Emancipation for Muslim Women Living in France

Abstract

Emancipation for Muslim women in France is an ongoing struggle expressed and examined through contemporary French and Francophone literature and film. In Inch´Allah Dimanche (God-Willing on Sunday) and Mémoires d´immigrés: l´héritage maghrébin (Immigrant Memories: Maghrebin Heritage), French-Algerian filmmaker Yamina Benguigui illustrates the social, economic, and religious difficulties experienced by immigrants of the Maghreb to France following France´s family regroupment law of 1974. These difficulties continue today and have contributed to an identity crisis that is preventing Muslim women from achieving emancipation. Leïla Djitli addresses the notion of identity crisis as it pertains to the experience of the Muslim immigrant woman in France Lettre à ma fille qui veut porter le voile (A Letter to my Daughter Who Wants to Wear the Veil). Through her documentary-like approach, Djitli examines the feelings of exile that contribute to identity crisis. This paper will analyze Frances recent Muslim immigrant history from the Algerian War to present day through these works as it pertains to the role of identity in emancipation. The analysis will consider Western feminist and Islamic feminist perspectives as well as the French position on secularism and its role in the French public sphere.