Rachid Boudjedra

Rachid Boudjedra (Arabic:رشيد بوجدرة) (b. September 5, 1941 in Ain Beida, Algeria) is an Algerian writer and educator who has published numerous poems, essays and novels. Before 1982, these were generally in French, but since then he has concentrated on writing in Arabic. [ [http://www.geocities.com/africanwriters/Countries/AuthorsAlgeria.html Information on Algerian writers] ] He was born in Aïn Beïda, Algeria, where he was active in the independence movement. He received his degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne , where he did research on Celine. Upon receiving his degree, he returned to Algeria to teach at Blida, but left after Houari Boumédienne seized power. He lived in France from 1969 till 1972, and then in Rabat, Morocco until 1975.

Boudjedra's fiction is written in a difficult, complex style, reminiscent of Faulkner or García Márquez in its intricacy. "La Répudiation" (1969, "The Repudiation") brought him sudden attention, both for the strength with which he challenged traditional Muslim culture in Algeria and for the strong reaction against him. Because a fatwa was issued which called for his death, he felt he had to live outside of Algeria. [ [http://perso.wanadoo.fr/calounet/biographies/boudjedra_biographie.htm A page, in France, that summarizes Boudjedra's life] ] Despite his reputation in both the Arabic- and French-speaking worlds, there is a dearth of English translations.

Further reading

* Ibn Warraq, "Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out", Prometheus (2003), ISBN 1591020689 - pp.102-3
* Farida Abu-Haidar, "Inscribing a Maghrebian Identity in French", in "Maghrebian Mosaic: A Literature in Transition", ed. Mildred Mortimer (2001) accessed at [http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=7&reading_id=14&sequence=1] Feb 27, 2007

Bibliography

*Lyons, Tom. (2001) Ambiguous narratives. "Cultural Anthropology", 16, 832-856.
*Lyons, Tom. (2003) The ethnographic novel and ethnography in colonial Algeria. "Modern Philology", 100 (4) 576-596

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