Abstract
The Parisian quartier of Belleville has long been the subject of scholarly literature and popular culture due to its colourful history and diverse population. Its symbolic boundaries extend beyond the geographical limits imposed by its administrative demarcation. Myths abound as to the extent of its rebellious past, its contemporary image as a melting pot and its prevalence as a décor for the noir genre. In this article a three-tiered categorisation of Belleville is adopted which corresponds to various representations of the suburb in literature, popular culture and from the perspective of its inhabitants. Belleville rouge reflects the quartier’s revolutionary past and the late 20th century struggle associated with its physical metamorphosis. Belleville noir focusses on the quartier’s criminal face, as it is depicted in Parisian film and roman noir and as it exists in reality. Belleville rose highlights the pleasures of the quartier: its cosmopolitan character whose representation verges at times on utopian. In his Malaussène series (1985-1995), writer and former resident Daniel Pennac portrays Belleville as a unique blend of rouge, noir and rose. This fusion of fairy tale, detective fiction, myth and reality establishes a complex Bellevillois identity distinct from other contemporary representations. The article concludes that it is impossible to associate a single identity with Belleville. The quartier’s contemporary face is inextricably linked to its past, the memory of which is preserved by its inhabitants and by social and literary commentators such as Pennac. In keeping with historian Pierre Nora’s concept of cultural memory, Pennac thus assumes the role of guardian of Belleville’s cultural memory in the face of the quartier’s perpetual evolution.
Highlights
Perched on a hill overlooking the French capital to its North East, Belleville straddles four Parisian arrondissements: the tenth, eleventh, nineteenth and twentieth.2 While historians and locals often differ on its geographical boundaries, they do agree that the quartier has long been considered a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities
An understanding of the geographical transformations before and after Belleville’s annexation to Paris in 1860, as well as the cultural and physical metamorphosis of the quartier, which occurred predominantly throughout the twentieth century, will give the context necessary for discussing the complex identities that are associated with contemporary Belleville
Belleville’s change in status from a large independent provincial city to one of eighty Parisian quartiers was to have immediate and far-reaching effects on its population, not the least of which included its relegation from second largest city in the department of Seine and thirteenth largest in France, to a minor subdivision of the French capital
Summary
Perched on a hill overlooking the French capital to its North East, Belleville straddles four Parisian arrondissements: the tenth, eleventh, nineteenth and twentieth (see figures 1 and 2). While historians and locals often differ on its geographical boundaries, they do agree that the quartier has long been considered a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. Pennac’s Belleville, despite its crumbling physical appearance, has a lively sense of community reminiscent of the Paris populaire of a long-gone era If his representation of Belleville as a uniquely enduring haven of social harmony is perceived by some commentators as utopian, Simon and Tapia underline the sense of tolerance that prevails in reality, and explain the relative harmony in the quartier by the observation on the part of Bellevillois inhabitants of the golden rule of peaceful coexistence: keeping a respectful distance (1998: 101). Author and film director Xabi Molia, like Pennac, incorporates elements of noir, rouge and rose in his futuristic depiction of a dilapidated twenty-first century Belleville caught in the grip of an epidemic, against which the uninfected fight desperately for survival (2011); the doctor protagonist responsible for tracking the spread of the epidemic discovers a longlost love for his missing wife along the way
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