{"id":23340,"date":"2016-05-11T13:15:47","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T11:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=23340"},"modified":"2018-04-05T19:52:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T17:52:49","slug":"follow-the-footprints-origin-of-pied-noir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/follow-the-footprints-origin-of-pied-noir\/","title":{"rendered":"Follow The Footprints – Origin Of Pied-Noir"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pied<\/a>

By JacquesN<\/a> \u2014 Travail personnel, Domaine public<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Last week I interviewed Arnaud Fi\u00e8vre<\/em><\/a> as a part of the Real French Series<\/a>. One of the things he talked about was le mot<\/strong> (the word) pied-noir<\/strong><\/em>. Litterally translated pied-noir<\/strong> is black-foot, but it has a different meaning in French.<\/p>\n

According to le Larousse<\/strong><\/a>, pied-noir<\/strong> is a noun and an adjective and has the following definition:<\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ais d’origine europ\u00e9enne install\u00e9 en Afrique du Nord jusqu’\u00e0 l’\u00e9poque de l’ind\u00e9pendance.<\/strong>
\nFrench person of European origin who settled in North Africa until the time of independence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Arnaud<\/a> talked about what le mot<\/strong> means and its history with French settlers en<\/a> Alg\u00e9rie<\/strong> (in Algeria), but did not go into its etymology<\/a>. I was curious about where exactly le mot<\/strong> came from and decided to look it up une fois \u00e0 la maison<\/strong> (once I was home).<\/p>\n

The problem is le mot<\/strong> has an uncertain origin<\/a>. There is evidence of it being used for Algerian Arabs before it referred to French colonizers as a reference to the sailors who worked pieds-nus<\/strong> (barefoot) shoveling coal resulting in them having black feet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Le mot<\/strong> started being used for French nationals born in Algeria, but the reason why isn\u2019t well known. There are many hypoth\u00e8ses<\/strong>, but no one is s\u00fbr \u00e0 cent pour cent<\/strong><\/a> (one hundred percent sure). One hypoth\u00e8se<\/strong> is that is came from les gu\u00eatres<\/strong> (the gaiters, the leggings) worn by French soldiers of the time.<\/p>\n

\"Spatterdash<\/a>

“Des gu\u00eatres” | Image by Pearson Scott Foresman<\/a>, Domaine public<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

There is more speculation that le mot<\/strong> came from les premiers colons fran\u00e7ais\u00a0<\/strong> (the first French colonizers) who set out to drain les marais<\/strong> (the swamps) or les colons fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> who came to Algeria in order to make wine. Both of those referring to la couleur des pieds des colons<\/strong> (the color of the feet of the colonizers).<\/p>\n

There is also a theory that le mot<\/strong> came from a group of young French film-makers who called themselves \u201cpied-noirs\u201d<\/strong><\/em> as a reference to the Native American tribe. Although these film-makers were from Morocco, the term could have easily crossed the border into Algeria.<\/p>\n

It’s clear that the origin of le mot<\/strong> pied-noir<\/strong> <\/em>is not very well known and while there are many interesting hypoth\u00e8ses<\/strong> none of them are currently known to the real etymology<\/a>. That uncertainty is reflected in its usage that can expand to cover les personnes de confession juive<\/strong> (people of the Jewish faith) who were living in Algeria before la colonisation fran\u00e7aise<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Le terme<\/strong> can also be seen as offensive to some people who prefer to use the more formal Fran\u00e7ais d\u2019Alg\u00e9rie<\/strong> <\/em>(French from Algeria).<\/p>\n

Cependant <\/strong>(however), pied-noir<\/em><\/strong> is an accepted part of informal French today and while its origin and usage can get tied up in the complex history of la colonisation et la guerre d\u2019ind\u00e9pendance alg\u00e9rienne<\/strong> (colonization and the Algerian War of Independence), le mot<\/strong> can also teach us about that history and help us get a little closer to a new culture.<\/p>\n

If you have heard of any other possible origins for pied-noir<\/em><\/strong> let me know in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Last week I interviewed Arnaud Fi\u00e8vre as a part of the Real French Series. One of the things he talked about was le mot (the word) pied-noir. Litterally translated pied-noir is black-foot, but it has a different meaning in French. According to le Larousse, pied-noir is a noun and an adjective and has the following…<\/p>\n

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