Georgette! The Quest for the Self

Abstract

Born in France of Magtrebian parents, beurs are holders of two cultures: Islamic and French. The refusal of these two incompatible cultures to compromise forces beurs into the difficult position of desiring to please both. During this existentialist quest, they might deviate from the path established by institutions and family and take refuge in a third alternative. Farida Belghoul's Georgette!narrates the story of a seven-year-old, beur female who escapes the institutionalized law of the school and the religious law of the family. She rejects both her French and Islamic identities and embraces a new identity: Native American. The girl also creates an imaginary world where she rejects her human appearance, identifies with animals, and dismembers her body. This thesis analyzes Georgette!through two theories. The first theory is philosophical and is illustrated by the works of Gilles Deleuze and F6lix Guattari on deterritorialization. The second is psychoanalytical and is presented in the Lacanian theory of the fragmented body.