AUTHENTICITY AND ORIGINALITY IN THE FIRE OF MOHAMMED DIB

French-speaking Algerian writers find themselves forced to situate themselves in relation to French literature and their representation of Algerian reality. They are writers who have been specific in their distinction from the literature of the West because they have allowed the reader to discover the national heritage as well as the culture of their country. In order to highlight the richness and the multiplicity of the romantic forms of Africa, our major concern will be center on the sociocritical study of the novel of Dib "The Fire" with the aim of highlighting the social anchoring of the text and extract traces of Algerian culture. This cultural richness is manifested through the anchoring of Islam, the use of expressions referring to the culture of Algerians. Originality is also reflected in the picture he paints of his society in his daily life. The structure of Dib's work reveals close relations with Algerian culture, on the one hand, on the other hand, this orientation of the writing gives it an aesthetic particularity, The return to the sources and the valuation of its identity gives to the Dibien text its authenticity and originality.

What I Owe to Dib

In 1963, a year after Independence, I discovered, not without pride, for the first time in college Algerian authors who were not in the curriculum of the French school I had attended. Among them, Mohammed Dib and his Grande Maison. At the age of 15, I thus crossed the threshold of this literature that would accompany me in my life as a reader and writer. Here I would like to tell my relationship with the diverse and rich work of Mohammed Dib, my encounters with the man and my view of some of his novels and poetry collections. In this personal testimony, I would like to evoke what he was able to bring to the writers of the Independence generation.

Interior Landscapes in Le Maître de chasse by Mohammed Dib

The landscape, in Le Maître de chasse, is first of all an external landscape that nevertheless allows access to the inner world of the characters. Then, it is the poetic landscape that is constructed by association and contiguity to offer a place of freedom which is in contrast to the places of political oppression. As a manifestation of historical truth, the landscape occupies the space of silence and the unheard-of political and social reality of postcolonial Algeria.

Mohammed Dib and America: “America is something else”

Throughout his life, Mohammed Dib was in contact with American culture, engaging closely with its literature. This interest prevailed for a long time: the article he published in 1948 in an Algerian magazine already showed Dib’s great knowledge of the writers across the Atlantic. Over time his knowledge became deeper and more intimate, particularly since his stay in California in the summer of 1974. This direct experience of the reality of the United States nourished Dib’s later works and allowed him to renew his poetics and his conception of writing. This article explains the connections between Dib's work and his unique representations of American referents.