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Writing Against, Writing with — the Case of Algerian Literature

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Writing Against, Writing with — the Case of Algerian Literature Writing Against, Writing With — The Case of Algerian Literature AMINA AZZA–BEKKAT Dans mon jardin J’ai semé les graines d’anis Attirés par leur odeur Les oiseaux sont venus Je les ai chassés Avec des paraboles Les oiseaux rouges et tristes N’assaillent plus mon enfant — Mohammed Dib, L’incendie, (1954; emphasis in the original) HE LOCATION OF ALGERIA, at the junction of Europe and Africa, on the road to the New World, in the cradle of ancient T civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea, has drawn many suc- cessive waves of invaders. A recent novel by the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, Le serment des Barbares (The barbarians’ oath), has shown how this particular fate has impregnated the country, its inhabitants, and even its literary productions.1 Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, and French, one after the other, each expelling the previous invader, have built a complex nation, while the original population, the Berbers, have carefully kept their traditions and language despite these various influences. This historical complexity can still be seen in the ruins all over the country, in the monuments and buildings left as marks of the past. This complexity is still present in literature written in Arabic, French, or Berber. 1 Boualem Sansal, Le serment des Barbares (Paris: Gallimard, 1999). 110 AMINA AZZA–BEKKAT W ⏐ X The Romans, who left entire towns – some of them still in good shape – were the first to exert a Western influence. They also left great names in African literature – writers like Apuleius (124–180 AD) from Madaure (now Madaourouch, near Souk–Ahras) and St Augustine (354–430), famous as a writer and as a Father of the Catholic Church. Both of them were born in North Africa, in Roman Numidia. Augustine was a Numid and claimed proudly that he belonged to Africa: “Afer sum,” he said, ‘I am African’. Apuleius was half-Numid, half-Getule, also born in Numidia. The last colonization of Algeria to take place came in the wake of the Napol- eonic period, when, in 1830, the French landed on the Algerian coast, driving out the Turks. They would stay until 1962, the year of indepen- dence, after a long and painful struggle for freedom lasting seven years. The Romans and the French were thus the two major Western influences on Algerian literature, oral and written alike. Following a survey of Alger- ian oral traditions, poetry, and theatre under Western influence, this essay will focus on the novel. There are two languages spoken in Algeria that are considered to be native or indigenous. The first is Berber, now called Tamazight. Through the centuries, this language has resisted all influences and is now even taught at universities. The second is Arabic, brought by the conquerors who came with Tarik Ibn Ziyad (seventh century), and after him the successive waves of Arab invaders, the famous Benu Hillal. Algerian Arabic derives from classical Arabic, whose norm is the language of the holy book, the Qur’an. One can thus find two kinds of Arabic culture in Algeria – learned culture in classical Arabic, influenced by Middle Eastern forms of expres- sion; and popular culture, sometimes influenced by Western forms. Popular literature in Arabic is often considered a literature of resistance. After independence, as written into the nation’s constitution, classical Arabic became the official language of Algeria and is taught in schools. The younger generations speak classical Arabic at school and Algerian Arabic and/or Tamazight at home. Recently, after riots and uprisings, Tamazight was also made an official language. Thanks to the rebirth of an ancient alphabet called Tifinagh, this language now has a written form. In accordance with its complex language situation, present-day Algeria pro- duces in literature in Arabic (dialectal and classical), in Tamazight, and in French. .
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