Journal, 1955-1962: Reflections on the French-Algerian War [Paperback]

Mouloud Feraoun (Author), James D. Le Sueur (Editor, Introduction), Mary Ellen Wolf (Translator), Claude Fouillade (Translator), James D. Le Sueur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

“This honest man, this good man, this man who never did wrong to anyone, who devoted his life to the public good, and who was one of the greatest writers in Algeria, has been murdered. . . . Not by accident, not by mistake, but called by his name and killed with preference.” So wrote Germaine Tillion in Le Monde shortly after Mouloud Feraoun’s assassination by a right wing French terrorist group, the Organisation Armée Secrète, just three days before the official cease-fire ended Algeria’s eight-year battle for independence from France.

However, not even the gunmen of the OAS could prevent Feraoun’s journal from being published. Journal, 1955–1962 appeared posthumously in French in 1962 and remains the single most important account of everyday life in Algeria during decolonization.

Feraoun was one of Algeria’s leading writers. He was a friend of Albert Camus, Emmanuel Roblès, Pierre Bourdieu, and other French and North African intellectuals. A committed teacher, he had dedicated his life to preparing Algeria’s youth for a better future. As a Muslim and Kabyle writer, his reflections on the war in Algeria afford penetrating insights into the nuances of Algerian nationalism, as well as into complex aspects of intellectual, colonial, and national identity. Feraoun’s Journal captures the heartbreak of a writer profoundly aware of the social and political turmoil of the time. This classic account, now available in English, should be read by anyone interested in the history of European colonialism and the tragedies of contemporary Algeria.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Feraoun never fit into a neat category in colonial Algeria. He was a Muslim who counted French intellectuals among his closest friends, including Albert Camus. Although an Algerian nationalist, he was a Berber who neither spoke nor wrote Arabic. As a result, his journal brings a unique perspective to what was perhaps the most brutal of the anticolonial wars. This is not a chronicle of the war itself; rather, it is an intensely personal memoir detailing how the savage conflict affected the daily lives of people on both sides of the divide. Feraoun is clearly sympathetic to the rebel cause, but he is no mere shill for their side. He passionately examines the human condition with all its flaws and nobility, yet he occasionally describes events with an eerie detachment. Since he was assassinated by a French terrorist group just three days before the cease-fire that ended the war, his account is especially poignant. An emotionally draining and important work. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

After years of anticolonial and post colonial theory, Feraoun's journal is truly refreshing to read. -- The New Republic, November 6, 2000

Feraoun's Journal reads like a message in a bottle.... [It is] such a timely and timeless historical, political, literary, and human document. -- The Village Voice, January 10-16, 2001

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Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080326903X
• ISBN-13: 978-0803269033
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > History > Africa > Algeria

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading On Algeria For English Reader, July 19, 2001

By 

Kevin Connelly (San Bruno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Journal, 1955-1962: Reflections on the French-Algerian War (Paperback)

There are a few important works on the Algerian Civil War available for the English reader. Franz Fannon, Alistair Horne's history, the film "Battle of Algiers, and recently Feraoun's diary are the ones that readily come to mind. Feraoun was a western educated Algerian and well accquainted with the French. His desire for an independent Algeria was strong, but tempered by a strong sense of historical reality. He reveals the day to day impact of the violence. It is in this respect that the work is most moving, and reveals the senselessness and degradation that occurs to all people involved, Feraoun eventually a victim himself. An essential view of the psychological costs of guerrilla and anti-colonial war.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Appropriate reading at a time like this, December 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Journal, 1955-1962: Reflections on the French-Algerian War (Paperback)

First, I will comment on the book itself from an American point of view. The book is not easy to read because it is not a book: it is the author's journal he kept during the French Algerian War. Knowing that still, his journal entries, which at the beginning were frequent and detailed, were focused on keeping track of who was killed, tortured or who was doing the killings. It was as if the author, Mr. F.(his notation of using people's initials to hide their identity from I suppose the French secret police), was keeping a testimony of the murders occurring all around him as evidence. This makes for dull reading; however, given the events of 9-11, I made a valiant effort to immerse myself into the author's mind and try to understand this incredibly brutal civil war.

(...)

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tahia El Djezair!, February 23, 2009

By 

Jack Cade (Mass. USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Journal, 1955-1962: Reflections on the French-Algerian War (Paperback)

I gave this book five stars--I should point out that even in English it is difficult--perhaps the translators intention. For example often it is difficult to find the antecedent to a particular pronoun.
I read this book first because it is one of the few I could find in English written by an Algerian (Feraoun was Kabyle and spoke no Arabic ironically) second because it is nuanced and though pro-FLN is not propaganda. I should state that after what my father told me he had witnessed at Setif in 1945 I am perfectly content with the most extreme condemnation of the French whose conduct makes any sanctimonious condemnation of "the brutality of Islam" a farce. (I should add the US follows the French --even to the point of having former French torturers train US army soldiers--this is verifiable ((see latest editition of The Question--by Alleg for verification)). Nevertheless I felt that the views of a "moderate"--and at the time one of Algeria's greatest writers should be respected--and indeed they complicate the whole problematic of the war--though not for me. I do not like propaganda and am not oblivious to the savagery of the war on both sides. But now more knowledable say about FLN's "brutality" my support for them has not wavered only grown. Anti-Colonial fighting is not a sentimental business and the FLN did things it should not have in my opinion. Having said that however it is well to remember that NONE of this would have happened had the French not decided to invade Algeria in 1830--had they not locked up whole communities in caves during the 19th century --and let them starve to death. Even Pontecorvo's great film does not present the real savagery of the French who are in the end responsible for ALL of the deaths of the Algerians between 1954-62 (1/9 of the whole muslim population) WHETHER OR NOT "indigenes" were killed by the liberation forces. It is the same in Iraq Afghanistan and Palestine.
Feraoun--friend of Camus, lover of French culture--a man who deplored the few French "improvements" destroyed by the Liberation forces--a man who loved France and Algeria was murdered by the OAS three days before the war ceased.