Beyond Stereotypes: Imagining Other Histories, Politics, and Identities in Contemporary Francophone Immigrant Comedy of Stage and Screen

Abstract

This dissertation project investigates the ways in which ethnic minority comedy functions as a space where historically marginalized humorists talk and laugh back at dominant discourses, stereotypes, and status quos regarding immigrant and visible ethnic minority populations in contemporary France. Through analyses of themes of history, politics, and identities, this work demonstrates not only how these comedians subvert racist and xenophobic preconceived notions and rhetoric that have been deeply engrained in the French collective consciousness, but also how they negotiate and imagine alternative narratives. Consideration of a wide range of mainstream comedic genres including stand-up, one-person shows, television sitcom, film comedy, and sketch comedy, traces the career paths of these increasingly popular performers and shows how they establish relationships with audiences and fan bases in order to communicate their messages. The first chapter is a history of ethnic minority comedy in France and is driven by the question of how a complete lack of mainstream representation for visible ethnic minority comedians in the 1970s evolved to the point today where some of the most popular and influential French humorists are of immigrant background. The following chapters of the dissertation focus on the comedic performers, Fellag and Jamel Debbouze, who respectively represent first- and second-generation immigrants in France. The second chapter presents and probes the work of the Franco-Algerian humorist, Fellag in his one-man shows, Djurdjurassique Bled (2000) and Le dernier chameau (2005) in order to show how he imagines a more inclusive concept of Algerian identity on both sides of the Mediterranean. The third chapter explores Jamel Debbouze’s political and social engagement in the film Le ciel, les oiseaux et…ta mère! (1999); the television sitcom, H (Canal +, 1998-2002); a collection of sketches entitled Made in Jamel (2010); and his one-man show, Tout sur Jamel (2011); and highlights Debbouze’s promotion of a multicultural France as well as his defense of marginalized populations in colonial and post-colonial contexts.