Écrire et témoigner à contre-courant : Mouloud Feraoun dans l’histoire littéraire algérienne

Abstract

The Journal of Mouloud Feraoun (1962) is a singular work in the literary history of Algeria. It diverts an intimate genre to put it at the service of historical testimony on the Algerian War (1954–1962). The diarist becomes a witness to this war that its own people is fighting for its freedom. The context of this diary is mainly collective, and its author kept it private for seven years aiming to make it public. From the complex current events made of political and military violence, he shows an objective view and an intensive look, while questioning the causes and effects of French colonization. The script is imbued with the writer’s humanism, his testimony and his analyses stand against the political, literary, journalistic propagandist speeches, revealing to the reader Feraoun’s ethic witnesses. Currently, this work is at the core of the historical and literary documents from which various specialists of the Algerian War draw.