A Semite: A Memoir of Algeria

by Denis Guénoun

In this vivid memoir, Denis Gu�noun excavates his family's past and progressively fills out a portrait of an imposing, enigmatic father. Ren� Gu�noun was a teacher and a pioneer, and his secret support for Algerian independence was just one of the many things he did not discuss with his teenaged son. To be Algerian, pro-independence, a French citizen, a Jew, and a Communist were not, to Ren�'s mind, dissonant allegiances. He believed Jews and Arabs were bound by an authentic fraternity and could only realize a free future together.



Ren� Gu�noun called himself a Semite, a word that he felt united Jewish and Arab worlds and best reflected a shared origin. He also believed that Algerians had the same political rights as Frenchmen. Although his Jewish family was rooted in Algeria, he inherited French citizenship and revered the principles of the French Revolution. He taught science in a French lyc�e in Oran and belonged to the French Communist Party. His steadfast belief in liberty, equality, and fraternity led him into trouble, including prison and exile, yet his failures as an activist never shook his faith in a rational, generous future.

Ren� Gu�noun was drafted to defend Vichy France's colonies in the Middle East during World War II. At the same time, Vichy barred him and his wife from teaching because they were Jewish. When the British conquered Syria, he was sent home to Oran, and in 1943, after the Allies captured Algeria, he joined the Free French Army and fought in Europe. After the war, both parents did their best to reconcile militant unionism and clandestine party activity with the demands of work and family. The Gu�nouns had little interest in Israel and considered themselves at home in Algeria; yet because he supported Algerian independence, Ren� Gu�noun outraged his French neighbors and was expelled from Algeria by the French paramilitary Organisation Arm�e Secr�te. He spent his final years in Marseille. Gracefully weaving together youthful memories with research into his father's life and times, Denis Gu�noun re-creates an Algerian past that proved lovely, intellectually provocative, and dangerous.

Genres: Algeria

176 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2014

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

- memoir of a jewish family in algeria who considered themselves french, jewish, and (maybe) almost/sort of arab. father believed in equality & justice for all, said we’re “semites” - jews & arabs in the same boat.
- fascinating history i knew little about. grandfather fought in wwi. family trouble - fell out with grandmother in spectacular fashion. father fought in wwii in middle east. imprisoned for intransigence. loyal to france, believer in equality & human dignity, an idealist, a communist, a fighter, a firebrand.
- the book is highly poetical, the style very fluid. often not easy to read.
- i would have liked to see images from the diaries and letters the author keeps quoting/paraphrasing/impersonating/drawing from.
- there are some good stories. his dad sends him up the street to do an errand - mail a letter. he does it, comes back, his dad throws down an old 500-franc note and sends him on another errand - buy such-and-such from the store. he runs back up the street and, reaching the mailbox again, absentmindedly puts the money in.
- eventually it builds in intensity - the book is getting good.
- it builds to the moment in 1961 the family home in oran is bombed and they are almost killed. he is 15 years old. the real climax is what comes next: a crowd gathers outside their door - mostly the fascists of the neighborhood (fighting to deny all rights and dignity to the natives/local arabs). the father vents his spleen at them - from the upstairs window, lets loose a stream of abuse he’s been holding inside for years. this is beautifully done. it’s very “novelistic.”
- “i remember obscene insults….furiously adding more and more, draining his guts of filth, without restraint, spilling it onto those black heads below. I remember it was very obscene. he hates them, curses them, slathers them with shit…. he’s disgorging his whole life in violent spurts of language spewed from the window.”
- the last section of the book is tragedy and farce - cemetery maneuvers relating to the leases on the plots for his parents being short-term. i find this effective; it has a sort of end-of-bovary feel.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, well-written book. Guaenoun, born and raised in Algiers in an Algerian Jewish family writes a biography of his family and their history in mid-century Algeria, before (and during the struggle for) independence from France. He writes that his grandfather and great-grandfather spoke only Arabic, his father spoke both Arabic and French and he spoke only French. Guaenoun's family were not recent settlers from France; they had lived in Algeria for centuries. This is a small book, very personal but the history explored is relevant not just to Algeria and this family but to immigrants and exiles everywhere. A sad story.