Algerian White
by Assia Djebar
Tags:
Set in Algeria
Female author
Description:
In Algerian White, Assia Djebar weaves a tapestry of the epic and bloody ongoing struggle in her country between Islamic fundamentalism and the post-colonial civil society. Many Algerian writers and intellectuals have died tragically and violently since the 1956 struggle for independence. They include three beloved friends of Djebar: Mahfoud Boucebi, a psychiatrist; M'Hamed Boukhobza, a sociologist; and Abdelkader Alloula, a dramatist; as well as Albert Camus. In Algerian White, Djebar finds a way to meld the personal and the political by describing in intimate detail the final days and hours of these and other Algerian men and women, many of whom were murdered merely because they were teachers, or writers, or students. Yet, for Djebar, they cannot be silenced. They continue to tell stories, smile, and endure through her defiant pen. Both fiction and memoir, Algerian White describes with unerring accuracy the lives and deaths of those whose contributions were cut short, and then probes even deeper into the meaning of friendship through imagined conversations and ghostly visitations.
Reviews:
(4 months ago) |
26 Jul, 2024
Assia Dejebar’s Algerian White is set during the struggle in her homeland of Algeria between Islamic fundamentalism and the post-colonial civil society. It is a complex combination of fiction and non fiction as in part is a memoir and testimony.
“Many Algerian writers and intellectuals have died tragically and violently since the 1956 struggle for independence.”
It’s a densely worded book which is at times difficult to read as it was written in honour of 3 men who died during the struggles. But it is definitely worth the effort. Not only for its own sake but for leading me Camus.
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Challenge:
Read Around Africa Challenge
Country:
Algeria
Algeria
Language:
EN
Genre:
Contemporary fiction Memoir
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