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Marianne d'aujourd'hui?: The Figure of the beurette in Contemporary French Feminist Discourses

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 17; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09639480802639751

1469-9869

Anna Kemp,

Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis

Abstract This article argues that the enthusiastic defence of 'la cause des femmes' during the notorious French headscarf affair of 2004 signalled not so much a revival, but a stagnation of mainstream feminist discourses in France. In particular, it focuses on the construction of the 'beurette' stereotype perpetuated by mainstream French feminist discourses and by some recent examples of 'beur women's writing', arguing that, far from being an emancipatory model, the figure of the beurette has become inflected both by islamophobic and anti-feminist agendas. This article will consider the dynamics of the feminist discourses that emerged during the 'affaire' before looking in detail at the production and publication of Samira Bellil's autobiographical text 'Dans l'Enfer des tournantes'. In particular it will draw attention to the way in which the figure of the 'beurette' facilitates the elaboration of a seemingly emancipatory but in fact regressive notion of French femininity. Notes [1] For an analysis of the volume of media attention devoted to the affaire du foulard see Tévanien 2005 Tévanien, P. 2005. Le Voile médiatique, Paris: Raisons d'agir. [Google Scholar]. [2] Such publications, often carrying shock titles, were usually written in collaboration with French female journalists who edited and prefaced the narratives. Some examples are: Leïla 2004 Leïla. 2004. Mariée de force, Paris: Oh! éditions. [Google Scholar]; Souad 2003 Souad. 2003. Brûlée vive, Paris: Le Grand livre du mois. [Google Scholar]; Mai 2006 Mai, M. 2006. Déshonorée, Paris: Oh! éditions. [Google Scholar]; Al-Baz 2005 Al-Baz, R. 2005. Défigurée, Paris: Michel Lanfon. [Google Scholar]; Khady 2005 Khady. 2005. Mutilée, Paris: Oh! éditions. [Google Scholar]. [3] Some of these were recent, such as Samira Bellil's Dans l'Enfer des tournantes, while others were reprinted in response to demand. [4] Interview conducted by the author on 13 February 2006, Paris. [5] The Far Right, represented chiefly by Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National, has known how to profit from this consensus and has even accommodated certain 'feminist' discourses. Despite the Front's virulent anti-feminism, a search of the FN's website reveals that the party has taken advantage of the Islamophobia generated by a discourse that represent Islam as essentially Other on the grounds of its supposed oppression of women. Insisting on Islam's 'problème de compatibilité' with 'les institutions de la République, les moeurs et la culture française', the Front cites 'le statut des femmes' as one of the principal irreconcilable differences. Indeed the usefulness of such discourses in promoting the Far Right's anti-immigration agenda is demonstrated by the publication of Liliane Kandel's Kandel, L. 2003. Un foulard qui suscite d'étranges cécités. Le Monde, 7 July 2003 [Google Scholar] essay 'Un foulard qui suscite d'étranges cécités' on two extreme right websites, SOS France and SOS Occident. [6] For a concise and lucid discussion of 'French' and 'Anglo-American' feminist intellectual traditions see Moi 1985 Moi, T. 1985. Sexual textual politics, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]. [7] The feminist organisation Ni Putes Ni Soumises has publicly celebrated Simone de Beauvoir's legacy on a number of occasions. For example, at the time of writing the organisation has dedicated a significant section of its website to celebrating the hundredth anniversary of De Beauvoir's birth. However, it is worth noting that De Beauvoir's most direct intellectual descendent Nouvelles Questions Féministes (the journal she co-founded with Christine Delphy in 1981) was vehemently opposed to the headscarf ban and has openly criticised Ni Putes Ni Soumises. [8] Protest against the headscarf ban was mobilised around Une école pour tous et pour toutes, an umbrella organisation that pulled together a variety of women's organisations, NGOs and trade unions (amongst others) in organised demonstrations across France in January 2004. However, as Pierre Tévanian remarks, these demonstrations were 'littéralement boycotté par les journaux télévisés, et très peu couverte par la presse écrite' (2005, p. 86). [9] On 19 June 2007, Fadela Amara became Secretary of State for Urban Policies in the Conservative UMP government. However, she still retains her affiliation to the French Socialist Party for which (at the time of writing) she acts as a municipal councillor. [10] See for example Voilquin 1978 Voilquin, S. 1978. Souvenirs d'une fille du peuple ou la Saint-simonienne en Égypte, 1834 à 1836, Introduction de Lydia Elhadad, Paris: François Maspéro. [Google Scholar]. [11] Feminist organisations that opposed the ban on the headscarf in schools include: Collectif féministe pour l'égalité, Les science-potiches se rebellent, Femmes publiques, Femmes plurielles and Femmes françaises et musulmanes engagées. [12] Interview conducted by the author on 16 February 2006, in Paris. [13] Quoted from back cover of Bellil 2003 Bellil, S. 2003. Dans l'Enfer des tournantes, Paris: Éditions Denoël. [Google Scholar]. [14] For a wide-ranging discussion of co-authorship between French women writers of Maghrebi origin and majority-ethnic French women writers see Hargreaves 2006 Hargreaves, A. 2006. Testimony, co-authorship, and dispossession among women of Maghrebi origin in France. Research in African Literatures, 37(1): 42–54. [Google Scholar]. [15] Bellil refers to herself as a 'caillera' on p. 22. The term 'caillera' is an example of urban street slang known as verlan. It is an inversion of 'racaille', a term of abuse literally translated as 'rabble'. [16] Stoquart refers to Bellil in these terms in her preface, p. 16. [17] See for example the many studies of 'The Muslim Woman' published during the French presence in Algeria of which Bugéja's Nos Soeurs musulmanes is one. Other prominent examples include Hubertine Auclert's Auclert, H. 1900. Les Femmes arabes en Algérie, Société d'éditions littéraires, Paris [Google Scholar] Les Femmes arabes en Algérie and Général Eugène Daumas's Daumas, E. 1912. La Femme arabe, 2nd edn, Algiers: A. Jourdan. [Google Scholar] La Femme Arabe.