La mémoire du colonialisme dans la musique urbaine française. Rocé, Black M et la « préférence nationale » en France

Abstract

This paper is based primarily on two songs by Black M and secondarily on three songs by Rocé, both French singers. The paper aims to use these songs, to show how urban music, as a form of expression, contributes to the debate on postcolonial identity in France, and what discourses or counter-discourses are deployed, how, and for what purpose. To this end, the contribution sets out to interpret the lyrics of both artists in the light of political, scientific and media discourses. The article begins by addressing the question of the formation of a memory of colonization in post-colonial France, considering the historians’ dispute regarding the proper use of France’s colonial past. It closes with a reading of lyrics by Rocé and Black M, highlighting their discursive construction of French national identity.