Abstract The aim of this article is to analyze the issue of trauma and literature in the context of the Algerian war, as presented in two novels by Algerian writers who use French in a multicultural way: Un regard blessé [Shattered vision] by Rabah Belamri and La Malédiction by Rachid Mimouni [the Malediction]. It will answer the following question:is it possible to see in the francophone Literature a tendency to de-structure the text in order to make it possible for a new plurality to emerge? Literature re-members culture as it points out the dark side of the Algerian history, it makes the readers understand the current situation and the heritage of the past.
In his Nobel speech on 7th December 2008 Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio declared that literature had become a weapon in the service of the expression of cultural identity. He referred more specifically to the Innu writer Rita Mestokosho and to her commitment to the protection of a certain way of life. Rita Mestokosho is born in 1966 in Ekuanitshit Innu territory where she is still living today. Her first book of poetry Eshi Uapataman Nukum ( How I perceive life , Grandmother) was published in 1995. Republished in Sweden in 2010 in a bilingual edition. Her latest book Née de la pluie et de la terre was published in 2014 by Editions Bruno Doucey. As a member of the Innu council, Rita Mestokosho acts as a communicator for her community and is very much involved in cultural and educational projects. "I am Innu, and Innu means human being. We are almost 15.000 Innus, split into 11 communities, 2 in Labrador with English as their second language, 9 in Quebec with French as their second language. We live between 2 worlds, the modern and the traditional. Finding a balance between them is not easy because our traditional land is always threatened by the bigger forest-industries, the dams for hydro-energy and the mines. Our life and survival are linked to the survival of the rivers, the forest and the lakes. Writing in a language, in the French language is also a necessity. It enables us to reach a wider audience for expressing our fears in a poetical way." The communities of Pessamit, Essipit, la Romaine, Mashteuiatsh, Matimekosh, Mingan, Natahsquan, Pakuashipi, Uashat Maliotenam which are the 9 communities in Quebec compose what Rita M. names the Innu " nation ". Rita M. represents indeed a small cultural minority but literature enables her to speak with a universal voice as her poems are published in a multilingual edition. We would like to present here how the fight for the survival of the Innu community reflects the rise of a political native awareness in Québec. We will refer to the interviews we had with Rita Mestokosho during her 2 visits to Stockholm in 2009 and 2014 and to the articles we wrote for the Quebec magazine Littoral/ Côte ouest (GRÉNOC groupe de recherche sur la l'écriture nord-côtière)
Rita Mestokosho est ainsi la représentante d'une minorité culturelle de taille modeste et la littérature est ce qui lui permet de porter une voix universelle d'autant plus que ses poèmes ont fait l'objet d'une édition multilingue. Nous souhaiterions ici montrer en quoi la lutte pour la survie de cette communauté reflète la montée d'une pensée politique autochtone au Québec[1]. Pour analyser les caractéristiques de cette revendication politique des communautés autochtones[2], nous présenterons d'abord l'univers culturel innu puis le différend existant entre la communauté innue et les gouvernements locaux au Québec avant d'envisager l'avenir de ces communautés face à cette menace d'industrialisation. Nous nous appuierons sur un long entretien que nous avions réalisé avec Rita Mestokosho le 10 octobre 2009 lors de son passage à Stockholm pour une série de conférences et la présentation de son œuvre. [1] Dalie Giroux, «Éléments de pensée politique autochtone contemporaine», Politique et sociétés, vol. 27, nº1, 2008, pp. 29-53.[2] Norbert Robitaille, Éric Guimond, « La situation démographique des Autochtones du Québec », dans Guy Brunet, Michel Oris et Alain Bideau (dir.), Les minorités Une démographie culturelle et politique, XVIIIe-XXe siècles, Berne, éditions Peter Lang, 2004, pp. 175-196.
For communities who have been the target of political violence, the damaging after-effects can haunt what remains of their families, their communities, and the societies in which they live. This interview with Kirsten Emiko McAllister conducted at the Författarhuset in Stockholm in November 2009 deals with the case of Japanese Canadians in the province of British Columbia. The goal of the interview is to present the work of Kirsten Emiko McAllister : facing painful memories can help to rebuild social and intergenerational links. ; Pour des communautés qui ont été la cible de violences politiques, les effets traumatiques peuvent se ressentir au fil des générations. Cet entretien avec Kirsten Emiko McAllister s'est déroulé à la maison des écrivains de Stockholm en novembre 2009. Il porte sur le cas des Canadiens-Japonais de le province de la Colombie Britannique. L'objectif est de présenter les travaux scientifiques de Kirsten Emiko McAllister et sa thèse principale : l'affrontement de la mémoire douloureuse contribue à restaurer des liens sociaux et intergénérationnels.
In the literature of Algeria, the war and the Independence are central pieces. A series of novels have been published on this topic. The particularity of the novels consists in an attempt to recollect pieces of memory of that period. Before the Independence war, the use of French language was imposed by the colons whereas many Algerians saw the French school system as the devil system. It is a kind of paradox that after the Independence of 1962, the use of French language spread in Algeria, but it means that afterwards the use of French language became free in Algeria as well as in other countries of Maghreb (Geyss, 2009, 24). When we deal with francophone literature of Maghreb, we point out the fact that French language is neither homogenous nor the cultural property of the French State. The word "francophonie" was used for the first time in 1885 by Onésime Reclus to qualify the zone of influence of the French language in Africa after the share of the colonies made in the Congress of Berlin (Geyss, 2009, 25). Then, the word became popular in the sixties after the decolonization and meant thus the free use of French language in Literature.
For communities who have been the target of political violence, the damaging after-effects can haunt what remains of their families, their communities, and the societies in which they live. This interview with Kirsten Emiko McAllister conducted at the Författarhuset in Stockholm in November 2009 deals with the case of Japanese Canadians in the province of British Columbia. The goal of the interview is to present the work of Kirsten Emiko McAllister: facing painful memories can help to rebuild social and intergenerational links. ; Pour des communautés qui ont été la cible de violences politiques, les effets traumatiques peuvent se ressentir au fil des générations. Cet entretien avec Kirsten Emiko McAllister s'est déroulé à la maison des écrivains de Stockholm en novembre 2009. Il porte sur le cas des Canadiens-Japonais de le province de la Colombie Britannique. L'objectif est de présenter les travaux scientifiques de Kirsten Emiko McAllister et sa thèse principale : l'affrontement de la mémoire douloureuse contribue à restaurer des liens sociaux et intergénérationnels.
