Rachid Djaïdani and the Shift from Beur to Banlieue Writing

In response to the discourses presented above, this chapter considers one male voice, Rachid Djaïdani, responding to the accusations of criminality and violence. Through his three novels (Boumkœur (1999), Mon nerf (2004), Viscéral (2008)) and two films (Sur ma ligne (2006), Rengaine (2012)), Djaïdani challenges standard stereotypes regarding the violence of young men in France’s ghettos. He portrays young men suffering from on-going unemployment and frustration but generally attempting to forge futures for themselves. Several characters seek salvation through art, either as writers or as actors. In his interviews Djaïdani first accepted all questions asked of him and readily discussed social and political matters. As his career has progressed, however, he has become increasingly vocal in his defence of his artistic engagement, telling interviewers that his work is not only socio-political but artistically nuanced as well. He struggles to articulate his support of universalism in literature as he also relies on many standard images of criminality and violence, but he pushes his viewers to reconsider how ethnic minority authors are treated in French literature.