Algeria as a lieu de memoire: Ethnic Minority Memory and National Identity in Contemporary France

Abstract

Examines the French reluctance to acknowledge the implications of the Algerian War in terms of its national identity & ethnic minority memory. The first half of the paper looks at the difficulty of transcending simplified, entrenched forms of group recollections that characterize the cloistered remembering of the Algerian War. The second half explores how the memories of second-generation North Africans in France, often cast as the chief victims of the so-called Algeria syndrome, offer a challenge to the conflict's limited memory. The author contends that such an approach can foster a greater awareness of the true complexity of the French past. The essay advocates more participation by private citizens to do more memory work as older official histories increasingly lose influence. In conclusion, the author contends that the privatization of memory should be considered a significant & necessary form of democratization, particularly for those communities that have become marginalized or forgotten in traditional versions of history. S. de Haast.