This book explores the commemorative afterlives of the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), one of the world’s most iconic wars of decolonisation. It focuses on the million French settlers – pieds-noirs – and the tens of thousands of harkis – the French army’s native auxiliaries – who felt compelled to migrate to France when colonial rule ended.
Challenging the idea that Algeria was a ‘forgotten’ war that only returned to French public attention in the 1990s, this study reveals a dynamic picture of memory activism undertaken continuously since 1962 by grassroots communities connected to this conflict. Reconceptualising the ways in which the Algerian War has been debated, evaluated and commemorated in the subsequent five decades, From empire to exile makes an original contribution to important discussions surrounding the contentious issues of memory, migration and empire in contemporary France that will appeal to students and scholars of history and cultural studies.
Table of Content
Introduction
Part I: The Era of ‘Absence’, 1962-91
Emergence, 1962-75
1 Creating a community
2 The sounds of silence
Consolidation, 1975-91
3 Creating an identity
4 Breaking the silence
Part II: The ‘Return’ of the War of Independence, 1991-2012
Acceleration, 1991-2005
5 Hardening attitudes
6 Speaking out
Memory wars, 1999-2012
7 Friends and enemies
8 Champs de bataille
Conclusion
Index
About the author
Claire Eldridge is Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Leeds
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