Rachid Boudjedra

Boudjedra, Rachid (b. 1941). Algerian writer. He studied in Tunis from 1951 to 1958, joined the Liberation Army in 1959, and acted as an FLN representative in Madrid from 1960 to 1962. After graduating in philosophy at the Sorbonne in 1965, he wrote a master's thesis on Céline. After a short stay in France, where he married, he moved to Morocco and taught in a lycée at Rabat.

The publication of his first novel, La Répudiation (1969), established him as one of the most subversive writers of post-colonial Algeria. His Topographie idéale pour une agression caractérisée (1975), however, diminished the impact of his first novel as well as modifying the favourable comment provoked by L'Insolation (1970); critics pointed out his tendency to exaggeratedly narcissistic language. Topographie, like Le Vainqueur de coupe (1981), fabricates a strange world of neurotic characters, whose obsession with female sexual troubles appears arbitrary. Discours sur les femmes dans l'œuvre de Rachid Boudjedra (1982) suggests something of his personal obsession with women, which could in a sense explain the narrowness of his themes. His other pre-occupation is his conversion from writing in French to Arabic. Le Démantèlement (1982), which he has declared to be a translation of Ettafakouk, the Arabic version, is in fact in the line of his French works, and the reader may wonder whether it was not written in French first, and suspect that Boudjedra is trying to profit from the national debate in Algeria on language and religion.

— Abdelhamid Zoubir

1941 -

Algerian novelist.

Rachid Boudjedra was born in Aïn Beïda near Constantine and attended secondary school in Tunis. He was wounded while serving in the Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN), and then served as an overseas representative of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) during the Algerian Revolution. He earned a philosophy degree at the Sorbonne in Paris. Boudjedra's literary reputation stemmed from his novels La répudiation (1969; The repudiation) and L'insolation (1972; The sunstroke), which dramatically questioned contemporary social conventions and traditions through psychologically complex characters. Other novels include Topographieidéale pour une agression caractérisée (1975; Ideal topography for a characterized aggression), L'escargot entêté (1977; The stubborn snail), Les 1001 années de la nostalgie (1979; 1001 years of nostalgia), and Le vainqueur de coupe (1981; The cup winner). Boudjedra announced in June 1982 that he would no longer write in French. His Arabic novel al-tafakkuk (1982; The falling apart) appeared in French translation as Le démantèlement (1982; The dismantling). Other Arabic novels that have been translated into French are al-mart/La macération (1984/1985; The maceration), Laylat imraʾa Ariqa/Journal d'une femme insomniaque (1985/1987; Nights of an insomniac woman), Maʿarak zuqaq (The battle of the alleys/La prise de Gibraltar (1986/1987: The taking of Gibraltar), and Fawda al-Ashya/Le désordre des choses (1990/1991; The disorder of things). He gradually returned to writing in French, in the novels Timimoun (1994; Timimoun), La vie à l'endroit (1997; The life at the place), and Fascination (2000; Fascination). He is also a poet (Pour ne plus rêver [1965; For not to dream] and Greffe [1985; Graft]) and a playwright (Mines de rien [1995; Mines of nothing]). His nonfiction includes La vie quotidienne en Algérie (1971; The daily life in Algeria), Naissance du cinéma algérien (1971; Birth of the Algerian cinema), Journal Palestinien (1973; Palestinian journal), Lettres algériennes (1995: Algerian letters), and Peindre l'Orient (1996; To paint the Orient). Boudjedra has opposed political Islamism, as illustrated by his FIS de la haine (1992; The Fis [Islamic Salvation Front] of Hatred).

Bibliography

Naylor, Phillip C. Historical Dictionary of Algeria, 3d edition. Lanham, MD: 2005.

— PHILLIP C. NAYLOR

Rachid Boudjedra (Arabic: رشيد بوجدرة‎) (b. September 5, 1941 in Ain Beida, Algeria) is an Algerian writer and educator who has published numerous poems, essays and novels. Before 1982, these were generally in French, but since then he has concentrated on writing in Arabic.^[1] He was born in Aïn Beïda, Algeria, where he was active in the independence movement. He received his degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne, where he did research on Céline. Upon receiving his degree, he returned to Algeria to teach at Blida, but left after Houari Boumédienne seized power. He lived in France from 1969 till 1972, and then in Rabat, Morocco until 1975.

Boudjedra's fiction is written in a difficult, complex style, reminiscent of Faulkner or García Márquez in its intricacy. La Répudiation (1969, "The Repudiation") brought him sudden attention, both for the strength with which he challenged traditional Muslim culture in Algeria and for the strong reaction against him. Because a fatwa was issued which called for his death, he felt he had to live outside of Algeria. ^[2] Despite his reputation in both the Arabic- and French-speaking worlds, there is a dearth of English translations.

Further reading

• Ibn Warraq, Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out, Prometheus (2003), ISBN 1591020689 - pp.102-3
• Farida Abu-Haidar, Inscribing a Maghrebian Identity in French, in Maghrebian Mosaic: A Literature in Transition, ed. Mildred Mortimer (2001) accessed at [1] Feb 27, 2007

Bibliography

• Pour ne plus rêver, poèmes, dessins de Mohammed Khadda, Éditions Nationales Algéiennes, 1965; SNED, 1981.
• La Répudiation, Denoël, 1969 (ISBN 220728008X); Gallimard Folio, 1981 with Benanteur.
• La Vie quotidienne en Algérie, Hachette, 1971.
• Naissance du cinéma algérien, Maspero, 1971.
• L'Insolation, Denoël, 1972; Gallimard Folio, 1987.
• Journal Palestinien, Hachette, 1972.
• L'Escargot entêté, Denoël, 1977.
• Topographie idéale pour une agression caractérisée, Denoël, 1975; Gallimard Folio, 1986.
• Les 1001 Années de la nostalgie, Denoël, 1979; Gallimard Folio, 1988.
• Le Vainqueur de coupe, Denoël, 1981; Gallimard Folio, 1989.
• Extinction de voix, poèmes, SNED, 1981.
• Le Démantèlement, Denoël, 1982.
• La Macération, Denoël, 1984.
• Greffe, Denoël, 1985.
• La Pluie, Denoël, 1987.
• La Prise de Gibraltar, Denoël, 1987.
• Le Désordre des choses, Denoël, 1991.
• Fis de la haine, Denoël, 1992; Gallimard Folio, 1994.
• Philippe Djian, Éd. du Rocher, 1992.
• Barbès-Palace, Éd. du Rocher, 1993.
• Timimoun, Denoël, 1994; Gallimard Folio, 1985.
• Mines de rien, théâtre, Denoël, 1995.
• Lettres algériennes, Grasset, 1995; Le Livre de Poche, 1997.
• La Vie à l'endroit, Grasset, 1997; Le Livre de poche 1999.
• Fascination, Grasset, 2000; Le Livre de poche 2002.
• Le Directeur des promenades, Éd. du Rocher, 2002.
• Cinq Fragments du désert, Barzakh, 2001; Éd. de l’Aube, 2002.
• Les Funérailles, Grasset, 2003.
• Peindre l’Orient, Éd. Zulma, 1996.
• Hôtel Saint Georges", Ed. Dar El-Gharb, 2007

Rachid Boudjedra has also been involved in writing a number of films. Chronique des années de braise (Chronicle of the Years of Fire), (dir. by Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina) which, in 1975 won the Palme d'or at the Cannes Festival, and in 1980 Ali au pays des mirages (Ahmed Rachedi) which won an award at the Festival of Carthage.

Notes

1. ^ Information on Algerian writers
2. ^ A page, in France, that summarizes Boudjedra's life

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