Azouz
Begag
Visiting
and Honrary Professor
Azouz
Begag is the best known and most prolific author
of post-colonial immigrant origin in France.
The son of Algerian immigrants, he is the author
of autobiographical and other narratives which
are widely studied in North American and other
anglophone countries as well as in France and
elsewhere in the francophone world. His best
known autobiographical narratives include Le
Gone du Chaâba (1986) and Béni ou le
paradis privé (1989), featuring a culturally
hybrid blend of French, North African and anglophone
elements fused in multi-leveled layers of irony
and humor. Keenly attuned to the cultural and
political dynamics of France, North Africa and
the anglophone world, Begag has explored pressing
issues of social justice and identity politics
in novels such as Quand on est mort, c'est
pour toute la vie (1995), Les Chiens
aussi (1995), Dis oualla! (1997)
and Le Passeport (2000). Alongside
his work as an imaginative writer, Begag has
published widely as a professional sociologist
and political activist. He has also held visiting
positions at Cornell University and Swarthmore
College, as well as at Florida State University's
Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French
and Francophone Studies. A researcher with the
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
(CNRS) in France and frequent contributor |
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to Le Monde and other media outlets,
Begag has combined grass-roots contacts among
minority ethnic groups with an unusual openness
to British and American policy models, challenging
French political élites with his original and
often irreverent views. Frequently cited as
an exemplar of the French model of 'integration',
variously courted and criticized by activists
from different parts of the political spectrum,
Begag speaks with exceptional authority and
clarity on the complexities and contradictions
characterizing the debates over immigration,
'race' and ethnic relations in France.
The
first international conference wholly devoted
to Begag was hosted by FSU's Winthrop-King Institute
for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies
in March 2002. A special issue of the journal
Expressions
maghrébines based on the conference,
including extensive previously unpublished material
by Begag, was published in Winter 2002.
BOOKS
by AZOUZ BEGAG
Narratives
Le Gone du Chaâba,
Paris : Seuil, 1986.
Béni ou le Paradis privé,
Paris : Seuil, 1989.
L’Ilet-aux-Vents, Paris : Seuil,
1992.
Quand on est mort, c’est pour toute
la vie, Paris : Gallimard, 1994.
Les Chiens aussi, Paris : Seuil, 1995.
Dis Oualla !, Paris : Fayard, 1997.
Zenzela, Paris : Seuil, 1997.
Le Passeport, Paris : Seuil, 2000.
Ahmed de Bourgogne, Paris : Seuil,
2001. Avec Ahmed Beneddif.
Essays and sociological
studies
L’Immigré et
sa ville, Lyon : Presses Universitaires
de Lyon, 1984.
Ecarts d’identité, Paris
: Seuil, 1990. Avec Abdellatif Chaouite.
La Ville des autres, Lyon : Presses
Universitaires de Lyon, 1991.
Les Lumières de Lyon, Lyon :
Editions du Pélican, 1993. Avec Claude
Burgelin et Albert Decourtray.
Quartiers sensibles, Paris : Seuil,
1994. Avec Christian Delorme.
Espace et exclusion : Mobilités
dans les quartiers périphériques
d’Avignon, Paris
: L’Harmattan, 1995.
Place du pont ou la médina de Lyon,
Paris : Autrement, 1997.
Du bon usage de la distance chez les sauvageons,
Paris : Seuil, 1999.
Avec Reynald Rossini.
Les Dérouilleurs : Ces Français
de banlieue qui ont réussi, Paris
: Mille et une nuits, 2002.
Children’s
books
Les Voleurs d’écritures,
Paris : Seuil, 1990.
La Force du berger, Geneva : La Joie
de lire, 1991.
Jordi ou le Rayon perdu, Geneva : La
Joie de lire, 1992.
Les Tireurs d’étoiles,
Paris : Seuil, 1992.
Le Temps des villages, Genève
: La Joie de lire, 1993.
Une semaine de vacances à Cap maudit,
Paris : Seuil, 1994.
Ma maman est devenue une étoile,
Geneva : La Joie de lire, 1995.
Mona et le bateau-livre, Lyon : Le
Chardon bleu, 1996.
Un train pour chez nous, Paris : Thierry
Magnier, 2001.
Le Théorème de Mamadou,
Paris : Seuil, 2002.
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