Abstract of the 8th International Conference on Future of Social Sciences
Year: 2025
DOI:
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The Exotic Other and The White Savior in Modern French Cinema a Multi-Modal Critical Discourse Analysis of The French TV-Movie Series Aïcha
Dr. Houda Landolsi
ABSTRACT:
Aïcha is a French series of four TV films directed by Yamina Benguigui, produced between 2009 and 2011, and aired on the public channel France 2. The series explores the life of a young woman residing in the Parisian suburbs, known as the Cité, and delves into the experiences of her family and other marginalized and racialized residents. The narrative follows Aïcha’s daily struggles and her aspirations to leave the Cité for independence.
Aïcha is portrayed as a strong-willed, modern woman, balancing her traditional Algerian heritage with the contemporary French lifestyle she yearns for. While this depiction seeks to renew the representation of second-generation Maghrebi-French women (often stereotypically viewed as highly sexualized “beurettes”) and their community (typically seen as patriarchal and despotic), it retains traces of colonial ideology through two dominant themes in classical colonial discourse: the exoticization of the Other and White saviorism.
These two aspects are analyzed through a multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA). Traditional critical discourse analysis (CDA) examines the interplay between discourse, ideology, and social power. MCDA expands on this by incorporating the analysis of media texts using both language and imagery. My study initially relies on Fairclough’s threedimensional framework, which includes description (linguistic analysis), interpretation (textto-discourse connection), and explanation (examining the relationship between discourse and social structures). This approach is further enhanced by the comprehensive tools provided by MCDA (Machin and Mayr 2012; Ledin & Machin 2017) for analyzing media texts.
The analysis focuses on two main themes, exploring stereotypes that position the MaghrebiFrench minority as ‘Others’ compared to Whites. The Other is depicted as exotic – distinct yet primitive. They are portrayed as having a unique, insular culture and social system, with scenes echoing early Orientalist paintings. In this context, the White character emerges as the outsider, perpetuating the modern version of the White Savior Industrial complex and recalling the image of Lawrence of Arabia.
keywords: Exoticization of Other, White Savior, Modern French Cinema, Multi-Modal Critical Discourse Analysis, the French TV-Movie series Aïcha