Remembering and Writing the French Colonial History

Extract

[...] the Neo-Republican limited understanding of citizenship denies the racial and ethnic stigmatization of minorities in France • The ACHAC role in writing French colonial History • Relation between republicanism and the colonial project • One of the causes of the ‘guerre des mémoires' (battle of memories) • a purely national framework, cannot integrate the conflicting narratives that have emerged = fragmentation of memories • For neo republicans: the nation is and should be the primary source of belonging. For P. Ndiaye: multiple identities are inevitable. [...]

[...] Thesis: • Nearly 60 years after the Evian accords France has not yet managed to build a national memory that would incorporate its colonial legacies. Indeed, until the 1990s colonial memories were part of the private sphere and monuments and museums devoted to the colonial project were absent in France. Therefore, the commemorative model was fragmented. The involvement of ‘memory activist' and political considerations have led the French government to acknowledge the Franco-Algerian war. However, the political class proceeded by a ‘group by group' approach and did not manage to construct a national memory. [...]

[...] Facing the general silence of the French state, different memory groups emerged which pressured the state to undertake a memory work. Political considerations are also crucial to understand this shift in memorialization. In the last 15 years narratives about the war and the French colonial legacy became increasingly common. However, many of these written memoirs of Algeria are controversial as the different parties attempt to shift the blame for colonization and the war on each other, unleashing the ‘battle of memories'. [...]

[...] Bancel and P. Blanchard, ‘La colonisation: du débat sur la guerre d'Algérie au discours de Dakar' • Readings: • E. Apter, Colonial studies and Postcolonial Theory • J. McCormak, Social Memories in Post-Colonial France • E. [...]

[...] Contemporary issues, such as the limits of national identity in the light of the uprising in the French banlieues and the socio-economic pressures of immigration, highlighted the link between contemporary issues and the colonial period. However, the French government has a ‘group by group' approach which hinders the building of a national memory. Therefore, memories of the Franco-Algerian war are still fragmented. • Do you think fostering a sense of national belonging and undertaking a process of Nation building while acknowledging regional/ethnic communities is possible? • Is an implicit version of the ‘mission civilisatrice' (civilizing mission) still present in France current international relations, especially regarding African countries? SOURCES N. [...]