“La littérature est la seule patrie”: Nabile Farès and the Poetry of Postcolonial Displacment

Isabel Hollis

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    1 Citation (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Nabile Farès is a key author within postcolonial studies, due in particular to his uniquely expressive writing style. This article discusses writing style in his 1982 text, L’état perdu: précédé du discours pratique de l’immigré. Throughout the mainly French text, different alphabets are woven, alluding to the complexity of Algerian linguistic history and the importance of language in the construction and expression of identity. Meanwhile, the grammar and structure of the French language seems confused and at times illogical, raising further questions about use of a colonial language in a postcolonial context. Farès’s writing style is avant-garde in nature, and deliberate intertextuality with the Surrealists situates the text within an avant-garde tradition in the French language, developing new ideas surrounding the effect of this written genre in the aftermath of colonialism.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)19-34
    Number of pages16
    JournalResearch in African Literatures
    Volume43
    Issue number1
    Publication statusPublished - 2012

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Literature and Literary Theory

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