The Language of Exile: On the algerian Writer assia Djebar.

Abstract

The article explores the works of the algerian Francophone writer assia Djebar. Her task is to find a way to avoid the two extremes, or contradictions, of either being incorporated as a woman and a writer into a French literary tradition or being reified in the local and primordial in algerian culture. For this purpose, the concept of “translation” in Djebar’s writings is analyzed, especially as regards her practice of infusing the French language with arabic influences. In this way she “bi-tongues”, or translates into French foreign history, algerian experiences and voices. This is a form of deconstruction, drawing on Derrida’s term “différance”, which entails deferral and difference, within the language itself. Djebar, thus, rewrites her own story, and that of other women, from the perspective of the Other – whether it involves French colonialism or algerian patriarchy. Djebar highlights the oppression and silencing of algerian women from historical and contemporary perspectives, while at the same time underlining their various forms of resistance.