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AU CAFE
Reflecting distinct and important stages in thecareer of the preeminent Algerian writer Mohammed Dib, ""Atthe Caf " and "The Talisman"" bringstogether two collections that embroider on themes relating to the Algerian War forIndependence (1954--1962). "At the Caf, " publishedin 1955, is mostly realistic in style and illustrates particularly well Dib'suncanny talent for storytelling. "The Talisman, "published eleven years later, reflects Dib's growing penchant for relating hisperception of the magical or mystical qualities underlying everydayreality. When he wrote "At theCaf, " Dib felt it was his duty to witness or testify on behalf ofthe downtrodden of Algeria under French colonial rule. Three stories in thiscollection -- "Little Cousin," "A Fine Wedding,"and "The Long Wait" -- poignantly describe the rampant poverty, hunger, sickness, and despair that prevailed under French rule. In others, such asthe titular story and "Forbidden Lands," Dib gives a voice tothose who had been silenced but who were slowly learning to make themselves heard.On the eve of the war for independence, Dib felt obligated -- as does theprotagonist, Djeha, in "The Companion" -- to take a stand onaffirming one's role within the community and takeaction. In "TheTalisman, " Dib no longer feels the need to testify. Althoughcolonialism and the brutality of war are still central threads, his treatment ofthem in this collection is more scathingly critical. Dib's style also shifts fromthe naturalism dominant in his earlier writing, showing a marked interest in thefantastic or magical. The under-lying themes in this collection take up, among otherthings, an obsession with the experience of death, a fascination with madness, thedecrypting of symbols, the quest for a primordial language, and the possibilities ofspiritual transcendence.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Mohammed Dib
63 books124 followersAlgerian poet and novelist. Born in Tlemcen, Dib held various jobs as a teacher, accountant, weaver and rug designer, interpreter, and journalist before turning to full-time writing. In 1959 he moved to France, where he has continued to reside, although he returns regularly to Algeria.
With the death of Kateb Yacine in 1989, Dib became the undisputed doyen of Algerian literature. He was not only one of the first Maghrebian francophone authors of the post-World War II renaissance, publishing poems as early as 1947, but also continued to be both prolific and innovative. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Dib has constantly sought to renew and revitalize his writing. Besides being Algeria's foremost living novelist, he is a major poet.
Dib was, with Feraoun, Mammeri, and Kateb, a member of the ‘Generation of 52’, so dubbed because of the appearance in 1952 of important first novels by Dib (La Grande Maison) and Mammeri (La Colline oubliée) and sometimes renamed the ‘Generation of 54’ to refer to the major political event of modern Algerian history, the outbreak of the war of independence.
La Grande Maison, the first volume of a loosely knit trilogy (L'Algérie), is a naturalistic description of life in the streets and housing projects where the poor live. In this work the main characters are, in Zolaesque fashion, subordinate to the looming allegorical presence of Hunger. The remaining volumes (L'Incendie, 1954; Le Métier à tisser, 1957) continue to reflect Dib's left-wing social and political commitments during the 1940s and 1950s. His early novels have been widely read in Algeria and have been introduced into the school and university curricula.
Dib's work took a dramatic turn in the early 1960s when he forsook the naturalistic, ‘ethnographic’ novel for a more interiorized and oneiric discourse. His best known novel, Qui se souvient de la mer (1962), ostensibly deals with the Algerian War, but is particularly remarkable for its many-layered, surreal, and futuristic imagery. In a liminary note, Dib acknowledges the importance to his creative vision of Picasso's Guernica and science fiction, but we also find evidence of the influence of Freud and Jung in the subterranean and oceanic worlds where the action unfolds as well as in the mythic portrayal of the woman and the mother.
Dib also published, at this time, the first of a series of brilliant collections of poetry. Ombre gardienne (1961), although highly rarefied, provides an early link to the novels, for several of the texts in the collection first appeared as songs inserted into the trilogy. If the prose has evolved over the years, the poetry has, on the contrary, remained fairly consistent in style, perhaps because, as Dib once remarked, he is unable to practise spontaneous automatic writing in writing his novels—even when the result seems oneiric—whereas he often uses such procedures in composing the poems.
Dib's many novels may be divided roughly into four groups: the early naturalistic trilogy; the interiorized psychological, oneiric novels, usually set in Algeria (Qui se souvient de la mer; Cours sur la rive sauvage, 1964; La Danse du roi, 1968; Habel, 1977); the two novels of an unfinished trilogy about Algeria during the years of crisis in the early 1970s (Dieu en Barbarie, 1970; Le Maître de chasse, 1973); and the ‘nordic novels’ set in Algeria, Finland, and France (Les Terrasses d'Orsol, 1985; Le Sommeil d'Ève, 1989; Neiges de marbre, 1990). Some works defy easy classification, however, being transitional, such as some of the early short stories in Au café (1955) and Le Talisman (1966) and the at-once realistic and psychological Un été africain (1959), in which the identity quest of a young girl unfolds before the muted sounds and imagery of the Algerian War.
Dib's poems in Formulaires (1970), Omneros (1975), Feu beau feu (1979), and Ô vive (1987) are hermetic and derive much of their power from their linguistic virtu
With the death of Kateb Yacine in 1989, Dib became the undisputed doyen of Algerian literature. He was not only one of the first Maghrebian francophone authors of the post-World War II renaissance, publishing poems as early as 1947, but also continued to be both prolific and innovative. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Dib has constantly sought to renew and revitalize his writing. Besides being Algeria's foremost living novelist, he is a major poet.
Dib was, with Feraoun, Mammeri, and Kateb, a member of the ‘Generation of 52’, so dubbed because of the appearance in 1952 of important first novels by Dib (La Grande Maison) and Mammeri (La Colline oubliée) and sometimes renamed the ‘Generation of 54’ to refer to the major political event of modern Algerian history, the outbreak of the war of independence.
La Grande Maison, the first volume of a loosely knit trilogy (L'Algérie), is a naturalistic description of life in the streets and housing projects where the poor live. In this work the main characters are, in Zolaesque fashion, subordinate to the looming allegorical presence of Hunger. The remaining volumes (L'Incendie, 1954; Le Métier à tisser, 1957) continue to reflect Dib's left-wing social and political commitments during the 1940s and 1950s. His early novels have been widely read in Algeria and have been introduced into the school and university curricula.
Dib's work took a dramatic turn in the early 1960s when he forsook the naturalistic, ‘ethnographic’ novel for a more interiorized and oneiric discourse. His best known novel, Qui se souvient de la mer (1962), ostensibly deals with the Algerian War, but is particularly remarkable for its many-layered, surreal, and futuristic imagery. In a liminary note, Dib acknowledges the importance to his creative vision of Picasso's Guernica and science fiction, but we also find evidence of the influence of Freud and Jung in the subterranean and oceanic worlds where the action unfolds as well as in the mythic portrayal of the woman and the mother.
Dib also published, at this time, the first of a series of brilliant collections of poetry. Ombre gardienne (1961), although highly rarefied, provides an early link to the novels, for several of the texts in the collection first appeared as songs inserted into the trilogy. If the prose has evolved over the years, the poetry has, on the contrary, remained fairly consistent in style, perhaps because, as Dib once remarked, he is unable to practise spontaneous automatic writing in writing his novels—even when the result seems oneiric—whereas he often uses such procedures in composing the poems.
Dib's many novels may be divided roughly into four groups: the early naturalistic trilogy; the interiorized psychological, oneiric novels, usually set in Algeria (Qui se souvient de la mer; Cours sur la rive sauvage, 1964; La Danse du roi, 1968; Habel, 1977); the two novels of an unfinished trilogy about Algeria during the years of crisis in the early 1970s (Dieu en Barbarie, 1970; Le Maître de chasse, 1973); and the ‘nordic novels’ set in Algeria, Finland, and France (Les Terrasses d'Orsol, 1985; Le Sommeil d'Ève, 1989; Neiges de marbre, 1990). Some works defy easy classification, however, being transitional, such as some of the early short stories in Au café (1955) and Le Talisman (1966) and the at-once realistic and psychological Un été africain (1959), in which the identity quest of a young girl unfolds before the muted sounds and imagery of the Algerian War.
Dib's poems in Formulaires (1970), Omneros (1975), Feu beau feu (1979), and Ô vive (1987) are hermetic and derive much of their power from their linguistic virtu
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 21, 2025
Literární cestu po Alžírsku zahajuju jedním z jeho neznámějších autorů, takže skutečnost, že tahle útlá sbírka povídek z roku 1955 má na Goodreads jenom čtyři recenze, mě docela překvapila.
Mohammed Dib v téhle kratičcé knížce, co se dá snadno přečíst za jedno odpoledne, přibližuje čtenářům běžný život chudých Alžířanů i koloniální útisk. Píše skoro až minimalisticky a jeho povídky nemají moc děje, ale jako první kulturní vhled do největší země Afriky mi to za těch pár hodin stálo.
Jsou to lidé tvrdí a drsní. Neznají žádná rozptýlení, nevědí, co je to zábava. Těžké zápasy s půdou jim nahrazují vše, minulost, budoucnost, radost i smutek... V zápasu s půdou je pro ně souhrn všeho, čemu se člověk v životě naučí, i všech pocitů, které jím otřesou.
Mohammed Dib v téhle kratičcé knížce, co se dá snadno přečíst za jedno odpoledne, přibližuje čtenářům běžný život chudých Alžířanů i koloniální útisk. Píše skoro až minimalisticky a jeho povídky nemají moc děje, ale jako první kulturní vhled do největší země Afriky mi to za těch pár hodin stálo.
Jsou to lidé tvrdí a drsní. Neznají žádná rozptýlení, nevědí, co je to zábava. Těžké zápasy s půdou jim nahrazují vše, minulost, budoucnost, radost i smutek... V zápasu s půdou je pro ně souhrn všeho, čemu se člověk v životě naučí, i všech pocitů, které jím otřesou.
January 17, 2024
Je découvre Mohamed Dib avec ce livre plein de magnifiques nouvelles, j’ai donné 5 étoiles au live pour la nouvelle “l’héritier enchanté ” je suis passé partout les états et l’écriture est magistrale
May 22, 2023
i love algerian literature (i hate that i had to read it translated though, it breaks my heart)
December 17, 2024
la littérature algérienne ne cessera de splendidement me surprendre
July 8, 2025
vraiment bien juste j’ai toujours du mal avec les nouvelles
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews