The Algerian Novel, The Colonial Legacy And The Post-colonial Discourse. The ‘force’ And The ‘false’; Remembring And Theraping

Résumé: The Algerian novel tackles many subjects related to social, economic, cultural and political issues in Algeria before the revolution, during and after the independence. Before the 1954 revolution, it got an explicit discourse pertinent to discussing social issues such as homelessness, misery and poverty and described immigration, unemployment and injustice and oppression against Algerians. It also focused on the themes of resistance and reflected Algerians' lives. This paper raises the following research questions: In what ways the Algerian history affects its Novel? What discourse had been portrayed by the Algerian novel in this period? In what ways the Algerian novel is considered as a ‘therapeutic’ device to the Eurocentric vision to the colonial legacy? Using the history as a reference, it is worth assuming the following hypothesis: The hypothesize is that the Algerian novel plays a ‘therapeutic’ role in reconstructing the Algerian memory via remembering and diagnosing the ‘force’ used by the colonizer to impose a ‘false’ vision to the history of the hunt . During the revolution, novelists had an important role to play in the Algerian scene throughout their writings. They reordered and provided an intimate portrait of the living conditions of Algerians at that time. Further, some novels made it explicit to the whole world, especially to Algerians, that the only way to liberate Algeria is through fighting for the independence of the country. It also depicted the horrors of the war and discussed its' psychological and social consequences on people during that time. Initial findings of the paper show that the Algerian novel had even a key role after the independence of the country. Some novels served as a means to ‘decolonize’ the Algerian mind from remnants of the colonial legacy. Therefore, Algerian novelists through their literary works showed ‘revealing’ and ‘therapeutic’ roles; the former sought ‘revealing’ atrocities of the colonizer and the latter looked for ‘curing’ the ills of the colonizer's legacy. It also plays an explicit role in portraying the ‘force’ used by the colonizer to exercise the ‘false’ reasons behind that colonialism. Thus, the pertinent recommendation drawn is that the post-colonial discourse brought a new ‘memory war’ in which the Algerian novel should take a position to reconstruct the Algerian ‘injured’ memory. Glorifying history and revealing the ‘force’ and ‘false’ [left as a colonial legacy] are the two main aspects of this role.

Publié dans la revue: مجلة الدراسات الإفريقية