Azouz Begag

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Azouz Begag (born 5 February 1957 in Lyon, Rhône, France) is a French writer and researcher in economy at the CNRS. He is the delegate minister for equal opportunities of France in the government of current French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP). He was decorated and made Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite and knight of the Legion of Honor.

Begag has written approximately 20 books, as well as songs. Furthermore, he is the scriptwriter of the French movie Camping à la ferme ("Camping at the farm"), where he expounded his vision of multiculturalism.

During the 2005 civil unrest in France, Begag confronted Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) on the subject of the policies in the suburbs of Paris. ^[1]

1 Biography
2 Literary work & others
3 Diplomatic incident with the US
4 2007 Presidential Election
5 Works
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

The son of an Algerian father and mother who arrived in France in 1949, Azouz Begag is the father of two daughters. He has a doctorate in Economy from Lyon II University. He has combined the functions of researcher in economy at the CNRS and at the Maison des sciences sociales et humaines of Lyon since 1980 and the one of professor at the École Centrale de Lyon. A visiting professor in Spring 2002 at the Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies at Florida State University, Begag was later made a honorary professor. In addition, he was a visiting professor at Cornell University in New York for one year. Begag's academic career, culminating in his place as a research economist at the CNRS, as well as his political career to date, have also centered around the problems of unequal opportunity for those brought up in industrial suburbs and ghettos.

[edit] Literary work & others

Begag's best known literary work (he has published more than 20 books, among them many novels often inspired by his childhood) is the autobiographical novel Le Gone du Chaâba (Éditions du Seuil, 1986). The title itself is a clever play on one of his Arpitan dialect's words. 'Gone' is a term for 'kid' or 'lad' in the Lyonnais dialect of Arpitan spoken in his native region and city, while 'Chaâba' is an Algerian word for 'tribe'. Both Azouz Begag and the protagonist of the novel grew up in shanty town outside Lyon, almost entirely inhabited by Algerian or Kabyle immigrant workers, in which the language and culture were predominantly a mix of Algerian, Kabyle and Arpitan. The problems of the ghetto-like environments established by and for guest workers in France after WWII, of the individual children of these ghettos who are French Citizens by dint of being born in France and even often from French parents and for whom 'breaking out' is both very difficult and statistically improbable, and Azouz Begag's own success in managing being part of the mainstream of French culture without having to forget part of his heritage but rather by accumulating all cultural influences, are at the heart of the novel.

[edit] Diplomatic incident with the US

He was in October 2005 at the center of a diplomatic incident between France and the United States. Begag, despite being a French citizen and a French minister and holding a A1 diplomatic visa, was intercepted at US immigration in Atlanta airport, saw his diplomatic immunity challenged and was heavily questioned in the green room. This was considered as racial profiling on the part of the US immigration officers and very heavily criticized in France. [1]

[edit] 2007 Presidential Election

Azouz Begag has publicly opposed Sarkozy, both in interviews and in his movie 'Camping à la ferme' (2005). On 16 March 2007, Begag officially announced his support for the UDF candidate François Bayrou. ^[2].

[edit] Works

Books By Azouz Begag:

Le Gone Du Châaba, Éditions du Seuil, Collection Virgule, (1986)
Béni ou le Paradis privé, Éditions du Seuil, Collection Virgule, (1989)
L'Ilet aux vents, Éditions du Seuil, Collection Virgule, (1992)
Les Chiens aussi, Éditions du Seuil, Collection Virgule, (1995)
Zenzela, Éditions du Seuil, (1997)
Dis Oualla, Éditions Fayard, Collection Libres, (1997)
Tranches de vie, Kleth Verlag, (1998)
Le Marteau Pique-cœur, Éditions du Seuil, (2004)

Books for Children:

Les Voleurs d'écriture, Éditions du Seuil, Collection Petit Point, (1990)
La Force du berger, La Joie de Lire, (1991)
Jordi et le rayon perdu, La Joie de Lire, (1992)
Les Tireurs d'étoiles, Éditions du Seuil, Collection Petits Points, (1993)
Le Temps des villages, La Joie de Lire, (1993)
Une semaine de vacances à Cap maudit, Éditions du Seuil, Collection Petits Points, (1993)
Mona ou le bateau-livre, Chardon Bleu, (1994)
Quand on est mort, c'est pour toute la vie, Gallimard, (1995)
Ma maman est devenue une étoile, La Joie de Lire, (1996)
Le théorème de Mamadou, Ill. Jean Claverie, Éditions du Seuil, (2002)