Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-9-2024
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Croft Institute for International Studies
First Advisor
Daniel O'Sullivan
Second Advisor
Emily Fransee
Third Advisor
Kenneth Negy
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This thesis examines the linguistic representation of African peoples and cultures in French popular culture, specifically as this pertains to immigration. The foundational research question of this project is: how has the representation of Africans in French popular culture evolved since the colonial period? In order to answer this question, I examine seven sources of popular culture, all works of either literature or cinema, depicting three different time periods: 19th-century French colonization in Algeria (1830-1900), the post-World War II “Trente Glorieuses” [Thirty Glorious Years] (1945 to 1975), and the contemporary era (1990-present). I lay out and analyze the language present in each source of popular culture, and finally comment on the overarching evolution of language as supported by inter-period linguistic patterns. Based on this analysis, I argue that as relations between the “French” and “African” peoples have gradually become more intertwined, language used in French popular culture to refer to Africans has evolved to be less overtly racist and more nuanced, while nevertheless continuing to depict Africans as “other.”
Recommended Citation
Eastman, KathrynAnne, "La Langue des Autres: The Linguistic Evolution of African Representation in French Popular Culture, Colonialism to Present" (2024). Honors Theses. 3076.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3076
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