Women of Algiers in their Apartment:
A Study of Community in Exile
An Honours Thesis for the Department of International Literary and Visual Studies
Laura Kathryn Ann
Tufts University, 2016
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The Double Exile of Algerian Women: Djebar's Exploration of Female Space and Community, Lecture notes of Literature
Assia Djebar's collection 'Women of Algiers in their Apartment' and its focus on the inner exile of Algerian women. the importance of feminine space, women's memory and oral tradition, and the risks women took during the Algerian war. It also highlights the attempts of women to 'invert their positions as victims' and create a new nation that accepts them.
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Women of Algiers in their Apartment:
A Study of Community in Exile
An Honours Thesis for the Department of International Literary and Visual Studies Laura Kathryn Ann
Tufts University, 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction
- I. The Pains of Exile
- a) Defining Exile
- b) Colonialism as Exile
- c) Patriarchal Oppression as Exile
- d) The Double Exile of Women..........................................................................
- II. Lies of Liberation
- a) A Failed Homecoming
- b) A Situation Unchanged
- c) Falsehoods of the Revolution
- d) The Myth of the Revolutionary Woman
- e) Women’s Wartime Experience, Discarded and Forgotten
- III. Community in Exile
- a) Community among Women
- b) Solidarity in Suffering
- c) The Sanctuary of Female Spaces....................................................................
- d) The Map of Memory
- e) A Message of Hope
- I. The Pains of Exile
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
Introduction
Born in Algeria, of Arabic descent, but educated within the colonial French system, Assia Djebar was a writer whose texts focus on the female experience during and after Algerian independence. In her work, Djebar captures the lives of Algerian women and reveals their personal and emotional struggles, challenging colonial and nationalist narratives of what women’s lives should be. In examining short stories written by Djebar both before and after Algerian independence, I discusses theme of inner exile as a result of colonial and patriarchal oppression. I define inner exile defined as the loss of community membership, such that one is banished from the homeland while remaining within one’s territorial borders. Inner exile can arise as subjects are prevented from full participation in their community, or when the society around them is altered and loses familiarity. In the discussion of women as subjects who have experienced both colonial and patriarchal oppression, I demonstrate that the inner exile of women is in fact a doubled experience. Thus, I argue that for Djebar’s Algerian women, exile manifests through isolation from greater society, second-class citizenship, and an exclusion from the national narrative. Furthermore, I question the possibility of a homeland for Algerian women, and exhibit the importance of feminine space in Djebar’s writing. Finally, I analyze Djebar’s use of women’s memory and oral tradition as a way of creating community within exile, and explain how this female community serves to alleviate the suffering of women. I decided to analyze my topic through Djebar’s writing specifically because of her own identity as a female, post-colonial writer in exile. Djebar’s personal struggles as a writer have included the post-colonial challenge of writing Algerian stories in the colonizer’s tongue, while giving voice to a female perspective on pain of persecution by patriarchal authorities. In this way, Djebar’s background reflects exactly the twofold condition of inner exile that I discuss.
Since I argue that the greatest factor of women’s inner exile has been the exclusion of their voice from the national narrative, I found it most apt to analyze a text that addresses the female perspective, especially as presented by a female writer who could herself identify with the state of inner exile I describe. I chose the collection Women of Algiers in their Apartment because of its singular focus on the female experience; in exhibiting the most private of female spaces and the most intimate moments of women’s lives, the collection provides a clear picture of women’s condition of doubled inner exile. In writing this thesis, it was my goal to embrace the interdisciplinary spirit of ILVS and use my training in both political science and literary studies to analyze issues of post- colonialism and feminism. Thus, I have juxtaposed non-fictional texts by Djebar, Edward Said, and Frantz Fanon alongside the literary works from Djebar’s collection of short stories. In doing so, I wish to demonstrate how literature and political theory at as mirrors for each other, presenting different perspectives on the same historical events (in this case – the events surrounding the condition of Algerian women before and after independence). While I understand that fiction does not necessarily reflect reality, I believe that the creation of literature can act as a means of hope by demonstrating an ideal to strive for. Not only is storytelling used as a motif for the building of community among fictional characters, but Djebar’s own storytelling can be seen as a greater effort to inspire empathy in her readers, and in so doing, to motivate them to make change. Therefore, through the depiction of female solidarity among fictional characters, Djebar’s literary work can be interpreted as offering a possible resolution to women’s suffering.
provides an explanation for the connection between territory and “homeland,” establishing a process he calls the “territorialization of memory.” 3 During this process, the land acquires special moral significance by serving as the location for important memories handed down through generations of an ethnic group. The land thus comes to be viewed as “the unique and indispensable setting of events and experiences that moulded the community.”^4 As a location becomes a “repository of historic memories and associations,” it is transformed into a historic land - a homeland.^5 Smith’s “territorialization of memory” thus explains why departure from the homeland is such an emotional and painful affair: the loss is more than that of a physical space, rather, it is the loss of one’s history, meaning, and memory. With this understanding, we can see that “homeland” does not only refer to physical territory, but to a broader concept that nurtures and solidifies notions of identity, specifically ethnic or group identity. This group identity, if not grounded in a common ethnicity, religion or language, is grounded in shared ideals, and a shared vision of the society it is trying to create. Therefore, “home” does not necessarily signify a place of origin, but rather one of community, familiarity, and belonging. If we consider “home” to be more than just a shelter or place of birth, we can see that exile is an experience of not only physical displacement, but of psychological uprooting. Sarah Forsdyke links the idea of exile with that of community, determining exile to be “any separation from a community to which an individual or group formerly belonged.” 6 Since “home” itself is an intangible concept, we must consider a broader definition of exile, wherein physical separation from geographical territory is not of primary importance. In fact, Forsdyke describes a kind of “inner exile,” in which one becomes exiled while remaining within one’s territorial borders; this exile is the result of a loss of certain attributes of community membership, such
(^34) Anthony D. Smith, Chosen Peoples (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 134–35. 5 Anthony D. Smith,Anthony D. Smith,^ Myths and Memories of the NationNational Identity (Reno: University of Nevada, 1991), 9.^ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 269. (^6) Sara Forsdyke, Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy: The Politics of Expulsion in Ancient Greece (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005), 7–8.
as political rights or belief in communal norms. 7 In this way, both Smith and Forsdyke relate the concept of “home” and banishment to issues of group identity and participation, rather than literal departure from a physical territory.
Colonialism as Exile In understanding a broader interpretation of homeland, we can see how the experience of colonial occupation is inherently one of exile. Not only is territory confiscated and repurposed, spurring the physical displacement of native populations, but indigenous populations also face inner exile through disenfranchisement, second-class citizenship, and forced cultural assimilation. In discussing the Algerian context, I analyze the theme of inner exile in three ways: first, exile from the nation-state through exclusion from the national narrative; second, exile from the self through loss of innate, native identity; and third, exile from the community through loss of political membership. Firstly, regarding exclusion from national narrative, it is evident that as colonial subjects, native Algerians were effectively exiled from their homeland without leaving its borders, as their nation was appropriated from them and claimed as the creation of another. Native Algerians came to be caught in a contradictory idea of belonging – on the one hand, although they were French subjects, the European settler population forced the French government to enact restrictive naturalization policy that prevented them from gaining French citizenship. On the other hand, Arab and Berber populations were no longer considered true “Algerians”, but were referred to simply as the “Muslims.”^8 During the colonial period, the
(^78) Ibid., 8. (Cambridge: Harvard UniversJuliette Minces,^ “Women in Algeria,ity Press, 1978), 160.”^ in^ Women in the Muslim World , ed. Lois Beck and Nikki Keddie
colonized subject. He writes that “it is the country as a whole, its history, its daily pulsation that are contested, disfigured, in the hope of a final destruction.”^15 The colonial agenda is inherently one of obliteration – not only does it “[hold] a people in its grip” and “[empty] the native’s brain of all form and content,” but “by a kind of perverted logic, it turns to the past of the oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures, and destroys it.” 16 Thus, through colonial occupation, “Muslim Algerians” were forced to abide by a dominant language and a culture that was not their own, and become part of a society that had been perversely transformed. By “disfiguring” and “destroying” the past, the colonizing forces re-wrote local history in a way that erased the roots of the native population, roots that determined national, ethnic, and cultural identity. The colonized “Muslim Algerian” was therefore forced to adopt an identity that was alien and imposed; this is not only an exile from the home that was once familiar, but an exile from the very self. Thirdly, regarding the loss of political membership, we can see the idea of inner exile to be true when considering how “Muslim Algerians” were marginalized, disenfranchised, and treated as second-class citizens. Those who were displaced by colonial conquest were forced to become labourers and servants for survival.^17 As economic disparities grew, so did the social rift between the settler and the native, while a doctrine of discrimination emerged to justify such economic and political stratification as a natural order. Without any representation, “Muslim Algerians” were denied any form of political participation.^18 Furthermore, racism and prejudice served as obstinate barriers for them in reaching any position of power or influence. Unable to function as full members of colonial society, “Muslim Algerians” were hence excluded from the nation while still remaining within its borders.
(^1516) Frantz Fanon, “Algeria Unveiled,” in A Dying Colonialism , trans. Haakon Chevalier (Grove Press, 1994), 65. 49 .Frantz Fanon,^ The Wretched of the Earth , trans. Constance Farrington (New York: Grove Press, 1963), 148– (^17) Rabeya Khatun, “Analysis of the Causes of the Independent Movement of Algeria,” Journal of Humanities and Social Science (^18) Ibid. 19, no. 6 (2014): 81.
Thus, for “Muslim Algerians” living in their ancestral lands, the concept of home was still something out of reach. Living in a usurped nation, without means or recognition of community membership, they were essentially removed from the homeland. The theoretical homeland can be interpreted as something that was, a state prior to colonial occupation, or something yet to be, only existing upon the creation of an independent nation. Without leaving the borders of what was now French Algeria, those native to the land were already banished into a state of inner exile.
Patriarchal Oppression as Exile For women, the experience of inner exile was even more profound - not only did they have to suffer colonial oppression, but they were also marginalized and restricted by their own, Algerian community. Traditional Algerian society consisted of a world where men assumed all responsibilities, and where the eldest male made the decisions for all the family. Within this world, Islam was at once law and religion, a code that regulated life both inside and outside the home. Even though traditional society was based on rural values, its structure remained unbroken even when Algerians were displaced to the cities as land became insufficient to support them, and as repression in the countryside became particularly heavy.^19 The patriarchal tradition created a deeply-rooted form of repression in Algerian society, even beyond that of colonialism, placing women in a state of double-subjugation. This subjugation created a doubled experience of inner exile for women, as subjects of both colonial and patriarchal society. Their inner exile can be seen in their rejection from their community, their physical separation from greater society, and their lack of political membership. In traditional society, women had an inferior status from birth; their existence was unwelcomed and unwanted, let alone truly appreciated in the community. From birth, the girl
(^19) Minces, “Women in Algeria,” 165.
sons would grow to adopt authoritarian male gender roles. From birth, the woman would be rejected rather than accepted by her own community, and would even experience literal, physical separation from the society of which they were supposedly citizens. Algerian houses generally open on private courtyards surrounded by high walls; these protective walls were meant to keep danger out, but they also kept the woman pent-up within. The isolation of the cloistered woman limited her contact with the outside world, and consequently, the consciousness she had of her situation. Hence, despite existing as Algerian persons, women were never truly incorporated as full, functioning members of society. Women did play a relatively important role in the family, but they did not have any capacity to participate at all in the wider society outside the home.^23 A woman’s role was precisely to obey, keep house, and procreate, a role that did not include any capacity for political membership in the greater community. If home is a place of community, familiarity, and belonging, then it would seem as though Algerian women were fundamentally denied access to the “homeland” of greater society. As the “colonized of the colonized,”^24 Algerian women were doubly imposed upon by both French and traditional Algerian authorities, excluded from the societies of both. Without even leaving the confines of their own homes, women were forced into a state of inner exile, never guaranteed any sense of security or belonging in their community.
The Double Exile of Women The twofold experience of exile imposed upon Algerian women is perhaps best demonstrated in Djebar’s essay “Forbidden Gaze, Severed Sound” – the post face to her collection of short stories, Women of Algiers in their Apartment. In this essay, Djebar discusses
(^2324) Assia Djebar, Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1992), 165. Women Zahia Smail Salhi, ’s Studies International Forum^ “The Algerian Fem vol.inist Movement between Nationalism, Patriarchy and Islamism, 33, no. 2 (March 2010): 2, doi: 10.1016/j.wsif.2009.11.001.”
the painting whose title she has chosen for the title of her own collection – Women of Algiers in their Apartment , by French artist Eugene Delacroix. Djebar aims to provide a reflective background on the Algerian female experience, establishing the Algerian woman as a subject under the double-subjugation of both colonial and patriarchal authority.
Serving as both social commentator and art historian, Djebar uses the development and evolution of the painting itself to trace a deepening understanding of women’s situation. In the first section of the essay “Forbidden Gaze, Severed Sound,” Djebar presents Delacroix's first contact with the harem, describing the scene as it opens up before him. As Djebar details the painter’s fascination with and rendition of the scene, she questions the motivations and inspirations behind his work: “This abundance of rare colours, these new-sounding names, is that what arouses and thrills the painter? …by what shock, or at least by what vague stirrings was the painter seized? This heart of the half-open harem, is it really the way he sees it?”^25 In other words, it is unclear whether the painter’s amazement stems from true appreciation or understanding of the scene. Is the image presented one of truth, and does it register the more profound realities of the female experience?
While writing from the painter’s perspective, Djebar nevertheless makes explicit his position as a viewer – he is colonizer, intruder. Even as an artist, Delacroix remains a representative of the colonial conquest. Djebar explains that the man who agreed to allow Delacroix to enter his home was chaouch , an Algerian under the employ of (and therefore subservient to) the French colonial administration. Djebar adds that only two years earlier, prior to France’s colonial conquest, the painter would not only have been forbidden this view, but he would have had to risk his life to witness this scene. Therefore, Delacroix’s gaze upon the
(^25) Djebar, Women of Algiers , 135.
harem opens up before him. He sees women and children “waiting for him,” “surrounded by mounds of silk and gold,” an unbelievable scene of extreme, visual richness. The artist himself is described by a witness of the account as being “as if intoxicated by the spectacle he had before his eyes.”^29 The first thing he notes in his sketches are the specifications of colours, the detail of costumes, strange references that baffle his eyes in a visual feast. Delacroix’s experience with the harem is an “ephemeral experience,” the souvenirs he collects are “traces of a dream”. His efforts to replicate the image of the harem becomes “a fetishist compulsion,” driven and augmented by the certainty that the unique experience of witnessing this scene will never be repeated.
It is no wonder, then, that the resultant painting, created in 1834, is one that precisely reflects the Orientalist perspective. The three women in in the painting lounge in rich costumes, waiting for their man as they pose with a sensual idleness. Surrounding them is a background of detailed rugs, tiles and mosaic walls, the luxurious room of a plush, private harem. Full of sexual connotations, the image is at once erotic and exotic, full of mystery and allure. At the same time, however, it is important to note that the creation of such an exotic and fetishized picture of the Orient supplants the Oriental subject into a fabricated universe, a story that does not reflect reality. This false representation becomes how people perceive the Orient; in this way, not only is the colonized subject expected to assimilate to a foreign culture, but the creation of Orientalist imagery imposes an entire persona upon them, displacing the colonized subject from the narrative of his own history. Thus, as victims of misrepresentation, Delacroix’s women of Algiers are exiled from their own self-image, from their own world.
(^29) Ibid., 134.
Women of Algiers in their Apartment, Eugene Delacroix (1834)
Women of Algiers in their Apartment, Eugene Delacroix (1847)