معركة الزقاق

by Rachid Boudjedra

لقد قدم الكاتب نصاً روائياً مؤنسنا ينبض بالمشاعر والرؤى التي تعمل الذاكرة فيها دور الوسيط بين تاريخ الانتصار الجزائري على المستعمر الفرنسي، وتاريخ التشكل الإنساني في حركة استرجاعية تمزج بين الوعي واللاوعي، وبين الإدراك والتغييب لمعطيات لمح الكاتب إليها ثم وضعها في دائرة المسكوت عنه، وكذا عبر لعبة التشكيك في التاريخ العربي الذي كانت له معالم معركة الزقاق التي خاضها "طارق بن زياد" خلفية رمزية للتوصل إلى نتيجة عدمية تساوى معها مصير الإنسان والفرد مع مصير الإنسانية جمعاء في نهاية الرواية، التي تعد رمزا لاستعادة الذاكرة في الأنا الفردي "الجسد" وفي الأنا الجمعي "الوطن، الأمة".

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Rashid Boudjedra, رشيد بوجدرة, (born September 5, 1941, Aïn Beïda, Algeria) prolific and revolutionary Algerian writer whose first novel, La Répudiation (1969; The Repudiation), gained notoriety because of its explicit language and frontal assault on Muslim traditionalism in contemporary Algeria. Because of that work, Boudjedra was hailed as the leader of a new movement of experimental fiction.

Boudjedra was given a traditional Muslim upbringing in Algeria and Tunisia, then continued his education in Spain, Algeria, and Paris, where he obtained a degree in philosophy at the Sorbonne. He later taught philosophy in Paris and at Rabat, Morocco, before returning to Algeria and working for the Algerian Bureau of Cinematography.

La Répudiation drew upon Boudjedra’s difficult youth. Conventional values and the smug complacency of the established powers in newly independent Algeria were rejected by Boudjedra, whose unorthodox sexual fury and lyrical savagery defied traditional morality. Boudjedra’s next novel, L’Insolation (1972; “Sunstroke”), evoked experimental states of mind, confounding dream with reality. His later works employed different styles. Topographie idéale pour une agression caractérisée (1975; “Ideal Topography for a Specific Aggression”) took as its protagonist an illiterate Berber peasant drawn to the city by the prospect of work; lost in the capital’s subway, he is bombarded by a host of bewildering scenes and events. In L’Escargot entêté (1977; The Obstinate Snail), a petty bureaucrat exposes his mediocre life and values, symbolizing the incompleteness of the Algerian revolution. With Les 1001 Années de la nostalgie (1979; “1,001 Years of Nostalgia”), Boudjedra created a satire of an imaginary Saharan village confronted with what he viewed as the newest symbol of contemporary cultural imperialism, an American film company. After writing his first several novels in French, Boudjedra switched to Arabic, often translating his own work into French. He returned to writing in French in the 1990s. His later works include Le Démantèlement (1982; “The Dismantling”); Greffe (1984; “Graft”), a collection of poems; Le Désordre des choses (1991; “The Disorder of Things”); Les Figuiers de barbarie (2010; The Barbary Figs); and Printemps (2014; “Spring”).