Naissance médiatique de l'intellectuel musulman en France (1989-2005)

University Paul Valéry- Montpellier III

Master 1 Company and Territory, Social sciences

Mention modern and contemporary History

Speciality Companies and religions of XVIe in XXIe century

Birth of the Moslem intellectual in the French media (1989-2005)

Memory presented by Tristan WALECKX

Under the direction of Mr. Michel FOURCADE

2004-2005

Thanks

I make a point of thanking Mr. Michel FOURCADE for his availability without fault, his advised councils and his acute critical direction.

I also thank Mr. Domenica AVON who, in full Lebanese epopee, took time to answer my requests.

I pay homage using Mr. Amine BESSAOUD, (which I would never have met without the indirect action of fanatics of a certain not very advisable design of Islam) with which the exchanges on my subject was as enthralling as enriching.

As for Mr. Robert LAZENNEC, his vision of expert of secularity as his documentation of an exemplary diversity were to me of an invaluable help.

Lastly, no need to recall to my friends and my family that I know to them liking of their patience, their councils, and their some final improvements orthographical.

« How thinkers living in Islamic context, interdependent of the historical trajectory of countries, remained a long time apart from the preliminary works with this reason universalisable, can be located from the same point of view of knowledge criticizes, while respecting the slow rate/rhythm, the many epistemological obstacles which maintain the thought Islamic in at the same time obsolete combat and without generalizable cognitive range? Thus for my part, I plan the task of the intellectual who practices without concession the critical analysis, without to break the historical solidarity imposed by his origins, his fasteners family, village, cultural, emotional... Note that I did not say immediately, as one could expect it, the Moslem intellectual. This qualifier attaches today to too ideologized solidarity so that a critical intellectual, engaged for the reason universalisable, is claimed some without inconsistency, nor wandering. »

Mohammed Arkoun^1(*)

Introduction

We propose to study the figure of the Moslem intellectual in France during the period going from 1989 to our days. This interval of time appears relevant for several reasons. The year 1989 is indeed a date-key in the recent history of Islam. It is in the month of February of this year that fatwa is launched by the ayatollah Khomeiny against the writer Salman Rushdie, shown blasphemy for its book the Satanic Verses^2(*). With the following school re-entry, three buckled girls are expelled of their college of Creil. Succeeding « the Rushdie business », this « business of the scarf » Islam propels on the media field. Since 1990, the minister of religion Pierre Joxe launches the consultation of the Moslems by the authorities by founding the CORIF (the Council of Orientation and Reflection on Islam in France). These events are as many occasions of public reactions, of, setting standpoint in prospect for the object « Islam » by outside contributors but such interior with this one.

With the advent of the years 1990, thus creates for itself an economic situation extremely favorable to the birth- certainly complexes- of a new intellectual posture, as already notes it at the time Mohammed Arkoun, often regarded as the veteran of these Moslem intellectuals, in connection with the consequences of the Rushdie business :

« For me, it is more than the Dreyfus business, because it is the world conscience which is challenged. The current storm shows that the Occident is not at all prepared to hear the voice of Islam as it is expressed. I am explained : to react only by calling upon Voltaire, Rousseau, the humans right, the freedom of the artist and the writer, it is to refer to known topics and invaluable conquests of the spirit for all the men, but you have not been able to ask all the cultures to follow the trajectory traced for two centuries by France and Europe ^3(*). «

If it is admitted that the term « intellectual » was used in its form substantivized for the first time at the time of the business Dreyfus^4(*), it is well on this occasion that thinkers appeared as a social group, cosignant the text I show of Zola. In the same way, for fifteen years, the recent visibility and the new economic situation surrounding Islam have made it possible a certain Moslem intelligentsia to emerge at least médiatiquement in France. Indeed, the Rushdie business in 1989, the war of the Gulf of 1991 or the problem of the scarf represents as many events calling with the necessary coordination of the Moslems of France : the will to adopt concerted positions appears consequently among the principal actors of the Islamic field.

As suggests it the reflection of Mohammed Arkoun ahead-matter, we will thus wonder along our study how the Moslem intellectual creates his singularity to exist as tel. the intellectuals who interest us here are those which are defined publicly as Moslems. It would be indeed absurd to proceed to an ethnic definition of the religion and to insert in our study of the personalities which are simply of Moslem culture or Moslem women in their private life, although the distinction is sometimes fuzzy, certain individuals posting publicly or not their faith according to circumstances'.

Our research is based primarily on the press and the image that this one returns French Islamic landscape. The majority of the newspaper industry French general practitioner having treated Islam lasting these fifteen last years were consulted. Of course, we must admit the limits of a research basing itself on sources with the prism sometimes deforming. But force is to recognize that it « médiacratie » is spirit to supplant it « intellocratie »^5(*), and that, a fortiori, the media relays of such personality are a good means of judging its impact as an intellectual. In the same way, the question it is quite out ofit is quite out of here to draw from the too broad consequences of a study based on limited supports. The studied press was certainly used as source which it is necessary to call in question, but it is not a question of a study of the press as such. For that, a thorough analysis would be necessary^6(*). We will thus be interested in the media not like single subject but like a means of knowledge of part of the Islamic intellectual world.

If we endeavoured to define the terms of the subject, it is still essential to specify a certain number of concepts referring to Islam which will be employed. Indeed, general public being not very familiar with the subject, the majority of these concepts are very often deformed, in particular in the media, which constitute our principal source in addition. Many terms are used there indifferently as synonymous to describe in a binary way a reality which is not it. Thus, the Moslem is often opposite « reformist, modern, republican, alleviated » with the Moslem « traditionalist, fundamentalist, integrist, obscurantist, islamist ». Admittedly, it is impossible to quickly define in introduction these fuzzy and fluctuating concepts, the more so as one of the relevance of our work as a whole is to be able to express subtleties which hide behind.

But if the precise significances of these terms will be clarified during our matter, it is advisable all the same here to fix a framework by evacuating some generally accepted ideas. The media conveying in majority a vision manichéenne of Islam, it is essential to mark the differences between all the words indicating it « good Islam » on the one hand and it « bad Islam » in addition.

For example, it is necessary to avoid the confusion which is very often made in the press between reformer and modernistic. The purpose of a Moslem reformer, by definition, is to reform the interpretation of the Koranic text. However even salafism^7(*), literally « imitation of old », is a theory aiming at reforming the reading of Coran. One of the interests of our duty will be thus to show how the media transformed this definition of the reformer to substitute that of modernistic to him.

Other side, terms employed indifferently to indicate « Islam such as us kids » have, in the same way, of the quite distinct significances and it is intellectually unacceptable to confuse them. Indeed, to take an example running, the Islamism, which indicates a theory preaching the subordination of the political and social life to the principles of Islam, has nothing to do with the traditionalism or the fundamentalism, which are not political ideologies. One of the interests of our work will be thus to clarify this semantic jamming due to an excessive simplification of the reality of Islam by the press.

Precautions also are essential concerning the use in opposition of the concepts of Islam and Occident. This idea of confrontation, popularized by one from now on celebrates book of Samuel Huntington^8(*), raises a basic problem since it puts face to face a religion and a geographical and cultural space. Of course, confusion comes owing to the fact that the word « Islam » covers actually two concepts : that of Islamic religion and that of Islamic civilization^9(*). Us drudges thus to be explicit in order to dissociate it « culture Islam » and it « religion Islam ».

During our readings, an assumption emerged : this period of 1989 to our days would not mark it the birth of the Moslem intellectual in France ? Indeed, as the sociologist Vincent Geisser underlines it, it is quite possible that the object « Islam » is « francized » and « intellectualized^10(*) «. Some indices enable us to believe it. It also appeared to us that this birth would be multiform : four categories of Moslem intellectuals would emerge on the French media scene since 1989. They would correspond to four new fields of legitimation. These categories would thus not be limited sociological fields, but they would translate four means of « dubbing » intellectual good distinct. The borders between these fields being moving, the same actor of the Moslem scene would be likely to intervene in several of these categories. We pose the four great fields thus following:

The intellectual Moslem avant-gardist : it is an intellectual avant-gardist before being a Moslem intellectual. Its statute of intellectual was acquired independently of a quite marked Islamite however.

The reforming intellectual of Islam : it is an intellectual with the role of theologist who proposes to reform the reading of Coran. This figure in France, although inheriting partially a long tradition reformist, is beautiful is quite new and singular.

The intellectual representing of the Islam of France : it is an organic, official intellectual. Its appearance is new also since it is related to the very recent emergence of an Islam of France.

The leader Moslem socio-policy : it is an intellectual engaged in the social and political combat, which proposes its membership at the oumma to explain its choices. The emergence of this figure is closely related to the Islamic turning of the debates around integration.

It is according to this typology that we will articulate our work, while trying, for each category, to precisely determine the characteristics of the individuals who are attached to it and the image that the media return from there. It will be the occasion to show the complex reports/ratios and the multiform interactions which occur between the French public opinion in the broad sense and the incipient Moslem elite.

* ¹ Maintenance with Mohammed Arkoun with Jean-Paul Chagnollaud, Bassma Kodmani-Darwish and Abderrahim Lamchichi, «  The Islamic fact: «Towards a new space of intelligibility»  », Mediterranean Junctions, autumn 1994.

* ²  Salman Rushdie, Satanic Verses (translated from English), Christian Bourgeois, 1989, 700 p.

* ³ Maintenance of Mohammed Arkoun with Henri Tincq, the World, 15/3/1989.

* ⁴ Pascal Ory & Jean-François Sirinelli, intellectuals in France. Dreyfus business with us days, Perrin, 2004 (1ère edition  : 1987), pp. 8-9.

* ⁵ Cf Emmanuel Lemieux, intellectual Capacity, new networks, Denoël, 2003, 756 p.

* ⁶ Although the media vision of Islam is overall unilateral, certain journalists of weight go regularly to counter-current of the majority opinion. For example, in spite of its media lynching, Tariq Ramadan found a support of size in the person of Xavier Ternisien, journalist at the heading «  Religion  » of the World.

* ⁷ Of salaf = «  ancestor  ».

* ⁸ Samuel Huntington, the Shock of Civilizations (translated from English), Odile Jacob, 1997,  402 p.

* ⁹ Contrary, there are for example two distinct concepts to indicate the Christian religion (Christianity) and Christian civilization (Christendom).

* ¹⁰ Vincent Geisser, the Islamophobie News, the Discovery, 2003, p. 29.