Undesirable: Passionate Mobility and Women’s Defiance of French Colonial Policing, 1919–1952

282 Pages·2022·2.444 MB·English

by  Jennifer Anne Boittin

Undesirable

Undesirable
Passionate Mobility and Women’s Defiance
of French Colonial Policing, 1919– 1952
Jennifer Anne Boittin
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2022 by Jennifer Anne Boittin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in
critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of Chicago
Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2022
Printed in the United States of America
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82223- 5 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82225- 9 (paper)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82224- 2 (e- book)
DOI: https:// doi .org /10 .7208 /chicago /9780226822242 .001 .0001
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Boittin, Jennifer Anne, author.
Title: Undesirable : passionate mobility and women’s defiance of French colonial
policing, 1919– 1952 / Jennifer Anne Boittin.
Description: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2022. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022009761 | ISBN 9780226822235 (cloth) | ISBN 9780226822259
(paperback) | ISBN 9780226822242 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Women— France— Social conditions. | Women— Africa, French-
speaking West— Social conditions. | Women— Southeast Asia— Social conditions.
| France— Colonies— Africa. | France— Colonies— Asia.
Classification: LCC HQ1613 .B63 2022 | DDC 305.4094409/04— dc23/eng/20220228
LC record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2022009761
♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of
Paper).
À Oliver- Axel
Also, to “undesirables” everywhere

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction 1
1 “I Refused”: Undesirable | Immobile | Vengeful 29
2 Traversing Movements of Embarking, Crossing, Disembarking,
Circulating, Dispersing, and Reconstructing 55
3 “Man- Woman”: Siting Frenchness, Sites of Frenchness 88
4 “The Law Has Been Violated in My Person”: On the Anatomy
of Intimate Violence 116
5 They “Allegedly Had Intimate Relations”: Gossip, Desire,
and Companionship 147
Epilogue 178
Acknowledgments 195
Abbreviations 199
Notes 201
Bibliography 241
Index 263

Illustrations
Figure i.1 Places where women appeared in archives and travel literature 11
Figure i.2 Generalized synopsis of women’s movement 11
Figure i.3 Map of French West Africa in 1930 16
Figure i.4 Map of French Indochina in 1932, and Goodrich tire advertisement 18
Figure 1.1 Marie- Thérèse and Netta’s likely routes traveled 42
Figure 2.1 Routes of Lê- Thi- Hat, Andrée D., Maryse Bastié, and École normale
students across AOF and to Indochina 57
Figure 2.2 Conakry, watercolor, before 1925 68
Figure 2.3 Maryse Bastié by her plane, 1932 71
Figure 2.4 Denise Colomb in a pool, likely 1935 81
Figure 3.1 Three West African students in Rufisque 98
Figure 3.2 Four West African students in Rufisque 99
Figure 3.3 The courtyard of the École normale de jeunes filles de Rufisque, with
students reading, walking, and standing 102
Figure 4.1 Woman in white, Indochina, 1938 120
Figure 4.2 Indochine Moï, photograph by Denise Colomb (1935– 1937) 123
Figure 4.3 Tonkinoise, photograph by Denise Colomb (1935– 1937) 124
Figure 5.1 Man and woman outside racetrack, Indochina, 1938 151