As We Exist A Postcolonial Autobiography

by Harchi, Kaoutar; Ramadan, Emma

• ISBN13: 9781635422849
• ISBN10: 1635422841
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2023-03-14
• Publisher: Other Press

Summary

In this thoughtful coming-of-age memoir, a young sociologist reflects on her Moroccan immigrant parents, their journey to France, and how growing up an outsider shaped her identity.

Imbued with tenderness for her family and a critical view of the challenges facing French North African immigrants, Kaoutar Harchi’s probing account illustrates the deeply personal effects of political issues. Mixed with happy memories of her childhood home in eastern France are ever-present reminders of the dangers from which her parents sought to shield her. When they transfer her to a private, Catholic middle school—out of fear of Arab boys from their working-class neighborhood—Kaoutar grows increasingly conscious of her differences, and her conflicted sense of self.
    Notable events in her teens—the passing of a law in 2004 banning religious symbols from public schools; the 2005 deaths of Bouna Traoré and Zyed Benna, which sparked riots against police brutality—underscore the injustice of a society that sees Muslims not as equals but as a problem to solve. With elegant, affecting prose, As We Exist charts Kaoutar’s political and intellectual awakening, which would become the heart and soul of her work as a sociologist and writer.

Author Biography

Kaoutar Harchi was born Strasbourg, France, and was a visiting professor at New York University in 2019. A sociologist whose work focuses on culture, she studies the French-speaking world as an intellectual and social field and the trajectories of Algerian novelists who have obtained recognition in France. As We Exist is her first book to appear in English.

Emma Ramadan is a literary translator based in Providence, Rhode Island, where she co-owns Riffraff bookstore and bar. She is the recipient of an NEA Translation Fellowship, a PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant, a Fulbright, and the 2018 Albertine Prize. Her translations include Sphinx and Not One Day by Anne Garréta, Pretty Things by Virginie Despentes, The Shutters by Ahmed Bouanani, and Me & Other Writing by Marguerite Duras.