Lisa Lieberman's Blog - Posts Tagged "algeria"

In honor of "Dirty War," my new title on Now and Then Reader.

The shock value of “The Battle of Algiers” did not reside in its revelation of French brutality, difficult as the scenes of torture are to view. I think it was the film’s glorification of revolution...

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The NYT Book Review published a wonderful review of Camus's Algerian Chronicles, a collection of his writings on the intractable battle between the French government and Algerian nationalists in his native country -- and on all those trapped between the warring factions.

Here's an excerpt:

Even more eloquent, perhaps, are his remarks on the responsibility of intellectuals in times of hatred: “It is to explain the meaning of words in such a way as to sober minds and calm fanaticisms.” Great writer that he was, Camus placed hope in the calming power of language carefully used, and of reason; in the preface, he asks his readers to “set their ideological reflexes aside for a moment and just think.”

My own essay, Dirty War, explores Camus's dilemma in the context of postwar French history.

This month's column over at Three Quarks Daily is on Days of Glory, a powerful film by Algerian-French director Rachid Bouchareb about North African soldiers who fought to liberate France in World War II.