North African Cultural Expression

Abstract

Foreign workers, refugees, and asylum seekers who arrived in France since the mid-nineteenth century brought with them a rich cultural heritage. This is certainly true for France’s North African community. From the earliest stages of North African immigration, singers and musicians offered a source of relief and comfort for a population of male workers in temporary exile. Through the creation of newspapers and magazines, North African militants condemned French rule in the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) and advocated nationalist aspirations. In the postcolonial period, North African novelists, theater companies, musical performers, and a new generation of journalists helped inform the French about the condition of foreign laborers, acted as an extension of a nascent immigrant workers’ movement, and provided a wealth of entertainment for a burgeoning foreign population.