{"product_id":"in-defense-of-barbarism-non-whites-against-the-empire-9781804294420","title":"In Defense of Barbarism: Non-Whites Against the Empire","description":"\u003cb\u003eA provocative, beautiful and defiant essay highlighting the pitfalls of integration in France by a talented young writer with North African roots\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIs social integration all it's cracked up to be? Not in the defiant view of first-time French author Louisa Yousfi, who herself has North African roots. Taking its inspiration from the leading Algerian writer Kateb Yacine\u003cbr\u003e('I'm better off not being too cultivated. I have to retain a certain barbarianism'), this provocative essay explores ways of resisting the cultural and moral hegemony of the French \"Empire.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCiting a wide range of cultural references, from the characters of Chester Himes and Toni Morrison to the in-your-face rap lyrics of the 'street prophets' Booba and PNL, she extolls the virtues of her inner barbarian and champions those brave souls who refuse to be 'domesticated'. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eChallenging the conventional wisdom that posits integration as an unalloyed good, she shows how assimilation can equate to the loss of traditions, religion, language, and culture. And, whether discussing 9\/11, the Algerian colonial era, the media treatment of celebrities of Arab origin, or the second-class status of French citizens from an immigrant background, she holds an uncompromising mirror up to the West and its moral shortcomings, as if to say: a barbarian I may be, but who is the real monster? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYousfi, a young, charismatic and dynamic author who uses a refreshingly wide range of cultural reference points, including rap music, to construct her argument, opens up the path of a decolonial cultural politics and an aesthetics of resistance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe journalist\u003cb\u003e Louisa Yousfi \u003c\/b\u003egrew up in south-eastern France in the 1990s. She took a literature course at a crammer in Lille and then studied philosophy in Nice, ultimately enrolling in journalism school in Bordeaux. She was a conscientious student, following the advice of her working-class parents, who had emigrated from Algeria to France, to 'focus on [her] studies first and worry about politics later'. This political engagement duly materialised when she joined the Parti des Indig?nes de la R?publique, an anti-racist and decolonial movement whose ideas had a decisive influence on her first published work, \u003ci\u003eRester barbare\u003c\/i\u003e. She is currently working on her first novel.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51183662137618,"sku":"9781804294420","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3390bc01-491b-40e8-be4e-390af8ae77ae.jpg?v=1744475621","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/in-defense-of-barbarism-non-whites-against-the-empire-9781804294420","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}