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Mohammed Dib (1920-2003) | |
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Prolific Algerian French-language novelist, short story writer, and poet. Many of Mohammed Dib's novels present archetypal characters who represent contrasting forces in society – good and evil. Among Dib's acclaimed works is his trilogy Algérie (1952-1954), which paints a portrait of the plight of the poor peasants and workers. In his poetry Dib has examined old myths and inner layers of consciousness. OUVRIR Quelque chose est là. Qui voudra m'ouvrir Mohammed Dib was born in Tlemcen in western Algeria, near the border of Morocco. His father, whom Dib lost at an early age, was a carpenter. Dib never attended the traditional Koranic school but was raised as a Muslim. He began to write poems at the age of fifteen. His first poem was published in 1946 under the signature of Diabi. At school Dib was trained in weaving and accountancy. Between the years 1939 and 1959 Dib worked in odd jobs – as a teacher in a primary school at Aoudj Bghal, accountant in Oujda, employee for the Algerian railways, carpet designer in a weavig factory, interpreter for the American and Allied forces, and journalist. During World War II Did studied literature at the University of Algeria. In 1950-51 he worked for the Communist newspaper Alger républicain, and also wrote the Liberté of the Algerian Communist Party. In 1951 he married Colette Bellissant, a French woman, the daughter of his former French teacher. Dib was a member of the group known as the "Generation of '52," the year when Dib and Mouloud Mammeri appeared, or sometimes called the "Generation of '54" according to the war. As a novelist Dib made his debut with La grande maison (1952, The Big House), the first in a trilogy of a large family, published two years before the outbreak of the Algerian revolution. The novel won the Feneon Prize, awarded annually to a French-language writer and a visual artist. Set on the eve of World War II, the story tells of a young boy, Omar, to whose life is returned in L'Incendie (1954, Fire), Dib's second novel. Omar lives in the poor rural region, but he learns to speak French and keeps his thought secret from the Europeans, who scare their children: "If you don't behave yourself, I'll call an Arab here." The last part of the Algérie trilogy, Le Métier à tisser (1957, Tunisian Loom), told about the world of the workers in the naturalist-realist style reminiscent of Emile Zola. The 1954-1962 war of independence had a powerful effect on Dib. He was bilingual but to gain audience to his work he had to write in French, in the oppressors' language – a problem which Dib shared with his colleagues, Kateb Yacine and others. "My ambition, however, remains to interest all readers," Dib has said. "The essential is the human ground we all share; the things that make us different always remain secondary." Together with two hundred other Algerians and Frenchmen, he signed the manifesto Fraternité algérienne. Since leaving his home country in 1959, Dib lived in France. When the French colonial police expelled him from Algeria for working toward national independence, several prominent authors, including Andre Malraux, Louis Guilloux, and Albert Camus, pressed authorities to cancel their decision. Although many of Dib sociopolitical novels are composed with traditional narrative technique, he has abandoned the realistic mode in some works to convey mythic or dystopian visions. Among Dib's experimental publications, inspired by Cubism, science fiction, Faulkner, Kafka, and the ideas of Jung, are such books as Qui se souvient de la mer (1962, Who Remembers the Sea), set in a crumbling, science fiction like city in the time of the Algerian revolution, Cours sur la rive sauvage (1964, On the Savage Banks) and La danse du roi (1968, Dance of the King), written in fragmented style, and Habel (1977), exploring the question of androgyny. LA BÊTE Ils eurent la porte à passer. Le garçon ferma les yeux. Quelque chose sur la route In 1976-1977 Dib worked as a techer at the University of California, Los Angeles, recalling this time in his book L.A. Trip (2003). Between the years 1985 and 1994 Dib created a series of novels, which more or less followed a coherent and chronological order, and reflected the personal life of the author. Les Terrasses d'Orsol (1985, Orsol Terrace), the first volume in his second trilogy, was set in a fictitious Arab country, but made an excursion to a cold country in the north. Le Sommeil d'Éve (1989, Eve's Slumber) and Neiges de Marbre (1990, Marble Snow) were set in a Nordic country (Finland?) and depicted a romance between a Nordic woman and Mediterranean man. They have a child but are estranged. In L'Infante maure (1994) the child is taken to her father's homeland, where she sees the other part of her heritage. Dib also translated into French texts by Finnish writers with Natalia Baschmakoff, and he visited Finland several times. In 1985 the summer issue of the literary magazine Europe, edited by Dib, was mostly devoted to Finland. In 1961 Dib published his first collection of poems, Ombre gardienne. His other collections include Formulaires (1970), Omneros (1975), Feu beau feu (1979), and Ó vive (1987). Dib has said that he considers himself essentially a poet. His work is characterized by ambiguity, wordplays, elliptical syntax, and subtle eroticism. Many poems bring to mind polygonal and foliate designs from the Islamic art or Surrealist experiments in automatic writing. "all the charitable images of the world lead me to you wondering how to thank them I followed your footsteps one by one in each I discovered signs of your passing wondering which way to turn which way preserves the voice so that all ways serve only as a path to you" (from 'Formulaires' in Omneros, 1975, trans. by Carol Lettieri & Paul Vangelisti). Dib also wrote tales for children and a number of articles. In 1998 he received Prix Mallarmé for his collection L'Enfant-jazz. Mohammed Dib died at home in La Celle-Saint-Cloud outside Paris on May 2, 2003. French Culture Minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon called Dib "a spiritual bridge between Algeria and France, between the north and the Mediterranean." For further reading: The Facts on File Companion to the French Novel by Karen Taylor (2006); Study Of Land And Milieu In The Works Of Algerian-born Writers Albert Camus, Mouloud Feraoun, and Mohammed Dib by Fawzia Ahmad (2005); The Encyclopedia of World Literature, Vol. 1, ed. by Steven R. Serafin (1999); Patrie/Watan: Representations of Algeria in the Early Works of Albert Camus, Mouloud Feraoun and Mohammed Dib by Fawzia Ahmad (1996); World Authors 1985-1990, ed. by Vineta Colby (1995); Mohammed Dib by J. Déjeux (1987); Mohammed Dib, écrivain algérien by J. Déjeux (1977); North African Writing, ed. by L. Ortzen (1970) - Note: In Morocco Driss Chraïbi made his debut as a novelist in 1954. Like Dib, Chraibi was influenced by the American writer William Faulkner. Selected works:
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