Why Algerian novels in French stir controversy about national identity

These four languages are standard Arabic, French, Algerian colloquial Arabic, and Amazigh. The mostly implicit rivalry between them is always motivated by political factors, rather than social or historical elements.

This rivalry has reached the literary field, making interactions between some of its figures more difficult. It has stoked flagrant disaffection among some figures, up to the point of feuds.

The poet Malek Haddad, the mentor of Ahlam Mosteghanemi, even called French "the language of the enemy" and abstained altogether from writing in it. Through his decision, Haddad squandered a sublime talent of writing great novels in French.

Spoils of war or common heritage?

It was quite fortunate that other Algerian writers did not follow Malek Haddad. Rather, they showed adequate flexibility in dealing with the language as a cultural reality that does not necessarily contradict their country's Arab identity.

Kateb Yacine, for example, has categorically rejected any accusations regarding his national identity based on his writings in French. Yacine pointed out that his use of French as a medium of expression is a reality imposed on him by the long French colonial presence, noting that he could only express himself in this language.

He said: "I write in French because France occupied my country and had a deep-anchored presence in it so that one had to speak and write in French in order to survive."

"Thus, when I write in French, this never negates my vivid Arab and Amazigh roots, and any prejudices made against me based on my use of French don't carry any weight. Those who produce these prejudices must recall that I write in French about subjects that are not French".

Kateb Yacine's views on French are shared by other Algerian novelists — especially those who belong to his generation.

They consider the use of French to not only be a reality imposed by the long colonisation of their country but also a common heritage, as expressed by the critic Christiane Chaulet-Achour in her book Francophonic Convergences.

Some of these writers also tend to think of the French language as a spoil of war and a right of the country that liberated itself from occupation.

Following the independence of Algeria and the emergence of early signs of a linguistic conflict between standard Arabic and French, Yacine took this pioneering view, writing: "The French language is our spoil of war. Why should we return it to the French Republic immediately following the cessation of hostilities between us?"

This vision helped motivate the elegant literary works that followed the country's independence and enabled a reconsideration of the Algerian people's connection to their past – not only regarding the French presence but also in terms of their internal relations.

This was evident in novels such as Samir Toumi's The Erasure published in 2016, and the bulk of Amin Zaoui's novels, but foremost his 2020 novel An Ice Wave. This novel tackles issues that are still taboo in Algerian history, along with the effect of French colonialism on current youth generations 60 years on from independence.

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Post-memory literature

These novels might be best described as dedicated to what the critics call post-memory literature since most of its pioneers did not live under the occupation or go through its intellectual and psychological shocks.

Meanwhile, it is true that Kateb Yacine, Rachid Boudjedra, Mouloud Feraoun, Assia Djebar, Mouloud Mammeri, and Malek Haddad witnessed this colonial period, which affected their literary legacy. Meanwhile, they are also current observers of the long-term effects of that era on the psychological, social, cultural, and political levels.

The current younger Algerian novelists sense that they are more affected by the French colonial era than their predecessors. They mostly deal with that era from the perspective of post-memory, a term that was invented by the American researcher Marianne Hirsch.

Their ways of tackling this colonial legacy vary. Some of them discuss it from an objective point of view, as in the works of Amin Zaoui, Yasmina Khadra, or Boualem Sansal. Others express clear hostility towards that time that goes in line with the official stance of the government, as in the writings of Noureddine Saadi.

Furthermore, other authors are in a sense sympathetic with the colonial era, such as Kaouther Adimi, Kamel Daoud, and Nadia Ghali.

Moving on from the spoils of war

However, the various ways through which Algerian novelists who write in French deal with their post-colonial memory are no indication of the degree of their patriotism or sense of belonging to their Arab or Amazigh origins.

Rather, it is an indication that they were striving to explore their identities through the memory passed down to them by previous generations, with varying and sometimes contradicting perspectives.     

This has also assisted in the creation of a new generation of novelists who managed to transform the French language from a war spoil to an entitled right.

Meanwhile, the novels of the new generation do not constitute a total rejection of French, as with Kateb Yacine in his novel Nedjma.

Instead, their novels attempt to converge with French literature, although the latter refuses to consider Francophonic writers as proper French writers, despite the numerous official appreciations and awards they might receive on the popular and critical levels.

This tendency among the modern generation of writers is in contrast with that of the first post-independence generation of novelists, who established their own distinctive literary voice that represented their culture and societies, even though they wrote in French.