Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-270). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2002. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-270).

The Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), which brought an end to over a century of French colonial dominance in Algeria, is widely viewed as one of the most violent wars of decolonisation, the repercussions of which continue to prove pertinent to contemporary French society. After a thirty-seven year period of widely acknowledged state amnesia in France, the French government finally recognised the Franco-Algerian conflict as a war in 1999. This phase of forgetting persisted in spite of the visible reminder constituted by the sizeable population of Algerian origin living in France: a population that bears the legacy and memory of the war and transmits it to subsequent generations. The hesitation of the state to confront its colonial past in this way has exacerbated the sense of exclusion of France’s Algerian population, and has hindered its capacity to integrate into French society. Through a study of literature, this thesis addresses these issues of remembrance and exclusion. Taking as its primary corpus novels by four authors who embody the divisive past shared by France and Algeria – Azouz Begag, Mehdi Charef, Mounsi, and Leïla Sebbar – this study investigates the ways in which Franco-Algerian literature has represented the marginalisation of France’s ethnic Algerian population, and posited routes of escape from this marginalisation. Furthermore, it analyses the extent to which the primary texts challenge the history of silence maintained for so long by the French government, and bring to light instead a complex, plural historical narrative as opposed to the monolithic version of history put forward by the state. By examining texts published between 1981 and 1999, the thesis traces the increased presence of the children of Algerian migrants in French society during the 1980s, which leads into a greater attention to history and a wave of remembrance in the 1990s, prefiguring the eventual official acknowledgment of the Algerian War by the French government in 1999.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Notre thèse a pour enjeu la poétique de la distance dans les fictions de dix écrivains français et francophones de la seconde génération de la guerre d'Algérie (1954-1962), c'est à dire à distance de cet événement. Leurs fictions, publiées entre 1987 et 2010, interrogent la transmission et la filiation. / Doctorat en Langues et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

D.Litt. et Phil. / The broad aim of the present study was an exploration of the representation of women in the novels of the Maghreb written in French. Two questions provided obvious and logical starting points: Is the fairly aggressive feminism that is so integral to current Western writing equally evident in the fiction of countries where the position of women is governed by religious conviction? Does the fiction emanating from the pens of male authors differ, in the way it reflects this problem, from the fiction written by women?

Narrative Bonds: Female Friendship, Affect, and Politics in Novels by 20th-century Francophone Women Writers examines the link between friendship and politics in novels by the Algerian writers Assia Djebar and Taos Amrouche, the Haitian writer Marie Chauvet, and the French writer Claire Etcherelli. In fiction, Francophone women writers develop their own definitions of female friendship, departing from the idealized notions in classical philosophy. I argue that the desire for dyadic friendship between women is an organizing force in women’s writing of the 1940s-1960s, although it may initially appear to be a minor concern. Historically not included in philosophical treatises on friendship, women are excluded from the category of “friends,” and must imagine a form of friendship that they can participate in before making and becoming friends. My dissertation analyzes the literary affect of negation, in which women must feel an absence or impossibility of friendship before they can then define female friendships on their own terms. I argue that female friendship is a form of relations that is new, troubling, and exciting for these women. In the works of my corpus, friendship is inextricable from political awakening and anti-colonial and anti-patriarchal resistance. As women’s political status changed in France, Haiti, and Algeria, women became more fully able to imagine themselves as both subjects and friends.

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L'importance de l'Histoire dans l'œuvre de Rachid Boudjedra fait l'unanimité des critiques. En s'appuyant sur la narratologie et plus particulièrement sur la théorie du langage performatif de John Langshow Austin, le présent travail tâche de démontrer que la construction de ses romans est mobilisée dans l'objectif de faire émerger l'histoire de l'Algérie et du monde arabe tout en se distinguant de l'écriture de l'historien. Sans s'arrêter à la simple mention des événements historiques, l'Histoire dans l'écriture romanesque de Boudjedra les retrace en tant que mémoire individuelle. Cette posture amène l'écrivain à manipuler les faits et les textes historiques et ainsi à brouiller la frontière entre la fiction et l'histoire. Cette approche constitue, pour l'auteur, un acte d'appropriation d'une Histoire dépossédée par le colonialisme puis occultée par les autorités algériennes. L'écrivain participe ainsi à la réinvention, rendue nécessaire par l'acculturation consécutive à la période coloniale, de l'écriture algérienne. / Critics are unanimous regarding the importance of History in Rachid Boudjedra's work. Based on narratology and especially on the performative theory of John Langshow Austin, the present study tries to enlighten the fact that the construction of his novels aims to bring out history of Algeria and of the Arab world while distinguishing itself from an historian work. Without stopping at the mere mention of historical events, History in Boudjedra fictional writings introduces them as individual memory. This posture leads this author to manipulate historical facts and texts and thus to blur the line between fiction and history. This approach is, for the author, an act of appropriation of a History dispossessed by colonialism and then overshadowed by the Algerian authorities. The writer thus contributes to the reinvention, made necessary by the acculturation resulting from the colonial period, of writing in Algeria.

This study analyzes the experience of alienation from family and culture as portrayed in the personal narratives of francophone women. The authors appearing in this study are Assia Djebar and Marie Cardinal, from Algeria, Mariama Bâ and Ken Bugul, from Senegal, Marguerite Duras and Kim Lefèvre, from Vietnam, Calixthe Beyala, from Cameroon, Gabrielle Roy, from Canada, and Maryse Condé, from Guadeloupe. Alienation is deconstructed into the domains of blood, money, land, religion, education and history. The authors’ experiences of alienation in each domain are classified according to severity and cultural normativity. The study seeks to determine the manner in which alienation manifests in each domain, and to identify factors which aid or hinder recovery. Alienation in the domain of blood occurs as a result of warfare, illness, racism, ancestral trauma, and the rites of passage of menarche, loss of virginity, and menopause. Money-related alienation is linked to endemic classism, often caused by colonial influence. The authors experienced varying degrees of economic vulnerability to men, depending upon cultural and familial norms. Colonialism, warfare and environmental depending upon cultural and familial norms. Colonialism, warfare and environmental degradation all contribute to alienation in the domain of land. Women were found to be more susceptible to alienation in the domain of religion due to patriarchal religious constructs. In the domain of education, it was found that some alienation is inevitable for all students. Despite its inherent drawbacks, education provides tools for empowerment which are crucial for overcoming alienation. Alienation in the domain of history was found to hinder recovery due to infiltration of past trauma into the present, while empowerment in this domain fosters optimism and future-oriented thinking. Each domain offers opportunities for empowerment, and it is necessary to work within the domains to create a safe haven for recovery. Eight of the nine authors experienced at least a partial recovery from alienation. This was accomplished via cathartic release of negative emotions. Catharsis is achieved by shedding tears, talking, or writing about the negative experiences. The personal narrative was found to be especially helpful in promoting healing both for the author and the reading audience. / Classics and World Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (French)