Living in between: cultural conflict and déchirée identity in Beur writers

Abstract

The literary works of beurwriters, the sons of North African immigrants in France, are characterizedby a strong cultural conflict and an uncertain sense of identity. Divided between Islamic culture of their parents and the western culture of their daily life, beurwriters try to bridge the gap between France and Maghreb in order to unify their conflicting and ‘déchirées’identities. The paper tries to show how and if these writers succeed to reconcile these opposite worlds, through the analysis of four Beur novels: Journal. Nationalité: immigré(e)by Sakinna Boukhedenna, Beur’s storyby Ferrudja Kessas, Le Gone du Chaȃbaby Azouz Begag and Georgette!by Farida Belghoul. The article focuses on the ‘places’ where young beurfind themselves at a crossroads between two ways of life: “home”, representing the family, the roots and Islamic traditions; “house”, coinciding with the French banlieue, stigmatized by poverty, delinquency and social exclusion, and “school”, identified with the secular values of contemporary France.