HarragasandLa pirogue: the crucible of clandestine crossings

Although not a new phenomenon, ‘illegal migration’ has exploded in recent years, with daily news of hundreds of Africans, especially youths, risking their lives to cross the Atlantic in order to reach Europe in makeshift boats (pirogues). The dramatic rise in lives lost and families broken have prompted writers and filmmakers alike to grapple with this humanitarian crisis. Merzak Allouache’s film Harragas (2009, Algeria-France) exposes viewers with immediacy to the chilling reality of clandestine sea crossings, while also suggesting the problems that prompt them. Harragas refers to those who burn, e.g. their immigration papers, their identities and, at times, their lives by taking these boats, which often become a crucible of suffering. In this article, we will place Harragas in the context of related contemporary African literary and cinematic expression which explains the lure of a better life in Europe. Most notably, Moussa Touré’s film La pirogue (2012, Senegal) followed in the direction of Harragas, in the sense that it also centres on the actual lived experience within the boat during the ill-fated crossing. Social issues, such as the much discussed presence of a woman, a man suffering mental problems, language barriers and cultural misunderstandings between passengers from different countries will be treated within this context. We also provide a conceptual and comparative approach to the visual and narrative filmic conventions, as well as the forms and styles that characterise these films and others, which provide a new path within the larger discourse on migration today.