Taos Amrouche

Amrouche, Marie-Louise-Taos (1913-67). Daughter of Fadhma . Her autobiographical novel Rue des Tambourins (1960), published under the name Marguerite Taos, complements her mother's Histoire de ma vie, recounting from the adolescent's point of view the life of the Amrouche family in Tunis in the inter-war years. Jacinthe noire, written in 1935 but not published till 1947, the first novel in French by a Berber woman, is based on the author's arrival in France to study and the disturbing impact of her exotic origins on the inmates of the claustrophobic Catholic hostel where she is lodged. The narrator is a French girl who falls under the spell of this ‘Black Hyacinth’. Taos's third semi-autobiographical novel, L'Amant imaginaire, appeared in 1975. With her brother Jean, she was passionately dedicated to preserving the Kabyle cultural heritage. Inheriting her mother's gift of song, she became a celebrated chanteuse, presenting traditional Kabyle songs throughout Europe, and translating Berber tales, songs, poems, and proverbs into French (published as Le Grain magique, 1960).

[Dorothy Blair]

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Marie-Louise-Taos Amrouche (4 March 1913 in Tunis, Tunisia - 2 April 1976 in Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire, France) was an Algerian writer and singer.

She was born to a family of Kabyle Roman Catholic converts. She was the first Algerian female writer. Her first novel Jacinthe noir (an autobiographical novel) was published in 1947 . Her mother Fadhma Aït Mansour had a great impact on her life. Her literary style reflected the oral traditions of Kabylie, descended from her mother. With her compilation of tales and poems La Grain magique in 1966 , she took the nom de plume Marguerite-Taos, Marguerite was her mother's Christian name.

While she wrote in French, she sang in Kabyle. Her first album Chants berbères de Kabylie, which was a great success, was a collection of traditional Kabyle songs that were translated to French by her elder brother Jean Amrouche in 1939 . She was an activist in Berber issues and she was among the founders of Académie berbère in 1966.

Writing

• Jacinthe noire (1947) - reprint Joëlle Losfeld (1996), ISBN 2909906639
• La Grain magique (1966) - reprint La Découverte (2000), ISBN 2707125784
• Rue des tambourins (1969) - reprint Joëlle Losfeld (1996), ISBN 2909906620
• L’amant imaginaire (1975)

Further reading

• Denise Brahimi, Taos Amrouche, romancière, Joëlle Losfeld (1995), ISBN 2909906574

External links

• Bio details, bibliomonde.net - in French

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