Beyond Brotherhood & Bitterness

When it comes to French citizens born in Algeria, stereotypes are stubbornly ingrained in the collective consciousness. This talk inspired by my book De L’autre côté de l’amer (L’Harmattan, 2015) aims at presenting the various ways in which le Pied-Noir has been viewed not only in historical and fictional texts but also in stage and film productions. From Yves Saint Laurent to Jacques Derrida to Albert Camus, the destiny of French Algeria goes beyond the shores of bitterness and retaliation, it speaks of nostalgeria and inseparability.

Presented by Jean Xavier Brager

The Invention of Moroccan Cinema

“le cinéma n’est pas encore inventé!” - André Bazin, Qu’est-ce que le cinéma?

Three filmmakers whose work helped to found Moroccan cinema are suddenly more visible: on streaming platforms, at film festivals and on college campuses. What does the availability of films such as Ahmed Bouanani’s Mémoire 14 (1971); Farida Benlyazid’s Door to the Sky (1985); or Moumen’s Smihi’s A Muslim Childhood (2005) change in the narrative of its national development and transnational reach? This presentation argues that in its contributions to civil society, international on-location production, and new schools for training the next generation of filmmakers, Moroccan cinema is still being invented.

Presented by Felicia McCarren

The Moroccan Linguistic Landscape: Darija, Arabic, and the Illusion of Identity

In this presentation, Fayçal Falaky will examine the role social networks have played in fashioning Morocco’s linguistic landscape during the past 15 years. Most communication in the Moroccan social media sphere is not conducted in the French or the Classical/Standard Arabic found in newspapers or TV news, but in a ‘creolized’ oral dialect – Darija – that is often transcribed in Roman characters. While this phenomenon may be ascribed to practical considerations, its implications are radical, subversive, and significant. The transcription of what is often considered a vulgar dialect is, by dint of its codification, sidelining the religious and sacred baggage associated with the language of the Quran and opening up a space where civic dialogue can extract itself from the grip of the sacred and the ‘pure’.

Presented by Fayçal Falaky

Connecting the Maghreb: Migration in Contemporary Maghrebi Art

This lecture explores the Maghreb’s cultural diversity and transnational connectivity through the lens of contemporary Maghrebi art. Tracing the region’s historical imbrications into broader transnational frameworks from Antiquity to the present, it examines how contemporary artistic representations of migration to Europe sustain and reshape these long-standing connections. By combining a diachronic introduction to Maghrebi mobility with close readings of selected artworks, this lecture ultimately reflects on the region’s transnational identity and the place it occupies within the Mediterranean and beyond.

Presented by Edwige Tamalet Talbayev