Synopses & Reviews
Assia Djebar, the most distinguished woman writer to emerge from the Arab world—and a top candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature—wrote Children of the New World following her own involvement in the Algerian resistance to colonial French rule. This long-overdue first English translation coincides with the 50th anniversary of the start of the Algerian war and with the growing insurgency in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East.
Like the classic film The Battle of Algiers—enjoying renewed interest in the face of world events—Djebar’s novel sheds light on current world conflicts as it reveals a determined Arab insurgency against foreign occupation, from the inside out.
However, Djebar focuses on the experiences of women drawn into the politics of resistance. Her novel recounts the interlocking lives of women in a rural Algerian town who find themselves joined in solidarity and empower each other to engage in the fight for independence. Narrating the resistance movement from a variety of perspectives—from those of traditional wives to liberated students to political organizers—Djebar powerfully depicts the circumstances that drive oppressed communities to violence and at the same time movingly reveals the tragic costs of war.
Renowned writer and filmmaker Assia Djebar has authored several novels, including the critically lauded So Vast the Prison and Algerian White. She has won several awards for her work, including the prestigious International Neustadt Prize for Literature. Born and raised in Algeria, Djebar is currently the Silver Chair of French at New York University.
Marjolijn de Jager, PhD, is the translator of Djebar’s Algerian White and Women of Algiers in Their Apartment, which was honored by the American Literary Translators Association. She teaches at the Center for Foreign Languages and Translation at New York University.
Synopsis
Assia Djebar, one of the most distinguished woman writers to emerge from the Arab world, wrote Children of the New World following her own involvement in the Algerian resistance to colonial French rule. Like the classic film The Battle of Algiers--enjoying renewed interest in the face of world events--Djebar's novel sheds light on current world conflicts as it reveals a determined Arab insurgency against foreign occupation, from the inside out.
However, Djebar focuses on the experiences of women drawn into the politics of resistance. Her novel recounts the interlocking lives of women in a rural Algerian town who find themselves joined in solidarity and empower each other to engage in the fight for independence. Narrating the resistance movement from a variety of perspectives--from those of traditional wives to liberated students to political organizers--Djebar powerfully depicts the circumstances that drive oppressed communities to violence and at the same time movingly reveals the tragic costs of war.
Synopsis
A pioneering work of interconnected perspectives, Children of the New World is a novel of insurgency and resistance by one of the Arab world's most distinguished woman writers.
"Assia Djebar's point of view is feminist and anti-colonial, but her novel is no propaganda piece." ― New York Times Book Review
Centering women in political resistance, Children of the New World follows a robust cast of women in a rural Algerian town who find themselves joined in solidarity as they empower one another to engage in the fight for independence. Narrating the resistance movement across a variety of perspectives--from traditional wives to liberated students to political organizers--Djebar powerfully depicts the circumstances that drive oppressed communities to violence while she movingly reveals the tragic costs of war.
Children of the New World was written following the author's own involvement in the Algerian resistance to colonial French rule, making it both intensely personal and deeply resonant. First published in 1962, this timeless novel "embodies Djebar's refined literary sensibility, empathy for people caught in times of violent change, and penetrating insights into the complex and painful difficulties between men and women" (Booklist).
Synopsis
A compelling war novel, as seen by women, sheds light on the current Iraq conflict.
About the Author
Internationally renowned Algerian writer Assia Djebar has won numerous literary awards, and is considered a strong candidate for the next Nobel Prize for Literature. In her 40-year writing career, Djebar has authored more than 20 books of fiction, poetry, and essay, and scripted and directed plays and films. She is now Professor of French and Francophone studies at NYU. Marjolijn de Jager teaches in the Translation Studies department at New York University. Her many award-winning translations from the French and Dutch include three works by Assia Djebar. Clarisse Zimra is Professor of Comparative Literature at Southern Illinois University and North African editor of the Norton Anthology of African Literatures.