Isabelle l'Algérien

by Leïla Sebbar

Isabelle Eberhardt. Genève, 1877, Aïn Sefra, 1904. Dix nouvelles de Leïla Sebbar.
Un portrait d'Isabelle Eberhardt en Algérie, le pays de l'exil heureux.

On entend la voix et les mots des humbles (soldats indigènes, paysans, bagnards, nomades, prostituées, légionnaires) et des dignitaires qu'elle a croisés (officiers de Saint-Cyr dans les Bureaux arabes, chefs de confréries musulmanes, fils de grande tente, hommes de lettres "algérianistes"). On entend aussi le spahi Slimène, le mari d'Isabelle, Lyautey, Lella Benaben à Alger, Lella Zeyneb à El Hamel.

Apparaît Isabelle l'Algérien. Musulmane, fumeur de kif, espionne, jeune lettré, débauchée... Insaisissable.

Cavalier arabe, elle nomadise entre exaltation et mélancolie. Elle a aimé le désert et l'Islam au désert.

81 pages, Unknown Binding

Published March 1, 2005

About the author

Leïla Sebbar is an Algerian author, the daughter of a French mother and an Algerian father. She spent her youth in colonial Algeria but now lives in Paris and writes in French. She writes about the relationship between France and Algeria and often juxtaposes the imagery of both countries to show the difference in cultures between the two.

Sebbar deals with a variety of topics, and either adopts a purely fictional approach or uses psychology to make her point. Many of Sebbar's novels express the frustrations of the Beur, the second generation of Maghribi youth who were born and raised in France and who have not yet integrated into French society. Her book Parle mon fils, parle à ta mère (1984; Talk son, talk to your mother), illustrates the absence of dialogue between two generations who do not speak the same language.