The Post-Colonial and Post-Industrial Condition in French Literature since 2007

My research will focus on recent French literature and address these questions: how is the working class
defined in post-colonial and -industrial France?; how is this translated in literature?; how does this relate
to republican principles? My contention would be that those who have grown up in this society have no
option but to transcend traditional categorisations of class and ethnic identity, and that this has been the
catalyst for a distinctively assertive, radical and sometimes antagonistic literature. At a moment when
the volatile relationship between communities of immigrant origin and the dominant culture is in the
balance, and when a divisive figure such as Eric Zemmour can emerge as presidential candidate,
evidence would suggest that recent novelists - predominantly of immigrant origin but unambiguously
French - have a contemporary vision for liberté, égalité, fraternité.
I would anticipate opening with a discussion of the circumstances which provoked the publication in 2007
of 'Qui fait la France?' by Les Indigènes de la République, a multicultural group of young, proletarian
writers, advocating a committed literature which gives voice to those hitherto marginalised, both in
society and particularly in the literary world. This can be seen in contrast to commentators as diverse as
Michel Houellebecq or Emmanuel Todd, ostensibly 'establishment' figures whose work is characterised by
cynicism towards republican values.