{"product_id":"9781804294420","title":"In Defense of Barbarism","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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\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.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\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’.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\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?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\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.","brand":"Louisa Yousfi","offers":[{"title":"Verso Books |  Paperback \/ softback | Trade paperback (US) |  2025-01-21","offer_id":46019560079615,"sku":"9781804294420","price":22.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/files\/BNCImageAPI_8cb3b3ac-0c93-4494-94bf-8e34df77d12d.jpg?v=1723177136","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9781804294420","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}