"banlieues"

BBCの記事からです。

Go-getters in the ghettos: The bright side of France's migrant suburbs

Like many French rap stars, Mokobe has drawn inspiration from growing up in one of the bleak "banlieues" (suburbs) where immigrants make up a large part of the population.

One of 15 children of West African parents, he remembers bunk beds gradually filling up the bedroom until the window could no longer be opened. New arrivals then had to sleep in the living room of their flat on the south-eastern fringes of Paris.

"We used to tell each other stories at night," the 40-year-old recalls. "I've always liked living in a housing estate because we're on top of each other. Mixing and sharing are part of life there."

Mokobe, who has filled venues from Chad to California over a two-decade career, believes his banlieue roots have given him an edge as a performer.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37062048

フランス語をかじった方にはなんでもない単語 banlieue /bɑ̃.ljø /は大抵，「郊外」と訳出されますが，本記事を見てもあきらかなようにただの郊外ではありません。その語源は文字通りにはban（禁止）とlieue（マイル）ですが，どうも近年ではもっぱらフランスに移民した人々が暮らす「貧しい地帯」を指す言葉になったようです。こう考えると見出しのghettosも納得がいきます。（lua）