Guerre d'Algérie: l'impossible commémoration by Rémi Dalisson (review)

Dalisson's work problematizes the commemoration of colonial memory and the Algerian War in metropolitan France. This complex, multifaceted issue, existing since the Évian Accords in 1962, resurfaced due to François Hollande's 2012 remarks recognizing the Algerian victims of the 1961 massacre. Also, the law of 6 Dec. 2012 established a national day of memory for the civil and military victims of the Algerian war, to be celebrated every year on 19 March. In the wake of this law, several parliamentary members argued that instead of being proud of its achievements and history, France had become an apologetic country. Dallison demonstrates that the acceptance of 19 March as a national day of commemoration, celebrating the ceasefire between France and Algeria in 1962, is complex as it disrespects those French who lost their lives in this conflict and at the same time celebrates a military defeat. Cities such as Béziers, rather than accepting the traditional commemorative street name as a political symbol, rejected the production of an official shared past by changing the name of the rue du 19 mars 1962 to the rue Hélie-de-Saint-Marc, celebrating a general condemned for the putsch of 1961, while other cities refused outright to commemorate this day. Dalisson argues that these quarrels, among others surrounding the commemoration, revealed fractures in the political landscape and highlighted the confusion between history and memory. To address this, Dalisson analyzes history and its implications on the French national and official memory, focusing solely on the French perspective from 1945 to today. This work is divided into two parts, the first of which looks at the roots of the problem with the commemoration by analyzing the differing perceptions of the conflict, resulting in a variety of memories based on individual and collective experiences. Dalisson examines the French military and their memory of defeat in Indochina, then moves to the harkis, viewed as traitors to Algeria while still not having a place in metropolitan France, and finally focuses on the pieds-noirs who were born and raised in Algeria and whose experience was one of exile. These different experiences create complications for the commemoration process. The second part looks at what is at stake after the official recognition of the conflict as a war at the end of the twentieth century. Dalisson highlights France's long commemorative tradition dating back to the French Revolution as a means of transmitting and creating collective memory. He then brings into question the heritage and function of military celebrations on this memory and the implications of dates and places of commemorative events. This book delves deep into the intricacies of commemorating a controversial event for a country that prides itself on its history.