Algeria Literature
One hundred and thirty years and more of French colonization have deprived the Algeria not only political independence, but also cultural identity: in the aftermath of the war of liberation, the new Algerian state even lacked a sufficient number of teachers to guarantee teaching in Arabic in elementary schools. Colonialism had made an effort to prevent Algerians from reading and writing Arabic, without, however, putting too much effort into teaching them French; but a handful of intellectuals managed to interpret the popular soul ‘in French’, speaking and writing in French to the Algerians, for the Algerians. Only as a result of a political choice – that of Arabization – Algerian literature written in Arabic has begun to assert itself in recent years (the oral tradition, both Arabic-speaking and Berber-speaking, had never completely disappeared). The damage caused by French domination also in the cultural field was so deep and lasting that an entire generation of Algerian writers and poets still express themselves today in the colonial language, and about thirty years after independence, Algerian literature of French expression continues to be the most relevant quantitatively and qualitatively most interesting and original. It is therefore worthwhile to examine Algerian literary production separately in its French, Arabic and Berber components. The damage caused by French domination also in the cultural field was so deep and lasting that an entire generation of Algerian writers and poets still express themselves today in the colonial language, and about thirty years after independence, Algerian literature of French expression continues to be the most relevant quantitatively and qualitatively most interesting and original. It is therefore worthwhile to examine Algerian literary production separately in its French, Arabic and Berber components. The damage caused by French domination also in the cultural field was so deep and lasting that an entire generation of Algerian writers and poets still express themselves today in the colonial language, and about thirty years after independence, Algerian literature of French expression continues to be the most relevant quantitatively and qualitatively most interesting and original. It is therefore worthwhile to examine Algerian literary production separately in its French, Arabic and Berber components. independence, the Algerian literature of French expression continues to be the quantitatively most relevant and qualitatively most interesting and original literature. It is therefore worthwhile to examine Algerian literary production separately in its French, Arabic and Berber components. independence, the Algerian literature of French expression continues to be the quantitatively most relevant and qualitatively most interesting and original literature. It is therefore worthwhile to examine Algerian literary production separately in its French, Arabic and Berber components.
The earliest records of Algerian literature in French are usually traced back to 1920-25. Until around 1950, however, the mimicry of authors then judged mediocre predominated such as Algeria Hadj Hamou, to whom we owe the first Algerian novel (Zohra, la femme du mineur, 1925), M. Ould Cheikh, or R. Zenati, S. El Koubi, N. Kouribaa, M. Talbi, who have internalized the image of the colonized as perceived by the colonizer to the point of transmitting a reassuring vision, the one that the colonizer expects. The first noteworthy author is the poet J. el-Mouhouv Amrouche (1906-62), who in addition to collections of his own poems (Cendres, 1934; Le réveil de Jugurtha) left us the transcription of Berber songs of oral tradition.
After the Second World War, literary activity acquired new momentum, especially thanks to Y. Kateb (1929-89), the best-known Algerian author at home and also in Europe, whose influence was felt in many French-speaking countries. especially the Maghreb. His novel Nedjma, published in France in 1956, made history and is still considered the North African literary masterpiece today; the protagonist, who gives the book its title, reappears in Le polygone étoilé (1966). Also the author of plays, Kateb made headlines for Le cadavre encerclé (1955, staged by JM Serreau in 1958 in Brussels), part of a trilogy (Le cercle de représailles, 1959) including La poudre de intelligence and Les ancêtres redoublent de ferocité (1967).
We should also remember M. Feraoun (1914-1962), with the autobiographical novel Le fils du pauvre (1950), the posthumous Journal (1955-62), which provides valuable documentation on the Algerian resistance, and other novels of a Berber environment (La Terre et le sang, 1953; Les chemins qui montent, 1957); M. Dib (b. Tlemcen 1920), author of a trilogy (La Grande maison, 1952; L’Incendie, 1953; Le Métier à tisser, 1958), vast fresco imbued with social realism; and M. Mammeri (1917-1989), who describes the contrast between traditional life and new aspirations unleashed by the Second World War (La Colline oubliée, 1952), taking a stand against colonialism and its allies (Le Sommeil du juste, 1955). A prominent poet and prose writer is M. Haddad (Constantina 1927-Algiers 1978), author of collections of poems (Le malheur en danger, 1956; Ecoute et je t’appelle, 1961) and of novels reflecting the war of liberation (La dernière impression, 1958) and, more generally, the relations between France and Algeria (Je t’offrirai une gazelle, 1959; trans. it., Una gazelle per te, 1960; Le Quai aux fleurs ne répond plus, 1961). For Algeria 1997, please check aristmarketing.com.
The leading Algerian writer is Assia Djebar (b. Cherchell 1936), whose first novel (La soif, 1957) has been compared to Bonjour tristesse by F. Sagan. A recurring theme in his production (Les impatients, 1958; Les enfants du nouveau monde, 1962; Les alouettes naïves, 1967; Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement, 1980 [trad. It., 1988]; L’amour, la fantasia, 1985; Ombre sultane, 1987) is the condition of women, who after having made a valuable contribution to the war of liberation find herself rejected by society in traditional roles.
The impetus given by the Algerian republic to an accelerated Arabization helped to develop literary production in the Arabic language. Today there is no shortage of authors who write exclusively in Arabic, and not even the writers of the older generation who subsequently Arabized and today writes both in Arabic and in French, such as R. Boudjedra (b.Ain Baida, 1941), author of La répudiation (1969), L’insolation (1972), al-Tafākkuk (1981, “The disintegration”), al-Marth (1984, “The maceration”), La pluie (1987; trad. it. 1989).
In the last century, a certain literary production had already been flanked by the vigorous Arabic-speaking oral tradition, but we can only speak of a real Algerian literature of the Arabic language starting from the poet Muhammad al-῾Id (1904-1979), author between another of the national anthem and still considered the prince of Algerian poets. Among the prose authors we should mention Ṭāhar Waṭṭār (Tahar Ouettar, n. 1936), who is responsible for many short stories and novels (Dukhkhān min qalbī, 1962, “Smoke from my heart”; al-Hārib, 1969, “The fugitive” ; al-Lāz, 1974, “The ace”; al-Ḥawwāt wa’l qaṣr, 1980, “The fisherman and the castle”).
A panorama, albeit synthetic, of Algerian literature cannot ignore the approximately 30% of the population that speaks Berber and, scarcely encouraged by the authorities, continues to publicly affirm, with the work of writers and poets, its own cultural specificity. In various research centers – especially in France – the Berber cultural heritage, which is almost exclusively of oral tradition, is collected and transcribed. Recent literary production in the Berber language includes the novels of Rašīd ‘Alīsh (R. Aliche, b. 1953 in Kabylia), Asfel (1981, “Ritual sacrifice”) and Faffa (1986, “Little France”), characterized by a clear socio-political and historical dimension; and of Sa’īd Sa’dī (Said Sadi, b. in Kabylia in 1947),(1983, “The Scout”) analyzes the mechanisms of repression of the Berber identity in Algeria.
