Mix of cultures and universalist education

Writer and journalist Leïla Slimani discusses identity, education and culture at Frontiers of Thought

How would one define identity? Would that be being a woman, Moroccan, Muslim, daughter, mother or wife? No, that is not what defines a person. With that in mind, writer and journalist Leïla Slimani opened the second night of Frontiers of Thought 2018, in Jun 18.

At the conference Who I am: identity, culture and society, the winner of Prix Goncourt 2016, one of the most important French awards, talked about family, ethnic origin, education and her professional and personal lives as she began her speech talking about the story of her parents, in the 40s, in Morocco. Her father, who was born to a trader and an illiterate housewife, came from a traditional city. Thanks to her grandfather, her father attended a French school, where he learned the history of France and was introduced to the values of Enlightenment. On her mother’s side, her grandmother, who came from the prosperous region on Alsace, married an Algerian man, her grandfather. “My parents felt marginalized, not belonging to any community. And I have inherited a great deal of that ”, says she.

Similarly, Leïla was educated in the French system, which earned her the status of foreigner, as an European in her own country. As a teenager, Leïla felt different from her friends, as her parents did not belong to any religion and did not show patriotism. She did not understand that fact but she needed to belong somewhere. “Back then, I did not realize that my parents had provided me with the tools to be a free woman”, acknowledges she as she praises the values and attitudes of her parents and grandparents and the Enlightenment discipline she received.

Identity

Born in the 80s, Leïla has been living in France for 20 years. In her view, she has an ambiguous relationship with that country. On the one hand, she values education and freedom. On the other hand, she resents it. “The education I received kept me away from my country. We would only speak Arabic with employees and traders on the street. At home, we would only speak French. I loathed having a complete understanding of the Western culture”, says she.

At the age of 18 she went to Paris to study and made sure to the French that she was a foreigner. In France, I was neither an immigrant nor a foreigner. “I knew the country but they did not know me.” With time, she became more French that she expected she would become. She got married, had a kid and got fully integrated. After the finished school, she worked as a reporter traveling extensively around Morocco on business.

Leïla disapproves of the fact that people of some ethnic backgrounds feel forced to behave in a certain way in order to be accepted. “In the Western world, slightly curly hair and a tanned complexion would be typical characteristics of a kind Arab man.” Historic events made her understand her complex identity. “After September 11, I became a Muslim in the eyes of many people, although I did not show any indication of affiliation to that religion”, says she.

She is a self-proclaimed writer with no land, with no deep connection with the land or solid roots. To her mind, an identity with very fixed contours will only create gloomy drawings. “All my values are what I have inherited from my parents. I have had the pleasure to reinvent myself. My parents never told me who I was supposed to be or what I was supposed to wear as a woman, as a Moroccan or a Muslim. I feel I belong to a very big family: the human one”, ascertains she.

Literature

An exponent of literature, Leïla published the book Dans le jardin de l’Orange in 2014, as it tells the story of a nymphomaniac. It was one of the finalists of Prix de Flore, in France. In 2016 she released Prix Goncourt winning book Chanson douce. In 2017, she published the non-fiction book Sexe et Mensonges, about the exploration of sexual oppression in Morocco. It featured testimonials from several women. “I was accused of being a traitor to my country for having criticized the Muslim world”, says she. In her books she gives little importance to the ethnic identity of the characters. “What they do and feel is what they are at that moment”, reports she.

About Leïla Slimani

She won Prix Goncourt in 2016 with the book Canção de Ninar, selling more than 600,000 copies in 36 countries. It is one of the most prestigious awards in the French language. She worked for magazine Jeune Afrique and ended up in jail for covering the Arab Spring. In 2017, she was invited by the French president Emmanuel Macron to be the representative for Francophone Affairs.

Frontiers of Thought

PUCRS is the event’s cultural partner. This year, its theme will be The world in disagreement – democracy and cultural wars. Faculty, staff, graduate students and alumni will are entitled to a 50% discount in the admission tickets. The discount is also valid for their companions. Alumni must present the alumni card at the time they purchase the tickets. Tickets are available in Room 109 of Building 1, from Monday to Friday, from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM. Contact us: Alumni Network. Undergraduate students are entitled to a 50% discount if they present a student Id, as stated in the law. The next conference will be on Jul 2, and will feature French art critic and writer, Catherine Millet.