Scholar

Charef, Mehdi (1999) La Maison d’Alexina (Paris: Mercure de France). La Maison d’Alexina Google Scholar

Derrida, Jacques (1994a) Spectres de Marx: l’état de la dette, le travail du deuil et la nouvelle Internationale (Paris: Galilée). Spectres de Marx: l’état de la dette, le travail du deuil et la nouvelle Internationale Google Scholar

Derrida, Jacques (1994b) Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International, trans. Peggy Kamuf (New York and London: Routledge). Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International Google Scholar

Halbwachs, Maurice (1950) La Mémoire collective (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France). La Mémoire collective Google Scholar

Hiddleston, Jane (2001) ‘Deux écrivains entre la mémoire et l’oubli: entretiens avec Leïla Sebbar et Azouz Begag’, ASCALF Bulletin 22 (Spring-Summer), 6–29. Deux écrivains entre la mémoire et l’oubli: entretiens avec Leïla Sebbar et Azouz Begag ASCALF Bulletin 22 6 29 Google Scholar

Hirsch, Marianne (1997) Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press). Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory Google Scholar

Nora, Pierre (1984) ‘Entre mémoire et histoire: la problématique des lieux’, Les Lieux de mémoire, 3 vols, ed. Pierre Nora (Paris: Gallimard), xvii-xlii. Entre mémoire et histoire: la problématique des lieux Les Lieux de mémoire Google Scholar

Nora, Pierre (1996) The Realms of Memory, 2 vols, ed. Lawrence D. Kritzman, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (New York: Colombia University Press). The Realms of Memory Google Scholar

Pomian, Krzysztof (1999) Sur l’histoire (Paris: Gallimard). Sur l’histoire Google Scholar

Sebbar, Leïla (1982) Shérazade, 17 ans, brune, les yeux verts (Paris: Stock). Shérazade, 17 ans, brune, les yeux verts Google Scholar

Sebbar, Leïla (1984) Le Chinois vert d’Afrique (Paris: Stock). Le Chinois vert d’Afrique Google Scholar

Sebbar, Leïla (1992) ‘La photographie’, in Nouvelles de la guerre d’Algérie: 30 ans après (Paris: Le Monde Éditions), 106–13. La photographie Nouvelles de la guerre d’Algérie: 30 ans après 106 13 Google Scholar

Sebbar, Leïla (1996) La Jeune Fille au balcon (Paris: Seuil). La Jeune Fille au balcon Google Scholar

Sebbar, Leïla (1997a) Le Baiser (Paris: Hachette). Le Baiser Google Scholar

Sebbar, Leïla (1997b) ‘On tue les instituteurs’, in Une enfance algérienne (Paris: Gallimard), 187–98. On tue les instituteurs Une enfance algérienne 187 98 Google Scholar

Sebbar, Leïla (1999a) La Seine était rouge (Paris: Éditions Thierry Maghier). La Seine était rouge Google Scholar

Sebbar, Leïla (1999b) Soldats (Paris: Seuil). Soldats Google Scholar

Stora, Benjamin (1991) La Gangrène et l’oubli: la mémoire de la guerre d’Algérie (Paris: La Découverte). La Gangrène et l’oubli: la mémoire de la guerre d’Algérie Google Scholar

Stora, Benjamin (1992) ‘La guerre en librairie (1955–62)’, in La France en guerre d’Algérie, novembre 1954–juillet 1962, ed. Laurent Gervereau, Jean-Pierre Rioux, Benjamin Stora (catalogue of exhibition at Hôtel des Invalides, 4 April-28 June), 237–9. La guerre en librairie (1955–62) La France en guerre d’Algérie, novembre 1954–juillet 1962 237 9 Google Scholar

Stora, Benjamin (1997) Imaginaires de la guerre: Algérie, Viêt-nam en France et aux États Unis (Paris: La Découverte). Imaginaires de la guerre: Algérie, Viêt-nam en France et aux États Unis Google Scholar