Race on Display in 20th- and 21st-Century France Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures, 42 Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures Series Editors EDMUND SMYTH CHARLES FORSDICK Manchester Metropolitan University University of Liverpool Editorial Board JACQUELINE DUTTON LYNN A. HIGGINS MIREILLE ROSELLO University of Melbourne Dartmouth College University of Amsterdam MICHAEL SHERINGHAM DAVID WALKER University of Oxford University of Sheffield This series aims to provide a forum for new research on modern and contem- porary French and francophone cultures and writing. The books published in Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures reflect a wide variety of critical practices and theoretical approaches, in harmony with the intellectual, cultural and social developments which have taken place over the past few decades. All manifestations of contemporary French and francophone culture and expression are considered, including literature, cinema, popular culture, theory. The volumes in the series will participate in the wider debate on key aspects of contemporary culture. Recent titles in the series: 28 Rosemary Chapman, What is Québécois 35 Martin Munro, Writing on the Fault Literature?: Reflections on the Literary Line: Haitian Literature and the History of Francophone Writing in Earthquake of 2010 Canada 36 Kathryn A. Kleppinger, Branding the 29 Pierre-Philippe Fraiture, ‘Beur’ Author: Minority Writing and V. Y. Mudimbe: Undisciplined the Media in France Africanism 37 Ruth Bush, Publishing Africa in 30 Andrew Asibong, Marie NDiaye: French: Literary Institutions and Blankness and Recognition Decolonization 1945–1967 31 Celia Britton, Language and Literary 38 Nicki Hitchcott, Rwanda Genocide Form in French Caribbean Writing Stories: Fiction After 1994 32 Raylene Ramsay, The Literatures of the 39 Sara Kippur and Lia Brozgal, Being French Pacific: Reconfiguring Hybridity: Contemporary: French Literature, The Case of Kanaky-New Caledonia Culture and Politics Today 33 Jane Hiddleston, Decolonising the 40 Lucille Cairns, Francophone Jewish Intellectual: Politics, Culture, and Writers: Imagining Israel Humanism at the End of the French 41 Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp, Muslim Women Empire in French Cinema: Voices of Maghrebi 34 Margaret C. Flinn, The Social Migrants in France Architecture of French Cinema, 1929–1939 Katelyn E. KnoX Race on Display in 20th- and 21st-Century France Race on Display in 20th- and 21st-Century France LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY PRESS First published 2016 by Liverpool University Press 4 Cambridge Street Liverpool L69 7ZU Copyright © 2016 Katelyn E. Knox The right of Katelyn E. Knox to be identified as the author of this book has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data A British Library CIP record is available print ISBN 978-1-78138-309-4 cased epdf ISBN 978-1-78138-862-4 Typeset by Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster Contents Contents Note on Translations vi List of Figures and Note on Companion Website vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 1 Civilized into the Civilizing Mission: The Gaze, Colonization, and Exposition Coloniale Children’s Comics 21 2 Self-Spectacularization and Looking Back on French History 44 3 Writing, Literary Sape, and Reading in Mabanckou’s Black Bazar 71 4 Looking Back on Afropea’s Origins: Léonora Miano’s Blues pour Élise as an Afropean Mediascape 93 5 Anti-White Racism without Races: French Rap, Whiteness, and Disciplinary Institutionalized Spectacularism 120 Outro. Looking Back, Moving Forward 154 Notes 162 Bibliography 197 Index 218 Note on Translations Note on Translations Published English translations of material that originally appeared in French have been given where these were available. Otherwise, translations are my own. In some places, the meaning of the original French seemed self-evident, or its significance critical. In these instances, I retain the original French and use footnotes to explain the terms. List of Figures and Note on Companion Website 1 Nénufar illustration by Pol Rab on the cover of Les Enfants de France (1931) 26 2 Illustration of Nénufar dressing up by Pol Rab in Les Enfants de France (1931) 30 3 Illustration of Nénufar ‘disguising’ himself by Pol Rab in Les Enfants de France (1931) 31 4 African dancer in the opening shot of the video for Salif Keïta’s 1989 version of ‘Nou Pas Bouger’, directed by Michael Meyer of Wonder Products 61 5 Multi-ethnic chorus in Keïta’s 1989 version of ‘Nou Pas Bouger’, directed by Michael Meyer of Wonder Products 63 6 Ivorian artist Meiway staring through vertical bars in the video for ‘Je suis sans-papiers’ 68 7 ‘Nou Pas Bouger’ artists Salif Keïta and L’Skadrille parting the hanging strips as the camera pans right 134 8 Camera continues its pan to reveal artists emerging from the strips into a graffiti-lined street 134 9 Camera continues pan as music video’s final shot reveals scene from Figure 8 projected onto hanging strips 135 10 Saïdou (background) surveys as ‘Buster Robert’ raps 144 Note on Companion Website: Full examples of all music videos analyzed in this book can be found on this book’s companion website: http:// www.raceondisplayin20thand21stcenturyfrance.com. Acknowledgements Acknowledgements This research project has been in the making since well before I began graduate school; its origins can be traced to the French and francophone courses I took at Williams College, notably with Kashia Pieprzak, Brian Williams, and Amadou Ouédraogo. The Robert G. Wilmers, Jr. 1990 Memorial Student Travel Abroad Fellowship funded my research trip to study coupé-décalé music in Paris in 2006 that was at the core of the inquiry that expanded into this book. I owe my doctoral committee many thanks for their roles in molding this project into a thesis. This project would not be what it is without Alain Mabanckou’s feedback at its earliest stages, as well as his continued insights into contemporary francophone culture. Timothy Taylor will always be my model for what it means to be a theoretically engaged yet articulate and thoughtful scholar, and I thank him for helping me better bridge the divide between literary and musical conversations. Lia Brozgal’s keen attention to detail and thoughtful questions and critiques from this study’s beginning undeniably challenged me to sharpen my analytical capacities, and the project is much stronger because of them. Beyond this, I am grateful for her generosity and mentorship both during and after my doctorate. Dominic Thomas, my committee chair, has taught me what it means to be a champion for francophone studies. His dedication to this project from its inception and his advice at all stages have pushed me to think more critically and synthetically. I am also grateful for a UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship (2013−14) that supported my final year of writing of the thesis. In transforming this project from thesis to book, I have benefitted enormously from welcoming colleagues and a supportive chair, Phillip Bailey, at the University of Central Arkansas. In particular, I thank the College of Liberal Arts writing group members (past and present), Taine Duncan, Alana Reid, Story Matkin-Rawn, and Elizabeth Harper, for x Race on Display in 20th- and 21st-Century France their careful eyes, for their encouragement, and for their friendship. Institutional support in the form of a UCA University Research Council Faculty Summer Stipend (2014) allowed me to conduct additional research in France. I would also like to thank Indiana University Press for permission to reprint a significantly expanded version of my article ‘Selling (out) on the Black Market: Black Bazar’s Literary Sape’, Research in African Literatures 46, no. 2 (2015): 52−69. This chapter supersedes my earlier work. I am grateful to those who have read various pieces of this book, including Anne Donadey, Clayton Crockett, Michelle Bumatay, Michelle Lee, and Lori Leavell. I also owe many thanks to the two anonymous readers whose insightful comments no doubt strengthened the book overall. I greatly appreciate the patience, responsiveness, and guidance of Anthony Cond and the editorial team at the Liverpool University Press, without whom this book would not have been published. In the following people, I am lucky to have met (sometimes unlikely) sounding boards, unflagging backers, and friends quite literally willing to ‘go the extra mile’ with and for me: Micah Wendell, Allison Crumly Van Deventer, Brittany Asaro, Kate Schlosser, Brian Quinn, Kirk Sides, Carolyn Embree, Annie Mueller, Adelaide Kuehn, Sharon Wilkes, Ruth Clayton, and Ruth Jones. Finally, for their unwavering support, unconditional love, and infinite patience, I thank my family. I thank especially my brother, Christopher Knox, whose love of music and courage are continual sources of inspiration. My parents, Jeffrey and JoAnn Knox, taught me to challenge myself, to follow my passions, and to expand my horizons. I never would have imagined, much less realized, research in Cameroon—the cornerstone upon which this project rests—without their support. I dedicate this book to them. Introduction Introduction ‘Exhibit B’ on Display Though a performance art piece titled ‘Exhibit B’ had opened to widespread acclaim in Avignon in 2013—a reception