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"Que sommes-nous, nous autres?" : writing the belonging of the urban poor white in the literature of the French Algerian settler community David Cummings (3247185) PUREID: 147671658 French Algeria postcolonialism social class settler colonialism poor whites From the emergence of settler literary culture in the 1890s to the post-independence texts of the present, the literature of the French Algerian settler population is characterized by attempts to write a sense of belonging within the space of the colony. However, while the study of writing by settlers has produced an array of critical analyses, the influence of socio-economic status on the relationship of settlers to such narratives has been overlooked by scholars. This is particularly so in the case of the petits-blancs or poor white population of Algeria’s cities, a population ambivalently located in a position of relative privilege (with regard to the indigène) but outside the system of economic exploitation presided over by the gros-colons. Prior analyses, if they have discussed class at all, have tended to highlight the mobilisation of social class in setter literature uniquely as a means to relativize settler guilt. The present study seeks to contribute to contemporary understandings of settler identity by foregrounding the influence of social class on attempts to write a sense of belonging, both in relation to the petite-patrie of Algeria and to the mère-patrie of metropolitan France. To this end, this thesis offers a synchronic analysis of the representation of the petit-blanc as part of a diachronic analysis of the various paradigm shifts within French Algerian narratives of belonging. Although a wide corpus of settler literature is discussed, ranging from the 1890s to the 2000s, I focus primarily on the work of Musette, Paul Achard, Albert Camus, Emmanuel Roblès, Micheline Susini, and Michèle Villanueva. Each of the three chapters offers a dialogic reading, counterpointing two French Algerian authors who, although displaying inevitable differences from each other, can be connected according to crucial literary and/or biographical elements. A number of trends common to the representation of the petit-blanc are observed throughout the study. While the French Algerian settler population possessed French citizenship from the late nineteenth century, low socio-economic status is shown to problematize the relationship of settlers with the patrie of metropolitan France. Furthermore, it is argued that the mannerisms, modes of speech and cultural practices of the petit-blanc are essential to the representation of a settler identity which is distinct from the metropolitan French, and are thus mobilised to provide a sense of belonging in the colony of Algeria. Finally, the female settler is shown to occupy a marginalised position in the often-androcentric representations of the emergence of a petit-blanc identity in colonial Algeria. In conclusion, it is proposed that the poor white settler inhabits a hybrid condition, possessing an ambivalent sense of belonging/non-belonging to both France and Algeria. 2026-10-01T16:05:42Z Text Thesis 10.17034/32862809.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/_Que_sommes-nous_nous_autres_writing_the_belonging_of_the_urban_poor_white_in_the_literature_of_the_French_Algerian_settler_community/32862809 All Rights Reserved