Hollins Digital Commons

Attitudes and Behaviors of a Backward People: Xenophobic French Legislation and Media Represent Islam as Un-French

Ballator Gallery

My presentation explores how the French state and conservative magazine Le Point propel the dichotomization of French nationality and the Islamic faith. I argue that state legislation and Le Point portrayals of French national identity advocate a hardline position on secularism, thereby causing Islam and its values to be incompatible with French nationality and citizenship. I analyze French legislation such as the hijab ban, burqah ban, veil ban, and prayer in public and the covers of Le Point that portray the explicit notion of what it means to be French. I utilize feminist theory to argue that there is nothing intrinsically oppressive or patriarchal about the hijab. I apply Kimlicka’s theory of identity and multiculturalism work by Trotman to argue that a hybridized or complex French identity is not inconsistent with a national French identity.