Themes in the Francophone Algerian Novel

314 Pages·2016·1.44 MB·French

Themes in the Francophone Algerian
Novel
ZAHIA SMAIL ( Salhi )
to the University of Exeter as a Thesis for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Modern Literature
in the Faculty of Arts
August 1991
Themes in the Francophone Algerian
Novel
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Submited by
ZAHIA SMAIL ( Salhi )
to the University of Exeter as a Thesis for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Modern
Literature in the Faculty of Arts
August 1991
The thesis is available for the library use on condition that
anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its
copyright rests with its author and that no quotation taken from
the thesis nor any information derived from it may be published
without the author's written consent.
I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own has
been identified and that no material is included for which a
degree has previously been conferred upon me.
Signed
CONTENTS
Page
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Preface 7
Introduction
10
Chapter One
The Emergence of a Francophone literature in Algeria
20
Section One: The Literature of the French
21
1 Tourist Writers and the Exotic Novel
2 The 'Algerianist' Literary Movement
3 L'Ecole d'Alger
Section Two: The Algerianists' Efforts to Create an
Indigenous Literature
32
Chapter Two
The Period of Imitation and Assimilation (1908-1947)
35
Introduction
1 Chukri Khodja, El-Euldj, captif des barbaresques
2 Saad ben Ali and René Pottier, La Tente noire,
roman saharien
3 Said Guennoun, La Voix des monts -
moeurs de guerre berbères
4 Aissa Zehar, Hind d l'âme pure, ou histoire d'une mère and
Djamila Débêche, Leila, Jeune Fille d'Algérie
Chapter Three
A Transitional Period (1947-1950) 70
Introduction
1 Aly El-Hammamy, Idris
2 Taos Amrouche, Jacinthe noire
Chapter Four
A Period of Revelation (1950-1952)
103
Section One: A Thematic Approach
104
1 Mouloud Feraoun, Le Fils du pauvre
2 Mohammed Dib, La Grande maison
3 Mouloud Mammeri, La Colline oubliée
Section Two: Political Contestation
126
Chapter Five
Realism, Alienation and Revolution:
The Algerian Novel Comes of Age (1953-1959) 137
1 Mouloud Feraoun, La Terre et le sang
2 Mouloud Feraoun, Les Chemins qui montent
3 Mouloud Mammeri, Le sommeil du juste
4 Mohammed Dib, l'Incendie
5 Mohammed Dib, Le Métier à tisser
6 Kateb Yacine, Nedjma
Chapter Six
Women in the Algerian Novel of the Fifties (1950-1959)
185
Section One: Algerian Women as Seen by the Male Novelists 186
1 The Symbolic vision of Women
2 The Socio-Realistic View of Women
Mohammed Dib, Un Eté Africain
Section Two: Algerian Women Speak for Themselves 204
1 Djamila Débêche, Aziza
2 Assia Djebar, La Soif
3 Assia Djebar, Les Impatients
Chapter Seven
A Literature of Combat (1962-1965) 216
Introduction
1 Assia Djebar, Les Enfants du nouveau monde
2 Mohammed Dib, Qui se souvient de la mer
3 Mouloud Mammeri, L'Opium et le bâton
Conclusion and Epilogue: Post-Independence Concerns 241
Bibliography 251
Appendices
Appendix One:
Plot Summaries 270
Appendix Two:
Bibliographical Notes 285
Appendix Three:
Bibliography of the Francophone Algerian Novel: 1908-1986 299
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My gratitude and special thanks are due to my supervisors Dr. Rasheed El-. Enany
and Professor Aziz El-Azmeh who have given me academic and personal advice. I am
deeply indebted to them for their constant support and encouragement.
I am thankful to the Algerian Ministery of higher education for the
sponsorship of my studies, to Sheila Westcott for the typing of most parts of my
thesis and Serena Cant for having read the final script of this work.
I am most grateful to Kamal, my husband, whose exemplary moral support and
challenge pre-empted academic frustrations.
Nor should I ever forget my dear father who has influenced my ambitions.
Finally, I would like to extend my appreciation to all those who, in one way or
another, offered personal support and encouragement.
To the one who dedicated herself to the cause of National
Independence ... Only to then loose her own.
To my mother I dedicate this Thesis.
ABSTRACT
This thesis examines the development of the Francophone Algerian novel, the
circumstances of its emergence, and the various phases of its progress through the pre-
independence period, and the extent to which this parallels the political evolution of
Algerian nationalism exemplified in Ferhat Abbas.
The thesis focuses on the major themes discussed in the novels of this
period, and surveys the criticism of both the French and the Algerian nationalist
inteligentsia.
The first themes in the Francophone Algerian novel are based on the authors'
praise for their adopted mère patrie, France, for her humanitarian civilization.
Deeply fascinated by this civilization, the writers of the thirties and early fourties
rejected their people's "barbaric" way of life and called for their emancipation.
In the late fourties a major turn in the themes of the Francophone Algerian
novel occured; whereas Taos Amrouche expressed the complaint of the alienated
Algerian whose suffering is caused by her parents' naturalization, Aly El-Hammamy
wrote an angry novel in which he described the awakening of his hero to a better
understanding of the colonial situation in his country, and his subsequent rejection of
the French civilization as a lie.
In the early fifties, the writers revealed the bad living conditions of their
people, and in the late fifties their tone in blaming the colonizer for being the cause
of their people's misery and alienation became explicit. the novels of this period
became nationalistic and depicted an atmosphere of rebellion showing to what extent
every Algerian was ready to fight the colonizer with the use of arms. Among these
themes, the theme of women imposes itself both in the way they were viewed by
their male compatriots and in the way they emerged in the fifties with a
determination to free themselves from the webs of alienation both in the social and
the colonial meaning of the word.
In the end of this work, the theme of combat as a means to achieve independence
is discussed.
PREFACE
The first major motive behind this study is to counter the common opinion
that the first Francophone Algerian novel appeared in 1950, whereas in reality it
appeared much earlier in 1908. Those who reject these early novels argue that their
writers are a group of assimilated Algerians who betrayed their people's cause, and
described Algerian society with a colonial eye. For this purpose, various and major
themes as they appear in the novels published between 1908 and 1962 are discussed,
and the early novels are considered not only as the legitimate ancestor of the novels
published in the 1950s, but also as an important and compulsory phase in the
development of the Francophone Algerian novel which runs parrallel to that of the
Algerian national consciousness, exemplified by Beriaat-Ai5bVs.
This work is introduced with a historical and cultural background to help the
reader understand the themes of the Francophone Algerian novel as well as the socio-
political environment in which it emerged.
Chapter One examines the literature of the French in Algeria, and their influence
upon the native Algerians.
Chapter Two surveys the different positions of various critics concerning the
fist Francophone novels by native Algerians. It also examines the major themes
discussed in these novels, putting emphasis on the writers' praise for their French
civilizers and their wish to become French citizens. This corresponds to Ferhat
Abbas's early stage when he considered Algeria a French province.
Chapter Three studies two novels whose themes contradict those of the
period of imitation, and demonstrates that the preceeding writers were wrong to put
their trust in a 'civilizer' who, in reality was a 'colonizer'. The studied authors, Aly
El-Hammamy and Taos Amrouche, let out the long complaint of the colonized
Algerian through their respective heroes who discovered the real face of their
adopted mère patrie France.
In Chapter Four, novels are discussed in which the authors depict their people's
suffering under colonial yoke. Although their tone is not as explicit as that
of El-Hammamy or Taos, they believe the revelation of their people's malaise is in itself a
revolutionary act.
Chapter five potttays a group of heroes whose sense of anger following the end
of the Second World War is at its highest level. Deeply alienated and in an endless
search for their national identity, those heroes concluded that only an armed revolution
would free their people from the webs of colonization. So believed Ferhat Abbas in
1953.
Chapter six examines the difficult condition of the Algerian woman whose
sense of alienation is due to the colonial situation in her country as well as to her
position as a second class citizen in a society that favours its male members. The first
section of this chapter studies the Algerian woman as seen by the male novelists of
the fifties, and shows that whereas some authors gave a socio-realistic view of these
women, some others had a symbolic vision of them. In section two Algerian women
speak for themselves and depict their double sense of alienation.
In chapter seven the alienated heroes, men and women, join the armed revolution
to rid themselves of the causes of their alienation,i.e. French colonialism.
The conclusion of this work also discusses certain post-independence concerns
such as the actual condition of Francophone literature in Algeria.
Some appendices are added to this work. Appendix one gives plot summaries
of the early novels which are not easily obtainable. Appendix two gives some
biographical notes on novelists to help the reader have a wider idea of the writers
studied and their works. Appendix three is a chronological bibliography of the
Francophone Algerian novel (1908-1986), which shows the increasing number of
novels published every year. Among other things, this counters the prophesy that
Francophone literature in Algeria would disappear soon after .the country's
independence.
In this thesis I seek to study the Francophone Algerian novel from its
emergence in 1908 to the independence of Algeria in 1962. Although many