Zineb Sedira in Africultures

Africultures profiled the work of Zineb Sedira today in an excellent article, "Zineb Sedira: Mémoire vive" by Julie Crenn. I had the honor of meeting Zineb in January at the France-Algeria: Visualising a (Post-) Colonial Relationship conference in Manchester, UK. Her 2003 works "Mother, Father, and I" and "Retelling Histories" merge family and national histories (and painful testimonials) tracked through multi-media installations.


I plan to analyze Sedira's project alongside Leïla Sebbar's Mes Algéries en France and subsequent visual texts. As Crenn says of Sedira, and as I've written about Sebbar:
Sedira procède à des allers retours dans ce vaste patrimoine qui est le sien. En exil, l'artiste se cherche, jusqu'à revenir en Algérie en 2002. Un retour aux sources inévitable et nécessaire, après quinze années d'absence. Depuis, les paysages de son pays d'origine et les Algériens sont les sujets récurrents de son œuvre.
This aller-retour is at the heart of my work on repetition in return narratives. While many pieces of Pied-Noir written returns are primarily an "aller simple," what happens when the memory is brought back again and again through the visual? The upcoming exposition in Manchester based on the "North to North" project reworks the same idea. Check out New Cartographies: Algeria-France-UK in which Zineb Sedira will be a featured artist in 2011.

Pieds-Noirs and winemaking in Médoc

If you love French wine and the Pieds-Noirs as I do, you may enjoy this lovely review of Adrien Tramier's Château Saint Saturnin Cru Bourgeois wine from Jancis Robinson.com. I quote Tramier's biographical information below:

Tramier landed in Marseille from Algeria in 1964 and went initially to study in Montpellier, where his sister lived. He came to Bordeaux to look at a possible little wine property in the far east of the Entre-Deux-Mers region that a fellow pied noir, a lawyer, had found for him but threw dice for it with another potential buyer and lost. Further pied noir contacts found him three hectares of vines in Begadan (he now has 37 around this village and the next), which he worked half and half with the previous owner to begin with. By 1975 he had established his very particular way of working but, he added wistfully, 'I'll never be integrated here. I'd like to return to Algeria one day, and I wouldn't view it through the eyes of today but with all my childhood memories. I'm ill at ease here.'


Next time I have the privilege of staying in Maubuisson, I plan to call it a research trip and trek up to the town of Bégadan in Haut-Médoc to meet Mr. Tramier and hopefully do some wine tasting.

Jean-Jacques Jordi

I have long been thankful for the works of Jean-Jacques Jordi, a Pied Noir who writes about the migration of the Pieds Noirs from Algeria to France. On my desk (exactly as pictured on the right), I keep a copy of 1962: l'arrivée des Pieds-Noirs within arm's reach. Today he was featured in Sud Ouest in an article entitled "L'apport des pieds-noirs" which highlights the diverse roots of the Français d'Algérie and France's efforts to "franciser" Algeria. He also explains that the Pieds-Noirs arrived in France during Les Trente Glorieuses and were able to participate in the urbanization of France. (As it happens, Algeria was more modern than France in many respects in the 1950s and early 1960s. See René Domergue's L'Intégration des Pieds-Noirs dans les villages du Midi, L'Harmattan, 2005, for a detailed description of the tensions this caused.) Jordi explains that the newly arrived Pieds-Noirs were clamoring for better sewer systems and telephone lines when they arrived in France.

Jordi will be participating in a debate tonight from 5-7 p.m. in Pessac, France, if you happen to be in the area.

Algerian War Testimonials

France-Info, Les Arènes publishing, Le Nouvel Observateur, El Wattan, and FNACA are working together to collect testimonials of the Algerian War for the 50th anniversary of the war's end in 2012. You can contribute to their forum if:

"Vous étiez Algérien, Français de métropole ou d’Algérie. Entre 1954 et 1962, vous avez été appelé ou militaire d’active, vous étiez harki dans les rangs de l’armée française, vous avez milité pour le FLN, vous avez participé aux combats de l’ALN, vous étiez activiste de l’OAS ou militant contre la guerre."

They are also seeking scanned documents such as personal diaries, notebooks and photos to contribute to their online collection.

You can read some of the collected memories on the France-Info site discussion at http://www.france-info.com/forums-2010-10-21-guerre-d-algerie-vos-temoignages-492389-193-193.html

French ambassador "ignores" Pied-Noir attempts to reclaim belongings

In a fine example of not very good translation, Echorouk Online reports that the French ambassador to Algeria said, "I ignore Pieds-Noirs attempt to claim their belongings in Algeria." He more likely said "J'ignore..." because the story goes on to say that Ambassador Xavier Driencourt "has no idea" about such efforts.

The Ambassador also said, "The Pieds-Noirs come back to Algeria because of nostalgia especially that they receive a wonderful welcome" and that French and Algerian associations have been working together to create a meeting of Algerian and French war veterans.

I look forward to the follow up on that meeting.

Pieds Noirs du Littoral, souvenir

This item keeps appearing on Ebay and is repeatedly picked up by my Google Alert for "Pieds Noirs." I've emailed the seller about its origin, but still know nothing about it. The pin, "Pieds Noirs du Littoral Catalan" is selling for $6.25 USD if you're interested: I'd just like to know its background. Any guesses?

Retour des Pieds-Noirs

Encore un documentaire sur le retour des Pieds-Noirs en Algérie. À noter, vers 3m22s, les Pieds-Noirs parmi les ruines.

Macias in Montreal

I'm reposting below an article from the Montreal Gazette that brings together several of my interests: Les Pieds-Noirs, Quebec, and transporting Pied-Noir culture.

Macias brings Arab-Andalusian music to Quebec fest

 

 

By Kevin Dougherty, Montreal Gazette July 9, 2010

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Macias+brings+Arab+Andalusian+music+Quebec+fest/3257082/story.html#ixzz0unVZRWLt



QUEBEC - Enrico Macias was born into a Jewish family in Algeria and left almost 50 years ago, near the end of Algeria's war for independence.
But even though he has never been back to Algeria and has a French passport, Macias will put on a show of classical Arab-Andalusian music Saturday at Quebec City's Festival d'été.
"We had to leave, against our will," Macias told reporters Friday. "Because of history."
Macias built a career in France as a popular singer, although much of his popular repertoire recalls the exile from Algeria of the "pieds noirs," Europeans and others, such as himself, who left Algeria and consider themselves exiles.
"I have always been faithful to Algeria because it is my native land," he said.
The roots of Arab-Andalusian music in the Maghreb region of North Africa are in the Spanish Andalusia, where he recalled Christians, Jews and Muslims lived in "perfect harmony" until the advent of "Isabella the Catholic."
The marriage in the late 15th century of Isabella of Castile to Ferdinand II of Aragón created Spain and ended that harmony, leading to the persecution and expulsion from Spain of Muslims and Jews.
Macias will be backed up by seven musicians, including a flute player and percussionist from Algeria.
He described the Arab-Andalusian repertoire as "10,000 hours of music" that is transmitted orally, not in written form.
"I know it all by heart," he said.
kdougherty@thegazette.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Elisabeth Fechner: Là-bas, la France

I'm finishing edits for a forthcoming publication and am still unable to find a biography for Elisabeth Fechner. Readers, if you happen to know about her, please do contact me. Calmann-Lévy has yet to answer my queries. Today, however, I found one of her texts Là-bas, La France (2003) profiled on ina.fr.

retrouver ce média sur www.ina.fr

Sans valise ni cercueil, Les pieds-noirs restés en Algérie

Cette vidéo présente un entretien avec un homme d'Oran qui est resté en Algérie après l'indépendance, le 14 juillet 1962.

Selon l'oeuvre de Jean-Jacques VIALA, Pieds-Noirs en Algérie après l'indépendance: une expérience socialiste (Harmattan, 2001), "... ceux qui ont essayé de rester ont été chassés d'une manière ou d'une autre, le cas le plus net étant la nationalisation des terres décidée par Ben Bella en 1963" (7). Le projet de Viala est de regrouper les témoignages des Français d'Algérie qui ont tenté de devenir Algériens. En ce qui concerne ma recherche et mon travail avec la littérature des Pieds-Noirs, est-ce qu'on peut être Pied-Noir si on n'a pas quitté l'Algérie?

Film source: ina.fr

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Hors la loi and Marie Cardinal's Les Pieds Noirs (1988)

Rachid Bouchareb's new film Hors la loi has caused a great polemic among the Pied-Noir community and, according to Le Monde, has started a new war of Algerian Memories ("France-Algerie: réconcilier les mémoires?" May 20, 2010). Groups of Pieds-Noirs demonstrated at the showing at Cannes (Le Point.fr "Des pieds-noirs manifestent dans le calme lors de la projection du 'Hors la loi" de Bouchareb' May 21, 2010), and the debate continues on blogs, facebook, and listservs for the Pied-Noir community.

Hors la loi opens with the Sétif Massacres on May 8, 1945 which became an uprising between the Algerians and Europeans until the French Army repressed the Algerians throughout the region. The number of dead has been a subject of great debate. Marc Mora, not having seen the film like most involved in the debate, wrote an interesting reaction "Merci au film Hors la Loi, Merci à Rachid Bouchareb" in which he states, "c’est grâce à Hors-la-loi et à Rachid Bouchareb qu’on commence à donner la parole, non pas à des Pieds-Noirs comme vous et moi, il ne faudrait tout de même pas exagérer dans l’audace, mais à ce qu’on appelle en jargon marketing des « leaders d’opinion..." According to the article in Le Point, Bouchareb has declared, "Hors la loi est un film de fiction."

The debate has tied many aspects of my research on Pied-Noir literature and history together. I am currently working on aspects of Marie Cardinal's Les Pieds-Noirs (Belfond, 1988) for my presentation at Women in French, "Envisioning Algeria, Ruining the Past"which will take place June 11, Wagner College, Staten Island, New York. Cardinal's text, written with other Pieds-Noirs to visually represent the community as a collective autobiography, dedicates two pages to the Sétif uprisings. I cite the entire commentary:

Tandis que la Chartes des Nations Unies s'élabore à San Francisco en avril 1945, un vent de nationalisme soulève le monde arabe. En Algérie, certains croient aux promesses d'émancipation. Déjà, le 1er mai, des Musulmans ont défilé à Alger, Oran, Bougie, Guelma. Des incidents ont éclaté. Le 8, on célèbre la signature de l'Armistice, des cortèges se forment, qui se rendent au monument aux Morts. A Sétif, le drapeau algérien est déployé, on scande des slogans d'indépendance. Bousculades. Heurts. Echange de coups de feu avec la police. Les  manifestants attaquent les Européens: violences et meurtres. Le soulèvement gagne les campagnes à Lafayette, Chevreul, Kerrata, Oued Marsa. Au soir du 9 mai, on compte plus de 100 morts et 250 blessés européens. L'armée organise les opérations de répression: 15 000 morts selon le général Tubert qui préside la commission d'enquête envoyée par le gouverneur général Chataigneau.

Mai 1945 dans le Constantinois est une date cruciale en Algérie. Rien ne sera plus comme avant.

(Les Pieds-Noirs p. 227)

The six included images are the following:
1. Maison d'Européens incendiée
2. Une réaction de défense à Sétif
3. En mai 1945, dans une mechta du Constantinois
4. Reddition dans les gorges de Kerrata
5. La soumission des communes de Oued Marsa et de Djidjelli
6. Des douars dissidents se soumettent

 

Qu'est-ce qu'un Pied-Noir

Subject of much debate and myth: What is a Pied-Noir? This was a big chunk of my presentation "How the Pieds-Noirs Remember Algeria" at Truman State University, Kirksville, MO in March. It was also a fascinating part of Alek Toumi's talk at NeMLA last week, “Albert Camus: ‘Nostalg(ér)ies’ d’hier et d’aujourd’hui.” After our discussion of all the different colored feet one may have, I sent Alek the following definition of Faux Pieds-Noirs found on the Jeune Pied-Noir website:

• Les faux pieds-noirs  Petite minorité très influente, notamment dans les médias et le monde des Arts, de natifs d'Afrique du Nord d'origine européenne ou juive qui rejettent leur communauté d'origine et l'oeuvre de la France en Algérie. Selon leurs tendances politiques, ils sont qualifiés de pieds-rouges, pieds-verts, pieds-roses, pieds-gris, etc... Il existe aussi maintenant une petite minorité d'enfants de Harkis-rouges, roses, verts, gris... principalement des filles, qui jouent aussi ce rôle en reprochant à la France d'avoir "colonisé" l'Algérie, tout en oubliant que les Arabes sont aussi des colonisateurs venus tout simplement en Afrique du Nord, alors chrétienne, 13 siècles plus tôt ! La plupart se qualifient eux mêmes de "gauche" ou "progressistes". Ils se reconnaissent facilement par leur position "anticolonialiste". 

On the other hand, a Jeune Pied Noir (or Pied-Noir according to Jeune Pied-Noir) has a political yet broad definition:

• Définition Jeune Pied-Noir  Toute personne solidaire de la juste cause des Français d'AFN et des victimes françaises de la décolonisation. On peut être pied-noir de naissance, par héritage, par le coeur, par l'esprit et aussi pied-noir d'honneur par les actions menées en faveur de la communauté des Français rapatriés. 

All of this gets back to the same question of who gets to define the group and why. Alek Toumi made the point quite well in his talk that there are many types of Pieds-Noirs, and I would add, many Algerias for those who lived and live there. Boiling it down to one version does not do reality (or even memory) justice.

pieds-noirs, mythes et origines

My Contemporary French Literature students just completed Un aller simple by Didier Van Cauwelaert, a novel which offers an intriguing approach to the questions of national identity, written homelands, nostalgia for the past, and the myths and fictions we create about ourselves. I have always appreciated the novel for the interesting counterpoint it offers to the writings of the Pieds-Noirs and the multiple myths of their pasts. The first of these myths pertains to the term "pied-noir" and its origins (consider Aziz and his name coming from the Ami 6). This site http://www.francparler.com/syntagme.php?id=337 gives an overview of the primary sources of the term. As Marie Cardinal says it, however, they were never Pieds-Noirs until they arrived in France. First an insult and eventually a badge of honor.

NeMLA: Between Present and Past

If you happen to be in the Montreal area April 9-11, consider attending my panels, Between Present and Past: Nostalgia in French Literature I and II, at the Northeast Modern Language Association annual conference. The schedules are as follows:

Saturday, April 10, 3:15-4:45 p.m.
Hotel Hilton Bonaventure, 13.15 Salon H
Between Present and Past: Nostalgia in Francophone Literature I
Chair: Magali Compan, College of William and Mary

• “Albert Camus: ‘Nostalg(ér)ies’ d’hier et d’aujourd’hui” Alek Toumi, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
• “Rewriting Ruins: Deconstructing the ‘Nostalgeric’ Attachment to the Homeland” Amy Hubbell, Kansas State University
• “Sur ma mère de Tahar Ben Jelloun: une expérience de la nostalgie” Mena Marotta, Università di Salerno and University of Maryland

 
Sunday, April 11, 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.Hotel Hilton Bonaventure, 17.12 Salon E
Between Present and Past: Nostalgia in Francophone Literature II
Chair: Amy Hubbell, Kansas State University

• “Créolité: the Reaffirmation of Repressed Cultural Identity or Fabricated Nostalgia?” Sam Coombes, University of Edinburgh
• “Memories and Constructions of Brotherhood in Le dernier frère by Natacha Appanah” Magali Compan, College of William and Mary
• “Nostalgies de comptoir? India and Nostalgia in French Literature” Corinne François-Denève, University of Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
• “Moi, Jeanne Castille de Louisiane, and the Other Within” Monika Giacoppe, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Now back to writing my paper as I continue to struggle with ruins and how they destabilize nostalgia.

National Holocaust Museum

The expression of trauma for the Pieds-Noirs always seems to fall back to the trauma of the Holocaust, and perhaps Pied-Noir trauma pales in comparison. The foundational research on trauma, however, is the same. I am currently using Dylan Trigg's ideas on ruins as he analyzes the holocaust survivor's return to the camps and their impossible expression of being there, both before and again during the return. This photo is of an Eisenhower quote engraved on the outside wall of the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. (photo taken as "snowmageddon" was getting underway in February 2010).

France - Algeria: Visualising a (Post-)Colonial Relationship (via the UK)

We have just returned from a 10 day tour of the UK on our pilgrimage to the "Visualising the Franco-Algerian Relationship since 1954" conference at the University of Manchester and to some places of Doug's ancestors' pasts. I heartily thank Joe McGonagle and Ed Welch for inviting me to participate in this enriching day of study. Although the weather (which was apparently the most snow Britain had seen in 30 years) left some would-be participants stranded, the conference was well attended and my co-presenters gave great talks. My paper, “(Re)turning to Ruins: Pied-Noir Visual Returns to Algeria” went a bit long thanks to my technological endeavors, but I enjoyed writing and delivering the talk and realize I have more to write as I continue to struggle with Dylan Trigg's ideas on ruins in conjunction with my work on nostalgia.

Zineb Sedira was in attendance -- she's a friend of Nadira Laggoune who presented on contemporary Algerian art. Zineb, an internationally respected artist (mostly video and photo), enlightened my perspective on numerous issues related to the Français d'Algérie, and told the story of her photo (left) of the maison abandonnée. At an exhibition of her work she met two women who lived in this house which was apparently a school that their father directed during colonial years and later a maison de torture. The women could (quite understandably) not accept what had happened to their once home.