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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The novels of Tahar Wattar: command or critique?
Author:Cox, DebbieISNI
Year:1997
Periodical:Research in African Literatures
Volume:28
Issue:3
Pages:94-109
Language:English
Geographic term:Algeria
Subjects:literature
Arabic language
About person:al-Tahir Wattar (1936-2010)ISNI
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3820995
Abstract:Tahar Wattar is among the most important highly acclaimed Arabic novelists and short story writers in Algeria and perhaps the best-known Algerian Arabic writer in most Arab countries. His two novels published in 1974 were among the first novels published in Arabic in postindependence Algeria. Wattar has published eight novels to date, and has founded various literary journals. This paper examines the way in which specific works of literature written in Arabic relate to the ideology projected by the Algerian State during the 1970s. Focusing on Wattar's first three novels, the present writer examines whether these novels could be seen as responding to State command. The conclusion is that, while the novels all contain a range of elements that conform to the ideological discourse of the State, they clearly present a critique of the ideological closure sought by the regime, its authoritarianism, and the disparity between the ideals it proclaims and the reality of people's lives. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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