Beur
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Jamel_Debbouze_AVP_2016.jpg/220px-Jamel_Debbouze_AVP_2016.jpg)
![]() | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2011) |
Beur (or alternatively, Rebeu) is a colloquial term, sometimes considered pejorative, in French to designate European-born people whose parents or grandparents are immigrants from the Maghreb.[1] The equivalent term for a female beur is a beurette. The term rebeu is neither applicable to females nor does it have a female version.
Use[]
The word beur was coined using verlan for the word arabe, which means Arabic or Arab in French. Since the late 1990s, many young people have used the twice-verlanised term rebeu as a synonym. This term is now the dominant term used by the younger generations (under 30). The word beurette, the female version of beur, is created by adding the -ette female suffix in French. In French many slang words are created by simply reversing the word in terms of spelling and then reading it out. Because of French grammar rules, the new word is usually completely different from the result of reversing the word phonetically. The word beurgeois is derived from a combination of the words beur and bourgeois.
The term is slightly familiar and not advised in formal speech with respect to etiquette though it will be used in the media. The term beur is used to refer to all the Arabs from either Maghreb or Mashreq areas of the Arab world born in France.[citation needed]
The term beur is of French origin, and as such was traditionally mostly used in French-speaking European countries such as France (where the term originates), Belgium, Monaco, Luxembourg and Switzerland, as well as in the Maghreb. Due to cultural integration between such peoples across Europe, the term is now popular in other parts of Europe with a large Maghrebi community, such as the UK, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy.
Someone who is a Maghrebi from Europe is not necessarily a beur: the term is applied to those who have a hybrid culture between their Maghrebi roots and their status as someone who was born and raised in Europe. There is a big difference between a French Moroccan and a beur, for instance. There is a strong identity and solidarity between these people that exists irrespective of which Maghrebi country one comes from, nor the European country they were raised in: a French Algerian will see another French Algerian as they would a French Moroccan, a Belgium Moroccan or a . The term can apply to people of any ethnicity or religion, such as Maghrebi Arabs, Berbers, Maghrebi Jews, Pieds-Noirs or even Blacks who originate from the Maghreb.[citation needed]
Since 1992, the BEUR.FM radio station has broadcast nationwide (106.7 FM in Paris).[2]
A beur (kabyle) sportsman :
Zinédine Zidane.A beur rockstar :
Rachid Taha.A beur actress :
Leïla Bekhti.A beur humorist :
Ramzy Bedia.A beur politician :
Rachida Dati.A beur intellectual :
.
See also[]
- Maghrebis
- Maghrebi communities of Paris
- Berbers in France
- Arabs in France
- Arabs in Europe
- Maghrebi Jews
- Pied-Noir
- Demographics of France
- Islam in France
- Arab diaspora
- Neuilly sa mère !
References[]
Further reading[]
- Nora Barsali, François Freland and Anne-Marie Vincent (Hg.): Générations Beurs. Français à part entière. Éditions Autrement 2003
- Philippe Bernard: La crème des beurs. De l'immigration à l'intégration. Seuil 2004
- Hafid Gafaïti (Hg.): Cultures transnationales de France. Des «Beurs» aux… ? L'Harmattan 2001
On Beur Literature:
- Alec G. Hargreaves: La littérature beur: Un guide bio-bibliographique. CELFAN Edition Monographs, New Orleans 1992
- Alec G. Hargreaves: Voices from the North African Immigrant Community in France. Immigration and Identity in Beur Fiction. Berg, New York/ Oxford 1991/1997
- Michel Laronde: Autour du roman beur. Immigration et identité. L'Harmattan 1993
- Laura Reeck: Writerly Identities in Beur Fiction and Beyond. Lexington Books 2011
External links[]
![]() |
Look up Beur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- La Beurgeoisie The French website for successful "Beurs".
- French society
- French words and phrases
- French people of Arab descent
- Arabs in France
- Berbers in France
- North African diaspora in France