Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

French

Advisor

Francesca Canadé Sautman

Committee Members

Jerry W. Carlson

Nathalie Etoke

Subject Categories

French and Francophone Language and Literature | Other French and Francophone Language and Literature | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies

Keywords

Memory, history, slavery, resistance, abolition, monument, memorial, statue, Black, French

Abstract

The subjection of black citizens in France and their invisibility in the (post)colonial space has been marked by segregation in peripheral urban zones, with a hardening of policing methods and controls based on racial appearanc. I argue that monumental representation in public space is not neutral but participates in the promotion of a specific ideology. I show thé ellipses in French patrimonial monumental glorification, including the appropriation of the memory of revolutionary heroes such as Louis Delgrès and Toussaint Louverture, concomitant with the occultation of many other black figures. I argue that representation matters, that France must repair this asymmetrical glorification in the public space, and that French Blacks need to unite against racism and affirm themselves as a cohesive social group within a France that remains resistant to repairing social inequalities. Starting from Paul Ricoeur’s argument of the duty of memory as an imperative of justice, the thesis demonstrates how the prioritization of suffering is perceived as an injustice in the black diaspora, and how the example of the Holocaust can serve as a guide to a multidirectional memory, as proposed by Michael Rothberg in his book Multidirectional Memory. Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonization (2009), to bring the memory of slavery to be recognized and shared by all French citizens.

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