Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (C a R a F Books) (Hardcover)

by Assia Djebar (Author) "A young woman's head, blindfolded, neck thrown backward, hair pulled back-the fog in the narrow room prevents one from seeing its color-either light chestnut, auburn..." (more)
Key Phrases: severed sound, alouettes naives, forbidden gaze, Yemma Hadda, Lla Fatouma, The Woman Who Weeps (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Like the 19th-century Delacroix paintings of harem women from which it takes its title, this collection of six stories and an essay--published in 1980 in French--depicts moments in the lives of Algerian women. More than a century after Delacroix, and three decades after Algeria won its political independence from France, these Muslim women are still cultural prisoners. In the long title story, Sarah is only one of many characters straddling past and present: scarred from years of torture and prison, now married (to a man she chose for herself) and making a documentary about Algiers, she still goes to the Turkish baths and participates in the old rituals. Like her creator, she can "see only one single way to unblock everything: talk, talk without stopping . . . " The author of seven novels and the scripts for two films, Djebar records the talk: "Fragmented, remembered, reconstituted conversations . . . Fictitious accounts . . . uttered from lips beneath a mask." Even in translation the prose can be vividly pictorial as well as poetic, but it also tends to be opaque, and--aside from those of one or two shorter pieces--the story lines are hard to follow. In an essay and an interview with Djebar, Zimra provides biographical information and also conveys Djebar's intense personal voice.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The subjects of the title--after the painting of the same name by Delacroix depicting a 19th-century Algerian harem scene--have witnessed little change in their status during the century separating the two works. The post-colonial culture and political order have alienated women and perpetuated the male-dominated society in spite of the active role Algerian women played during the struggle for independence. Stories like "There Is No Exile" and "The Dead Speak" reflect how women of Algiers and elsewhere in Muslim countries have been taken in. Though denounced in Algeria for some time because of its criticism of the social and political establishment, this collection, written in French between 1959 and 1978, has had great success in France and Italy. Recommended for most libraries.
- Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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• Hardcover: 211 pages
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813914027
• ISBN-13: 978-0813914022
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
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• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,543,692 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
  
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• In-Print Editions: Paperback  |  All Editions