The Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), which brought an end to over a century of French colonial dominance in Algeria, is widely viewed as one of the most violent wars of decolonisation, the repercussions of which continue to prove pertinent to contemporary French society. After a thirty-seven year period of widely acknowledged state amnesia in France, the French government finally recognised the Franco-Algerian conflict as a war in 1999. This phase of forgetting persisted in spite of the visible reminder constituted by the sizeable population of Algerian origin living in France: a population that bears the legacy and memory of the war and transmits it to subsequent generations. The hesitation of the state to confront its colonial past in this way has exacerbated the sense of exclusion of France’s Algerian population, and has hindered its capacity to integrate into French society. Through a study of literature, this thesis addresses these issues of remembrance and exclusion. Taking as its primary corpus novels by four authors who embody the divisive past shared by France and Algeria – Azouz Begag, Mehdi Charef, Mounsi, and Leïla Sebbar – this study investigates the ways in which Franco-Algerian literature has represented the marginalisation of France’s ethnic Algerian population, and posited routes of escape from this marginalisation. Furthermore, it analyses the extent to which the primary texts challenge the history of silence maintained for so long by the French government, and bring to light instead a complex, plural historical narrative as opposed to the monolithic version of history put forward by the state. By examining texts published between 1981 and 1999, the thesis traces the increased presence of the children of Algerian migrants in French society during the 1980s, which leads into a greater attention to history and a wave of remembrance in the 1990s, prefiguring the eventual official acknowledgment of the Algerian War by the French government in 1999.

La responsabilité pénale du dirigeant de société commerciale, même si elle n’est pas nouvelle en droit français, est d’actualité en droit algérien. Dans les deux droits, la gestion de la société commerciale n’est pas chose aisée, car il existe des risques pénaux pouvant déboucher sur la condamnation de son dirigeant. Ces risques constituent la préoccupation majeure du dirigeant qui peut facilement voir sa responsabilité pénale engagée. Cependant, cette responsabilité, réputée sévère et lourde, peut être adoucie, voire éteinte. Eneffet, dès lors qu’un dirigeant de société commerciale se trouve poursuivi pour violation des lois et des règlements, il cherche à justifier son acte de gestion par les moyens dont il dispose, afin de se protéger contre l’éventuelle mise en œuvre de sa responsabilité pénale. Ces moyens peuvent être classiques de portée générale, ou bien spécifiques au droit des sociétés commerciales tel que la délégation de pouvoirs. De plus, la dépénalisation du droit des sociétés commerciales permet elle aussi de limiter les poursuites pénales contre le dirigeant et encourage le développement de l’initiative économique. Les acteurs de la vie économique auront donc plus envie de se lancer dans leur projet d’entreprendre. / Criminal responsibility of the manager of a commercial company, and while it is not new in French law, it is topical in Algerian law. In both laws, management of the corporation is not easy, because there are criminal risks that could lead to the conviction of its leader. These risks are the major concern of the leader who can easily see criminal liability. However, this responsibility deemed severe and heavy, can be softened or off. Indeed, when a manager of commercial company is sued for violation of laws and regulations, it seeks to justify his act of management by the means available to protect against the possible implementation criminal responsibility. These means can be conventional, general or very specific to commercial companies such as delegation of authority. In addition, the decriminalization of the commercial companies’ law allows also to limit the criminal proceedings against the leader and encourages the development of economic initiative. The actors of the economy will therefore have no desire to engage in their project to undertake.