التطليق

by Rachid Boudjedra, Rachid Boudjedra

Un jeune Algérien raconte à son amante étrangère les péripéties hallucinées de son histoire marquée par la répudiation de sa mère.Ce roman met à nu la société traditionnelle où la sexualité débridée, la superstition et l'hypocrisie forment la trame romanesque - transcendée par une écriture flamboyante - d'une enfance saccagée.

Genres: Algeria

Paperback

First published November 1, 1969

About the author

Rashid Boudjedra, رشيد بوجدرة, (born September 5, 1941, Aïn Beïda, Algeria) prolific and revolutionary Algerian writer whose first novel, La Répudiation (1969; The Repudiation), gained notoriety because of its explicit language and frontal assault on Muslim traditionalism in contemporary Algeria. Because of that work, Boudjedra was hailed as the leader of a new movement of experimental fiction.

Boudjedra was given a traditional Muslim upbringing in Algeria and Tunisia, then continued his education in Spain, Algeria, and Paris, where he obtained a degree in philosophy at the Sorbonne. He later taught philosophy in Paris and at Rabat, Morocco, before returning to Algeria and working for the Algerian Bureau of Cinematography.

La Répudiation drew upon Boudjedra’s difficult youth. Conventional values and the smug complacency of the established powers in newly independent Algeria were rejected by Boudjedra, whose unorthodox sexual fury and lyrical savagery defied traditional morality. Boudjedra’s next novel, L’Insolation (1972; “Sunstroke”), evoked experimental states of mind, confounding dream with reality. His later works employed different styles. Topographie idéale pour une agression caractérisée (1975; “Ideal Topography for a Specific Aggression”) took as its protagonist an illiterate Berber peasant drawn to the city by the prospect of work; lost in the capital’s subway, he is bombarded by a host of bewildering scenes and events. In L’Escargot entêté (1977; The Obstinate Snail), a petty bureaucrat exposes his mediocre life and values, symbolizing the incompleteness of the Algerian revolution. With Les 1001 Années de la nostalgie (1979; “1,001 Years of Nostalgia”), Boudjedra created a satire of an imaginary Saharan village confronted with what he viewed as the newest symbol of contemporary cultural imperialism, an American film company. After writing his first several novels in French, Boudjedra switched to Arabic, often translating his own work into French. He returned to writing in French in the 1990s. His later works include Le Démantèlement (1982; “The Dismantling”); Greffe (1984; “Graft”), a collection of poems; Le Désordre des choses (1991; “The Disorder of Things”); Les Figuiers de barbarie (2010; The Barbary Figs); and Printemps (2014; “Spring”).

Reviews

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

En un modesto departamento frente al mar, Rachid cuenta a su amante francesa una desordenada historia de su vida; esta narración forma parte de la compleja relación de poder de la pareja, y está contada en forma alambricada, obsesivamente fijada en aspectos traumáticos de su vida. El estilo recuerda a García Márquez, contemporáneo de Boujedra, y más aún, por la sensación de locura, a "El obsceno pájaro de la noche", del chileno José Donoso. Es un libro que me ha costado mucho leer; he avanzado muchas veces a ciegas, y recién he podido entender en forma retrospectiva a medida que avanzaba en la lectura. Reconociendo sus méritos literarios, no se la recomendaría a un amigo, salvo que fuera psiquiatra o cultor de la literatura tortuosa.
PD: Aclaro que influyó en mi displacer y en mi reseña desfavorable, el hecho de que en gran parte de la novela no entendía que estaba pasando; entre otras cosas, cuando habla de Ma ¿Se refiere a una persona (tal vez su madre) o se refiere a algún lugar?

[Nana Fredua-Agyeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Repudiation (Three Continent Press, 1995 (First Pub. 1969); 195) by Rashid Boudjedra investigates the lives of a people from the home to the nation-state. This focused investigation begins at the mirco or family level and progresses gradually, adding on several limbs, to the macro or national level. Regardless of the issues being investigated – religion, sex and sexual orientation, the state, plight and rights of women in a patriarchal state – the theme of ‘repudiation’ runs through them all.

continue reading here http://freduagyeman.blogspot.com/2012...

[WALID · Rating 4 out of 5]

يكشف رشيد بوجدرة في راواية التطليق والتي أعتبرها افضل رواية له، يكشف بورة ويفضح سلبيات المجتمع الجزائري في اواخر الفترة الاستعمارية ، المشاكل الاجتماعية ذات الطابع الديني ..... قصة الاب "سي زبير " الرجل الثري شيخ القبيلة الرجل الذكوري الفحل الذي يتباهئ بكثرة زوجاته وخليلاته وقحباته التي لايمل من مضاجعتهن ........قصة الزوجة الاولى الخانعة الراضية بظلم الزوج وأهله ....قصة زاهر و رشيد و سيلين ......إرهاصات الثورة وبداية الحركة الوطنية ......قضايا فلسفية وإجتماعية عميقة ....كل هذه الأشياء تجتمع في رواية التطليق .

[Abraham Fofana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best ever