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La libération du Juif
This book searches for a solution to liberating the Jew from centuries old prejudices
- GenresJewishNonfiction
352 pages, Pocket Book
First published January 1, 1966
4 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Albert Memmi
67 books138 followersTunisian Jewish writer and essayist who migrated to France.
Born in Tunisia under French protectorate, from a Tunisian Jewish mother, Marguerite Sarfati, and a Tunisian-Italian Jewish father, François Memmi, he speaks French and Tunisian-Judeo-Arabic. He claims to be of Berber ancestry. He was educated in French primary schools, and continued on to the Carnot high school in Tunis, the University of Algiers where he studied philosophy, and finally the Sorbonne in Paris. Albert Memmi found himself at the crossroads of three cultures, and based his work on the difficulty of finding a balance between the East and the West.
His best-known nonfiction work is "The Colonizer and the Colonized", about the interdependent relationship of the two groups. It was published in 1957, a time when many national liberation movements were active. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote the preface. The work is often read in conjunction with Frantz Fanon's "Les damnés de la Terre" ("The Wretched of the Earth") and "Peau noire, masques blancs" ("Black Skin, White Masks") and Aimé Césaire's "Discourse on Colonialism." In October 2006, Memmi's follow-up to this work, titled "Decolonization and the Decolonized," was published. In this book, Memmi suggests that in the wake of global decolonization, the suffering of former colonies cannot be attributed to the former colonizers, but to the corrupt leaders and governments that control these states.
Born in Tunisia under French protectorate, from a Tunisian Jewish mother, Marguerite Sarfati, and a Tunisian-Italian Jewish father, François Memmi, he speaks French and Tunisian-Judeo-Arabic. He claims to be of Berber ancestry. He was educated in French primary schools, and continued on to the Carnot high school in Tunis, the University of Algiers where he studied philosophy, and finally the Sorbonne in Paris. Albert Memmi found himself at the crossroads of three cultures, and based his work on the difficulty of finding a balance between the East and the West.
His best-known nonfiction work is "The Colonizer and the Colonized", about the interdependent relationship of the two groups. It was published in 1957, a time when many national liberation movements were active. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote the preface. The work is often read in conjunction with Frantz Fanon's "Les damnés de la Terre" ("The Wretched of the Earth") and "Peau noire, masques blancs" ("Black Skin, White Masks") and Aimé Césaire's "Discourse on Colonialism." In October 2006, Memmi's follow-up to this work, titled "Decolonization and the Decolonized," was published. In this book, Memmi suggests that in the wake of global decolonization, the suffering of former colonies cannot be attributed to the former colonizers, but to the corrupt leaders and governments that control these states.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 30, 2021
Un livre qui ne laisse pas indifférent. C'est ici que Memmi expose non seulement son analyse de la "condition juive", mais également ce qu'il considère comme la solution, l'issue : l'Etat d'Israël. C'est donc dans ce livre que l'un des précurseurs de la pensée anticoloniale finit par adopter et défendre la thèse sioniste.
L'auteur nous invite (avec insistance) à ne pas rejeter le "constat", c'est-à-dire l'analyse, quand on refuse ce remède. Certes, l'analyse ne manque pas d'intérêt, de profondeur et de finesse, d'autant plus que Memmi part souvent de son expérience personnelle, et qu'il reste l'un des meilleurs dans ce genre. Néanmoins, j'ai souvent eu l'impression que c'était la conclusion qui détermina l'analyse, pas l'inverse. J'ai aussi trouvé que l'analyse était basée sur un postulat pour le moins douteux, à savoir l'existence d'UN peuple juif. L'auteur y renvoie tout au long du livre, pour en donner à la fin une argumentation on ne peut plus sommaire. Il s'agit, à mon avis, de la faille majeure dans le raisonnement. Mais c'est peut-être injuste de juger Memmi des années 1960 avec les lunettes relativement neuves fournies par Shlomo Sand.
Par contre, ce qui est pour moi source de déception et de regret, c'est son refus obstiné de voir dans l'Etat d'Israël sa nature coloniale, et de considérer suffisamment l'oppression dont sont victimes les Palestiniens de la part de ce même Etat qui représente, à ses yeux, la libération des juifs. Encore une fois, je ne pense pas que ce reproche soit anachronique, les germes coloniales et oppressives étant présentes dès le départ. Elles étaient, en tout cas, trop claires pour que Memmi, qui fut l'un des plus fins analystes de la relation coloniale et des mécanismes d'oppression, ne les détecte pas.
L'auteur nous invite (avec insistance) à ne pas rejeter le "constat", c'est-à-dire l'analyse, quand on refuse ce remède. Certes, l'analyse ne manque pas d'intérêt, de profondeur et de finesse, d'autant plus que Memmi part souvent de son expérience personnelle, et qu'il reste l'un des meilleurs dans ce genre. Néanmoins, j'ai souvent eu l'impression que c'était la conclusion qui détermina l'analyse, pas l'inverse. J'ai aussi trouvé que l'analyse était basée sur un postulat pour le moins douteux, à savoir l'existence d'UN peuple juif. L'auteur y renvoie tout au long du livre, pour en donner à la fin une argumentation on ne peut plus sommaire. Il s'agit, à mon avis, de la faille majeure dans le raisonnement. Mais c'est peut-être injuste de juger Memmi des années 1960 avec les lunettes relativement neuves fournies par Shlomo Sand.
Par contre, ce qui est pour moi source de déception et de regret, c'est son refus obstiné de voir dans l'Etat d'Israël sa nature coloniale, et de considérer suffisamment l'oppression dont sont victimes les Palestiniens de la part de ce même Etat qui représente, à ses yeux, la libération des juifs. Encore une fois, je ne pense pas que ce reproche soit anachronique, les germes coloniales et oppressives étant présentes dès le départ. Elles étaient, en tout cas, trop claires pour que Memmi, qui fut l'un des plus fins analystes de la relation coloniale et des mécanismes d'oppression, ne les détecte pas.
August 16, 2024
This book genuinely changed my life. I have legitimately never read a book that so succinctly related to my thoughts and life experiences. Even though this book was written decades before I was born, it felt like Memmi was talking to me specifically.
July 12, 2025
Memmi is an absolute legend who remains tragically underappreciated and underrecognized, especially outside the Francophone world. His work offers an unparalleled account of Jewish life in French North Africa; there is truly nothing else like it. This book is a striking blend of autobiography, philosophy, political analysis, and nonfiction. Memmi brings a rare depth to his reflections on politics, Judaism, colonialism, decolonialism, and French culture.
Too often, the story of Jews in North Africa—particularly within colonized contexts—is written by non-Jews or framed through politicized lenses that fail to capture the full complexity and ambivalence of their position. What I value most in Memmi’s work is how deeply his lived experience informs his insight: he grew up in the Jewish ghetto, attended an Alliance Israélite Universelle school, and took part in Tunisia’s liberation. At the same time, he was an incisive and honest critic of the post-independence government, particularly for its role in fostering a climate of antisemitism that ultimately led to the exodus of the country’s historic Jewish population.
I grew up hearing stories about Jewish life in North Africa from my grandmother and her sisters: my great-grandfather’s café, the arrival of the Americans during the Allied landings that ended Vichy rule, the yearly pilgrimage to the tomb of a revered rabbi buried in their local cemetery, the legendary Jewish musicians of the era, and the food. She also spoke of rebuilding her life in post-war France, brick by brick. Memmi is the only writer I have encountered who captures the Jewish condition in these countries with both accuracy and emotional truth, with the love and critical eye of someone truly from a place, not reflecting on it after the fact or through an external, non-Jewish lens.
There is so little space today for a heretical thinker like Memmi because he was relentlessly honest with himself and with the world as he saw it. He refused to submit to any dogma, not even his own. Indeed, he shines the most when he contradicts himself: Memmi loved French culture while being critical of French colonialism. He believed in national liberation, yet did not shy away from criticizing how those movements have failed to deliver genuine freedom for their people. (Algeria comes to mind.) He rejected the endemic antisemitism of the Left, both in France and across the Muslim world, while remaining passionately committed to leftist causes. ("The Jew and the Revolution" is a perfect essay.) Memmi built a political vision that was honest because he allowed it to be honest, which is not easy or common. It takes a level of bravery I greatly admire.
Memmi is one of my favorite intellectuals. He is someone whose work I return to often. His writing continues to inspire, challenge, and provoke deep thought every time I engage with it.
It is a tragedy that "The Colonizer and the Colonized" remains his most well-known work. His writing on the “Jewish question” is just as powerful, if not more so. Perhaps Memmi’s greatest strength—his ideological independence—is still too radical for many to accept. But for those willing to meet him on his own terms, he remains an invaluable thinker.
"I am a Tunisian, but of French culture. I am Tunisian, but Jewish, which means that I am politically and socially an outcast. I speak the language of the country with a particular accent and emotionally I have nothing in common with Muslims. I am a Jew who has broken with the Jewish religion and the ghetto, is ignorant of Jewish culture and detests the middle class."
"All of my work has been in sum an inventory of my attachments; all of my work has been, it should be understood, a constant revolt against my attachments; all of my work, for certain, has been an attempt at...reconciliation between the different parts of myself."
Too often, the story of Jews in North Africa—particularly within colonized contexts—is written by non-Jews or framed through politicized lenses that fail to capture the full complexity and ambivalence of their position. What I value most in Memmi’s work is how deeply his lived experience informs his insight: he grew up in the Jewish ghetto, attended an Alliance Israélite Universelle school, and took part in Tunisia’s liberation. At the same time, he was an incisive and honest critic of the post-independence government, particularly for its role in fostering a climate of antisemitism that ultimately led to the exodus of the country’s historic Jewish population.
I grew up hearing stories about Jewish life in North Africa from my grandmother and her sisters: my great-grandfather’s café, the arrival of the Americans during the Allied landings that ended Vichy rule, the yearly pilgrimage to the tomb of a revered rabbi buried in their local cemetery, the legendary Jewish musicians of the era, and the food. She also spoke of rebuilding her life in post-war France, brick by brick. Memmi is the only writer I have encountered who captures the Jewish condition in these countries with both accuracy and emotional truth, with the love and critical eye of someone truly from a place, not reflecting on it after the fact or through an external, non-Jewish lens.
There is so little space today for a heretical thinker like Memmi because he was relentlessly honest with himself and with the world as he saw it. He refused to submit to any dogma, not even his own. Indeed, he shines the most when he contradicts himself: Memmi loved French culture while being critical of French colonialism. He believed in national liberation, yet did not shy away from criticizing how those movements have failed to deliver genuine freedom for their people. (Algeria comes to mind.) He rejected the endemic antisemitism of the Left, both in France and across the Muslim world, while remaining passionately committed to leftist causes. ("The Jew and the Revolution" is a perfect essay.) Memmi built a political vision that was honest because he allowed it to be honest, which is not easy or common. It takes a level of bravery I greatly admire.
Memmi is one of my favorite intellectuals. He is someone whose work I return to often. His writing continues to inspire, challenge, and provoke deep thought every time I engage with it.
It is a tragedy that "The Colonizer and the Colonized" remains his most well-known work. His writing on the “Jewish question” is just as powerful, if not more so. Perhaps Memmi’s greatest strength—his ideological independence—is still too radical for many to accept. But for those willing to meet him on his own terms, he remains an invaluable thinker.
"I am a Tunisian, but of French culture. I am Tunisian, but Jewish, which means that I am politically and socially an outcast. I speak the language of the country with a particular accent and emotionally I have nothing in common with Muslims. I am a Jew who has broken with the Jewish religion and the ghetto, is ignorant of Jewish culture and detests the middle class."
"All of my work has been in sum an inventory of my attachments; all of my work has been, it should be understood, a constant revolt against my attachments; all of my work, for certain, has been an attempt at...reconciliation between the different parts of myself."
April 4, 2024
𝔸 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕪𝕖. 𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕒𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕖𝕞𝕞𝕚 𝕠𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕀 𝕕𝕚𝕕, 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕁𝕖𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕙. ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℙ𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕞.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews