According to former French President Francois Mitterrand, "France of the 21st century will be African"¹. The African presence in France is becoming increasingly evident among not only low-income suburban residents, but also very wealthy people who have achieved popularity in show business, sports, economics, art and politics. Today, the number of immigrants in the country from Tropical Africa is about 2.4 million, ² and if the dynamics of the expansion of the African diaspora continues at the current level, this may lead to a gradual Africanization of French society.³

In the last decade, dozens of books have been published in France on immigration from its former colonies. The most fundamental work in this field is the book "Black France: Three Centuries of Presence" edited by P. Blanchard, S. Chalais, E. Deroo, D. Thom and M. Teamer4, published at the end of 2011, a few months before the next presidential election. This book is a true illustrated encyclopedia that brings together a comprehensive chronology of the Afro-Antillean presence in France, supported by reliable facts and digital data taken from various sources. In addition, it is beautifully designed and equipped with more than 750 illustrative documents, some of which are also given in this article.

In the preface to the book "Black France: three centuries of presence", a well-known Congolese writer, winner of the French literary Prize, Renaud A. Mabancu, asks how much the idea of the "average Frenchman" corresponds to the current stereotypes - after all, black Frenchmen ("Noir-frangais"), being full citizens of the country, "write and they rewrite the pages of her story with colored pencils."⁵. It should also be emphasized that in the French title of the book, the word "presence" is used in the plural. Thus, we are dealing not just with a presence, but with presences, and the" black " diaspora in France, which includes people from North and Tropical Africa, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean Islands, and Oceania, is by no means monolithic, contrary to traditional ideas.

AFRICAN IMMIGRATION: ON THE ISSUE OF PERIODIZATION

Over the course of three centuries, the status of black residents of France and its colonies has repeatedly changed, and a variety of appellatives have been used in relation to immigrants from the Black continent.: "savages" - sauvages, "natives" - indigenes, "riflemen" - tirailleurs," negroes "- negres," blacks " - noirs," immigrants " - immigres," blacks "- blacks and, finally," Afro-French " - noirfrangais. The attitude towards them in society also changed. If in the 1920s Paris, which attracted prominent representatives of the Harlem Renaissance, became a Mecca for African intellectuals who created the famous philosophy of the Negro, * then in the 1980s, black people in France were more likely to envy their fellow citizens who found themselves in the UK, USA and South Africa and felt more free citizens, whose rights were no one I didn't question it.

What is the starting point for African immigration to France? According to the African historian Sheikh Anta Diop, the first black man appeared in southern Europe 40 thousand years BC. ⁶

A well-known researcher of the issue of African immigration in France, J.-P. Gurevich, identifies four stages of its history: the era of antiquity; the initial stage (the end of the XIX century-1946); the post-war period (1946-1974); and modern history (since 1974).

In turn, the authors of the book "Black France: three centuries of presence" divide the history of African immigration into eight periods and date back to 1848, although, as noted in the introduction, for the first time in an official document, the legal status of slaves and freedmen, as well as their children in France, was fixed in the "Black Code" of 1685 G. ⁷

In this article, we also take as a starting point the year 1848, which was marked by a number of events that played an important role in the formation of the nascent African diaspora in France.

AFRICANS IN FRANCE: FIRST ENCOUNTERS AND FIRST DISAPPOINTMENTS

In 1848, the Second French Republic abolished slavery in the colonies, automatically turning their inhabitants into "new citizens" of ^the country8. This year they were taken away-

* Negritude (fr.) is a cultural, philosophical, ideological and political doctrine, the theoretical basis of which is the concept of identity, self-worth and self-sufficiency of the Negroid race. It was born in the XX century (editor's note).

The number of representatives of the colonies in the National Assembly is increased. France is becoming a role model, but not for long. In 1852, with the proclamation of the Second Empire, Napoleon III by his decree cancels all the achievements of the Great French Revolution - they will be restored by the Third Republic only in 1870. Despite the appearance of the first African students and even the first black Minister of public Works (they became the mulatto Severiano de Heredia-a native of Havana), the vast majority of Africans and Antilleans work as servants, dockworkers, sailors, or artisans. They are closely monitored by the police and the prefecture.

A sharp influx of black immigrants to France is noted after the Paris World's Fair in 1855, and then due to the participation of Senegalese and Algerian riflemen in the Prussian War. It is then that the image of the" savage " that exists in the public consciousness of Europeans is added to the image of a brave and hardy warrior.

Thanks to the revolutionary discoveries of Ch. The period from 1850 to 1870 was marked by an interest in the scientific and pseudoscientific comparison of races from the point of view of physiology and intellectual development. Perhaps the most sensational case is that of the Hottentot Venus. To participate in World exhibitions, "human zoos", ethnographic "Negro villages", Africans are "imported" en masse. The image of an African appears in literature and advertising.

By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, a French colonial empire was formed, second only in size to the English one. The first decade of this period was marked by an ever-increasing interest in "exotics" and the holding in France of a large number of colonial exhibitions of various scales. On the eve of the First World War in Paris, Bordeaux and Marseille, there were about 1 thousand people. There are ⁹ black residents, whose numbers have gradually increased at the expense of African students and workers.

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the entry of immigrants from the Antilles into the political elite of the country (for example, a native of Guadeloupe, a Mestizo Gaston Gerville-Reache, took the post of deputy chairman of the Chamber of Deputies).

African culture in all its forms inspires French artists, playwrights, composers, and writers. It was then that a group of young artists, completely unknown at that time, including Georges Braque, Andre Derain, Matisse, and Picasso, purchased masks and figurines from Tropical Africa and Oceania from Parisian second - hand dealers in the 1910s and 1920s, whose primitive forms later served as an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Cubists.

In April 1920, a massive racist campaign called "Black Shame" was launched in Germany, directed against black soldiers of the French army stationed in the Rhineland. The French authorities took an ambivalent position on this issue: not wanting to recognize the complete assimilation of "blacks", they nevertheless sharply condemned the racist attacks by the Germans, saying that"all French citizens are equal" ¹⁰. The position of the authorities on this issue is not surprising - after all, both in the First and in the Wto-

* The real name of the "Hottentot Venus" is Saarti Baartman. This Hottentot woman was brought to Europe from South Africa in the early 19th century and displayed in panopticoums in a cage as a curiosity because of her physiological characteristics. After her death in 1815, her body was first dissected and then dismembered. Her skeleton, brain, and genitals were displayed in alcohol-soaked form at the Museum of Man (Paris), where they remained accessible to the public until 1974.

in the First World Wars, the rank and file of the French army was largely formed at the expense of immigrants from the colonies.

At the beginning of the First World War, 8,000 Africans had already been sent to France, and by the time it ended, their number reached almost 126,000. ¹¹ The image of the" Senegalese shooter " is gaining such popularity that his image becomes the face of the advertising campaign for the Banania drink*. After the end of the war, France tried to repatriate African infantrymen as soon as possible, but it did not keep its promise to grant French citizenship to those who defended the country's interests at the front.

In the post-war years, France experienced a huge need for labor, which over the next ten years was replenished by more than 100 thousand immigrants, mainly from Algeria. The face of the average immigrant becomes an Algerian worker from the Renault plant12. In ¹⁹²⁶, according to unofficial data, there were already from 5 to 7 thousand immigrants from Africa in the metropolis ¹³-workers, dockworkers, students, domestic workers, service personnel, and the number of Antilles was about 2 times more.

Inspired by the idea of pan-Africanism that originated in the United States, the Afro-Antillean intelligentsia sought to raise the political consciousness of immigrants from the colonies and published numerous newspapers and magazines on relevant topics. For example, the magazine "Black Student" becomes the organizational and ideological center of the movement negrytuda, designed to help Africans feel proud of their cultural identity.

In the 1939-1940s, on the eve of the Second World War, another mass campaign was conducted in the colonies to recruit soldiers: their total number was 179 thousand, of which 65 thousand were Senegalese riflemen. ¹⁴ Immigrants from the colonies fought shoulder to shoulder with the French, and the territory of Africa became the base of the Free France organization led by General Charles de Gaulle.

However, the triumphant end of World War II left mixed feelings among the participants in the fighting: first, black soldiers again felt neglected by the mother country, secondly, the French themselves realized that the colonial army played an important role in the victory, and thirdly, news of post-war events in Indochina, Algeria, Madagascar, Ivory Coast has been overshadowed by memories of a shared heroic struggle.

However, this period was also marked by the expansion of the rights of the inhabitants of the colonies: the number of deputies representing their interests in the National Assembly was increased to eleven. The colonial empire itself was transformed into the French Union.

FROM THE SORBONNE FOR JANITORS TO THE ELYSEE PALACE

To correct the demographic situation and restore the country after the war, the French government signed agreements with former colonies to attract cheap labor. Established in 1963

* The face of the Banania cocoa brand has long been a cartoon image of a Senegalese shooter, and the slogan is the phrase y'a bon, which means "delicious"in French-based West African pidgin. Throughout the brand's history, its image and slogan have been criticized and accused of promoting racism, and in 2011, the public association "Anti-Racist Movement" managed to get a court decision banning the production and sale of this product in packaging with this image and the famous phrase.

The Overseas Department Migration Control Office (Bumidom), which coordinates the recruitment, adaptation and training of new immigrants. The centers for retraining immigrants created by him were informally called "Sorbonne for Janitors". The "face" of immigration in the public consciousness is gradually becoming not an Algerian worker, but a Malian illegal immigrant.¹⁵

In the early 1960s, more than 77,000 people lived in France. There are ¹⁶ immigrants from Tropical Africa, and discontent and racist sentiments are growing in society. Antillean and African workers demand better living and working conditions.

At the same time, the number of African immigrant writers who were forced to leave the young independent republics for political reasons is gradually growing. Many of them become famous in France. In 1968, the Malian writer J. Ouologem received the Renaudot Literary Prize for his novel "The Duty of Violence". The formation of the novel as the predominant genre in African literature begins. The main theme of the works is the search for their own identity by young Africans trying to reconcile in their minds African cultural values and the achievements of European civilization ("Between two Worlds" by S. H. Kahn, "Kokumbo, the Black Student" by A. Loba).

In the mid-1970s, the French government suspended its policy of hiring foreign labor, and immigration is beginning to take more of a form of " family reunification." Between 1975 and 1982, the number of wives of African immigrants who moved to France increased by 177.8% ^.17 Such a large number is due to the fact that some African polygamous husbands managed to transport all their wives to Europe, often using the passport of the wife who was already legally residing in France. In 1974, the first demonstrations and strikes were held to demand the legal status of illegal immigrants. Africans, against their will, are becoming a symbol of immigration, social and economic crisis for the native French ¹⁸. Black workers attract close media attention. For example, on December 24, 1974, the then President of France, V. Giscard d'Estaing, invited four janitors (two Malians, one Senegalese and one Frenchman) to breakfast at the Elysee Palace, thereby marking the entry of African immigrants into the forefront of the political and media struggle, which they still do not leave.

THE AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AS A NEW TOOL FOR THE POLITICIAN

The debate about the possibility and necessity of assimilation of immigrants has marked a split in French society. In 1977, the Ministry of the Interior provides a payment of 10,000 francs to every African immigrant who wishes to return to their homeland. These measures did not produce the desired results, and in 1980 immigration policy was tightened, and illegal immigrants were forcibly deported. The image of the worker, which was previously associated with the African, is being replaced by the image of an "illegal immigrant" and a "young black man" from a disadvantaged suburb. African immigration is finally taking the form of family reunification: from 1975 to 1990, the number of Malian women in France increased from 1.2 thousand to 14 thousand, and Senegalese women from 2 thousand to 17 thousand, while the total number of newly arrived immigrants tripled ¹⁹.

This period was also marked by the almost undisguised use of the immigration issue by politicians for their own purposes. In 1981, leftist forces came to power, which omitted a number of requirements for obtaining a residence permit and did not allow the deportation of foreigners born in France. Measures are envisaged to legalize 140,000 illegal immigrants, stop deportation, and ease sanctions against employers who employ illegal immigrants.²⁰

Nevertheless, the demands of illegal immigrants for recognition of their legal status, which they have long been denied by the right-wing forces in power, result in strikes and spontaneous riots. In 1984, a new immigration law was adopted unanimously, requiring the abandonment of the policy of hiring labor from former colonies and aimed at integrating immigrants already present in the country into French society. Nevertheless, the law remained "on paper" ²¹.

During this period, the "zones" of residence of the African diaspora in Paris, Bordeaux and Marseille are finally formed, which represent a "state within a state" and contribute to the strengthening in the public consciousness of negative stereotypical ideas about the mores and traditions of immigrants from Africa: polygamy, circumcision, idleness, excessive religiosity, which make their assimilation in the host society impossible^..

In 1986, the government of Jacques Chirac, formed from representatives of the extreme right, came to power. Migration policy is once again being tightened. Thanks to the efforts of the media, the cartoon image of a polygamous African man in bubu* and with a dozen children, living on state benefits and disturbing the peace of neighbors in an apartment building, is finally fixed in the public consciousness. The prevailing stereotype now extends to natives of the Antilles, who were previously considered as a separate category of immigrants.

In 1993, after another change of government, the country continues to hold hunger strikes and demonstrations of immigrants demanding recognition of their rights and protesting against the growing wave of xenophobia. The forced evacuation of immigrants who had locked themselves in a church building resulted in protest demonstrations in 1996 under the slogans " Long live Africa!".

1998 was marked by a series of events: the organization of a march in honor of the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, the intensification of public activities aimed at recognizing the rights of black immigrants, and, finally, the victory of the national multi-racial football team. In addition, it was in the 1980s and 1990s. a large number of outstanding world-class athletes of Afro-Antillean origin appear in various sports (football, tennis, track and field, boxing). There are generally recognized black stars in movies and on stage. New trends of social and philosophical thought are emerging, aimed at understanding the linguistic and cultural identity of the peoples of the Caribbean. There is a real boom in immigrant prose devoted to the life of Africans in France in the literature. A new generation of writers is emerging, "children of the postcolonial era", describing in their works a new African identity, formed under the influence of" diaspora consciousness " (K. Beyala, A. Mabanku, K. Efui, etc.).

XXI CENTURY-THE ERA OF CHANGING ROLES, OR TO "BAMAKO-ON-THE-SEINE"

The beginning of the twenty-first century is marked by a more acute demand than ever for black immigrants to be recognized as full French. After the unrest in the "black" quarters of French cities in 2005-2007 and with the coming to power of Nicolas Sarkozy, a period of new tightening of migration policy and a direct rejection of the concept of a multicultural society, which does not meet with real opposition from the left, is coming. In 1999, there were 400,000 immigrants from Tropical Africa in France, an increase of 43% compared to 1990. 5 years later, the number is already 570,000, and black children are present in every class in almost all French schools.²³

The image of an African refugee who suffered from interethnic wars and political persecution in his homeland was devalued and received a pronounced negative connotation ("unemployed", "freeloader"). This is also evidenced by the state policy: 83% of requests for political asylum are now rejected ²⁴. The only exception is the players who are part of the national team and symbolize France-the winner in this sport.

Residents of the" black France " do not lose touch with their native continent to this day: Africa still ranks first in cross-border money transfers ²⁵. Many immigrants who hold French citizenship still identify with the country from which their parents originally came. Others claim the right to be " black, Senegalese, Muslim ... and at the same time French " ²⁶. However, there are also those who consider themselves exclusively French, refusing any self-identification with African culture.

There is also an increase in solidarity among previously disunited immigrant diasporas, which fall under the politically correct neologism "visible minorities". The largest association is considered to be the Representative Council of African Associations (Cran), which includes 66 public associations representing the interests of immigrants.

The gap is widening between the centers of major French cities and the suburbs that are becoming ghettos, where the children who grew up are second-or third-generation immigrants who symbolize that they are still living in a ghetto.

* Boubou is a traditional West African tunic-like garment.

on the one hand, "ethnic gangs", and on the other, directed against whites "racism on the contrary". French cities get a certain "label": for example, Montreuil turns into a "Malian city" - "Bamako-on-Seine", and Marseille - "Comorian". The Parisian neighborhoods of Chateau-Rouge, Chateau-d'Or, Goutte-d'Or represent Africa in miniature with colorful markets, residents in traditional African outfits, and a specific economy, mostly shadow. However, a separate industry of cosmetic products now works for people from Africa, for which leading brands create a separate special advertisement that takes into account the peculiarities of the mental state of target consumer groups.

Linguistic debates are also sparking. Many cultural figures advocate for the rehabilitation of the word "black" (noir), rejecting both its politically correct equivalents of black or renoi, and negre, which is considered offensive: "I am black, but not black and not negre, but noir. I know all too well that black means that you are good at hitting a soccer ball or rapping into a microphone, and negre means that you are looking for a job or housing...", notes journalist Ivan Essendiev.

2003 was again marked by a change in immigration policy: now a residence permit is issued depending on the degree of integration into French society. In 2005, the first black newscaster appeared on the national channel France 3, which marked the beginning of a massive penetration of immigrants from former colonies on the small screen. In the same year, the situation in the suburbs worsened again, which reached its peak after the death of two black teenagers in a transformer box while being chased by the police. To mitigate the situation, a number of well-known periodicals (Le Nouvel Observateur, Dynamik Sud, etc.) publish a series of interviews with famous French natives of Africa and the Antilles, who claim to be proud of their origin, although they "do not play football or djembe*"²⁸.

In 2006, the requirements for family reunification are being tightened, mixed marriages are being monitored, and a residence permit is being granted, which requires a signed employment contract. In addition, since 2007, it is required to pass the French language proficiency test and sign a mandatory integration agreement, the violation of which deprives the immigrant of the right to benefits. The neologism "chosen immigration" appears. Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial speech in Dakar, laced with the rhetoric of the colonial period, and the statement of the French Parliament deputy T. Mariani, in which he "regretfully informed that French legislation does not correspond to African traditions", led to an escalation of tension. In response, the Association for Immigrant Rights founded the Y'a bon Award, awarded for the best racist phrases of the year.

The era of continuous debates about national identity in French society was marked by the flourishing of French-language literature. Writers born in Africa and the Antilles are once again loudly declaring themselves and their work, they are awarded prestigious literary prizes, they demand recognition of their legitimacy and their elevation to the same rank as French writers. This fact is evidenced by the Manifesto published in 2007 in defense of" world literature " in French ²⁹. The number of nonfiction works that address issues of personal identity and the place of immigrants in society is increasing, as well as artistic and nonfiction works. Numerous exhibitions and festivals of African art are held. In 2007, the National Museum of Immigration History opens in Paris.

After the direct refusal of the country's leadership from the policy of multiculturalism and the recent statement by French Foreign Minister C. Gueant that "not all cultures are equal", against the background of Afro-Antillean demonstrations, a new wave of immigration following the events of the "Arab Spring", fierce debates about racial discrimination, the role of religion (Islam) in society and quotas The question of the dual identity (French and African) is becoming more controversial than ever. And over the past three centuries, the prospects for its solution have never been so uncertain. One thing is clear: immigrants from former colonies, most of whom have French passports, have been an integral part of France, its history, cultural heritage, and economy for more than three centuries. It may be difficult for the" real " French to get used to it completely, but the history of "Black France" cannot be reversed.

-----

^{Gourevitch J.-P.} 1 Les Africains de France. Paris. 2009, p. 15.

² Ibid., p. 58.

³ Ibid., p. 25.

^{Blanchard P.} 4 La France noire. Trois siecles de presences. Paris. 2011.

⁵ Ibid., p. 6.

^{Gourevitch J.-P.} 6 Op. cit., p. 99.

⁷ Ibid., p. 17.

⁸ Ibid., p. 40.

⁹ Ibid., p. 78.

¹⁰ Ibid., p. 108.

¹¹ Ibid., p. 100.

^{Gourevitch J.-P.} 12 Op. cit., p. 21.

^{Blanchard P.} 13 Op. cit., p. 137.

¹⁴ Ibid., p. 182.

^{Gourevitch J.-P.} 15 Op. cit., p. 21 - 22.

¹⁶ Ibid., p. 218.

¹⁷ Ibid., p. 119.

^{Blanchard P.} 18 Op. cit., p. 227.

¹⁹ Ibid., p. 257.

^{Gourevitch J.-P.} 20 Op. cit., p. 120 - 121.

^{Blanchard P.} 21 Op. cit., p. 258.

²² Ibid., p. 260.

²³ Ibid., p. 296.

²⁴ Ibid., p. 297.

²⁵ Ibid., p. 298.

²⁶ Ibidem.

²⁷ Ibid., p. 300.

²⁸ Ibid., p. 302.

^{Naidenova N. S.} 29 Afrique-sur-Seine: a new direction in African literature in French. Vestnik RUDN. Linguistics Series, 2011, No. 3, p. 102.

* Djembe-a West African drum in the shape of a cup with an open narrow bottom and a wide top, on which a membrane of leather - most often goat-is stretched.

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