Lemoudjahid, clé de dévoilement de l’Histoire dansLa Malédictionde Rachid Mimouni etLes Vigilesde Tahar Djaout

Abstract

It is at the outset of independence that Algerian writers participate in drafting the nation’s history. It is a de-alienated History that structures the national imaginary and draws on unifying mythical representations. The 1988 ‘Black October’ riots however, challenged this mythical period built during the Boumediene and Bendjedid years. At that time, protesting the national narrative becomes part of the Algerian novel. Obsessed with the issue of historical discourse, Algerian writers embark on a Historical quest that navigates the insides of Algerian memory. This aesthetic of intimacy allows us to enter the forgotten fragments of History and reveal their pathologies: henceforth the ambiguity of collective memory that creates fiction. A concealed memory is the starting point of new fictions that are aimed at correcting the national narrative. This article aims to analyse the function of the unveiling of History embodied by the moudjahid character in the novels Les Vigiles (1991) by Tahar Djaout, and La Malédiction (1993) by Rachid Mimouni. Placed at the intersection of individual and collective memory, the moudjahid archetype in Algerian literature participates in the establishment of a hermeneutics of remembrance that ought to be explored.