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Interpreting the Republic : Marginalization and Belonging in Contemporary French Novels and Films by Vinay Swamy (2012, Trade Paperback)
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherLexington Books/Fortress Academic
ISBN-100739165372
ISBN-139780739165379
eBay Product ID (ePID)143584004
Product Key Features
Number of Pages208 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication NameInterpreting the Republic : Marginalization and Belonging in Contemporary French Novels and Films
SubjectEuropean / French, Sociology / General, Subjects & Themes / General
Publication Year2012
TypeTextbook
AuthorVinay Swamy
Subject AreaLiterary Criticism, Social Science
FormatTrade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height0.4 in
Item Weight10.1 Oz
Item Length9 in
Item Width6 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional
Dewey Edition22
ReviewsThis modest discussion of five novels and five films (1986-2003) by writers with Maghrebi antecedents requires ingenious interpretations, first about the works themselves and second about what they bring to the concept of French and Frenchness. The reader will assume that Swamy (Vassar), who offers few opinions of his own, supports the notion that all French are Francophone and that the North African Maghrebi are simply the latest influx of immigrants to France itself. Whether their citizenship or their deviation from heterosexual normativity is at stake, the protagonists of the works Swamy discusses want to belong. The author is particularly impressive in situating these works in the context of the ongoing political debates that came to a head with the banlieue riots when Nicolas Sarkozy was minister of the interior. Although Swamy quotes liberally from the French, he provides accurate translations. And because he includes synopses of the works discussed and captioned photographs even those who have not read the novels or seen the films will find the discussion easy to follow., This modest discussion of five novels and five films (1986-2003) by writers with Maghrebi antecedents requires ingenious interpretations, first about the works themselves and second about what they bring to the concept of French and Frenchness. The reader will assume that Swamy (Vassar), who offers few opinions of his own, supports the notion that all French are Francophone and that the North African Maghrebi are simply the latest influx of immigrants to France itself. Whether their citizenship or their deviation from heterosexual normativity is at stake, the protagonists of the works Swamy discusses want to belong. The author is particularly impressive in situating these works in the context of the ongoing political debates that came to a head with the banlieue riots when Nicolas Sarkozy was minister of the interior. Although Swamy quotes liberally from the French, he provides accurate translations. And because he includes synopses of the works discussed and captioned photographs even those who have not read the novels or seen the films will find the discussion easy to follow. the novels or seen the films will find the discussion easy to follow. the novels or seen the films will find the discussion easy to follow. the novels or seen the films will find the discussion easy to follow., Vinay Swamy's admirable Interpreting the Republic: Marginalization and Belonging in Contemporary French Novels and Films is a remarkable intervention in French and Francophone studies, one that brings the field closer to bridging the gap between 'French' and 'Francophone.' It does so by bringing 'Beur studies' to the center of both metropolitan French studies and the way we understand the French Republic, thereby demarginalizing the postcolonial periphery. Swamy does not stop there, however, for he goes on to add several additional layers of complexity to his redefinition of the Republic by incorporating questions of gender, sexuality, and religion. In the context of a global 'war on terror,' this timely study therefore thoroughly challenges what some have called a "clash of civilizations., Interpreting the Republic moves deftly among interdisciplinary approaches ranging from cultural and postcolonial studies to political analysis, film criticism, and literary theory. . .Swamy offers a fresh and important contribution to the scholarship on the identity debate., In this elegant and incisively written study, Swamy shows how recent Francophone literature and cinema are changing and indeed enriching the legacy of Republican France. At this very moment, in the midst of current events in Tunisia and Egypt, his arguments in favor of our embrace of difference are timely and necessary. This book shows exactly what we can make and do with the Francophone canon in the best of all ways. Interpreting the Republic is a book that engages and inspires., "This modest discussion of five novels and five films (1986-2003) by writers with Maghrebi antecedents requires ingenious interpretations, first about the works themselves and second about what they bring to the concept of French and Frenchness. The reader will assume that Swamy (Vassar), who offers few opinions of his own, supports the notion that all French are Francophone and that the North African Maghrebi are simply the latest influx of immigrants to France itself. Whether their citizenship or their deviation from heterosexual normativity is at stake, the protagonists of the works Swamy discusses want to belong. The author is particularly impressive in situating these works in the context of the ongoing political debates that came to a head with the banlieue riots when Nicolas Sarkozy was minister of the interior. Although Swamy quotes liberally from the French, he provides accurate translations. And because he includes synopses of the works discussed and captioned photographs even those who have not read the novels or seen the films will find the discussion easy to follow." -- Choice Reviews "Vinay Swamy's monograph represents an important addition to recent scholarship that seeks to expand studies of minority populations and perspectives in France to include not only the category of ethnicity but also gender and sexual orientation. . . .This study proves to be engaging and well argued." -- Contemporary French Civilization "Interpreting the Republic moves deftly among interdisciplinary approaches ranging from cultural and postcolonial studies to political analysis, film criticism, and literary theory. . .Swamy offers a fresh and important contribution to the scholarship on the identity debate." -- French Forum "Vinay Swamy's admirable Interpreting the Republic: Marginalization and Belonging in Contemporary French Novels and Films is a remarkable intervention in French and Francophone studies, one that brings the field closer to bridging the gap between 'French' and 'Francophone.' It does so by bringing 'Beur studies' to the center of both metropolitan French studies and the way we understand the French Republic, thereby demarginalizing the postcolonial periphery. Swamy does not stop there, however, for he goes on to add several additional layers of complexity to his redefinition of the Republic by incorporating questions of gender, sexuality, and religion. In the context of a global 'war on terror,' this timely study therefore thoroughly challenges what some have called a "clash of civilizations." --Jarrod Hayes, University of Michigan "In this elegant and incisively written study, Swamy shows how recent Francophone literature and cinema are changing and indeed enriching the legacy of Republican France. At this very moment, in the midst of current events in Tunisia and Egypt, his arguments in favor of our embrace of difference are timely and necessary. This book shows exactly what we can make and do with the Francophone canon in the best of all ways. Interpreting the Republic is a book that engages and inspires." --Tom Conley, Abbott Lawrence Lowell Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies and of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, Vinay Swamy's monograph represents an important addition to recent scholarship that seeks to expand studies of minority populations and perspectives in France to include not only the category of ethnicity but also gender and sexual orientation....This study proves to be engaging and well argued.
IllustratedYes
Dewey Decimal843/.92093552
Table Of ContentChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Chapter One: Ethnicizing the National, Nationalizing the Ethnic Chapter 3 Chapter Two: The Society of Spectacle in Post 9/11 France Chapter 4 Chapter Three: Reading Gender into Ethnicity Chapter 5 Chapter Four: Of Lesbians and Cross-dressers Chapter 6 Chapter Five: In the Shadow of the Republic Chapter 7 Conclusion
SynopsisInterpreting the Republic focuses on contemporary French literary and cinematic works (1986-2003) that reflect on what it means to belong to a nation such as France by giving voice to those who find themselves marginalized by French society. While citizenship and belonging can be, and indeed are, interpreted differently depending on the socio-cultural and political context, it is the foundational universalist republican principle of egalitarianism that has remained the sacred cow of French society. One of the major claims of this study is that the rigidity of French national discourse that attempts to impose a certain homogeneity in its official identificatory practices--all citizens are French, and thus difference (ethnic, sexual or other) ceases to matter--is but one of the many possible interpretations of the notion of the Republic. Vinay Swamy seeks to show how such supposedly unshakeable principles, too, can be, and often are, reinterpreted in novel ways by the works analyzed in this study, which carve out niches for their protagonists that are otherwise foreclosed in the French national space. Swamy examines the different tactics of identification deployed in works ranging from early "romans beurs" by Azouz Begag, Farida Belghoul and Soraya Nini, and Allah Superstar, the 2003 satirical novel by Y.B., to a number of films including Gazon maudit (1995), Ma vie en rose (1997), Le Placard (2001), Chouchou (2003), all of which (re)interpret the Republic in an effort to legitimize their protagonists' otherwise marginalized social position(s). He demonstrates how all these works put pressure, in a variety of ways, on an unacknowledged understanding of the institutional positions., Interpreting the Republic focuses on contemporary French literary and cinematic works (1986-2003) to reflect on what it means to belong to a nation such as France. Vinay Swamy demonstrates how supposedly unshakable principles based on French republican ideals, can be, and often are, (re)interpreted in novel ways by the works analyzed in this study, which carve out niches for their protagonists that are otherwise foreclosed in the French national space.
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