Dib, Mohammed

▪ 2004

      Algerian novelist and poet (b. July 21, 1920, Tlemcen, Alg.—d. May 2, 2003, La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France), was the author of some 30 books of fiction, poetry, and essays, many of which closely examined contemporary life in Algeria. Widely regarded as Algeria's foremost writer, Dib was best known for an early trilogy—Le Grande Maison (1952), L'Incendie (1954), and Le Métier à tisser (1957)—novels that offered a starkly realistic portrayal of Algerian peasants and workers in the years preceding World War II. Dib wrote in French—the language in which he first learned to read. He began writing poetry at the age of 15. During the war he studied literature at the University of Algeria and served as an interpreter for French and British military units. He later worked as a designer of rugs (1945–47) and as a journalist (1951) before publishing Le Grande Maison, his first book. Later novels included La Danse du roi (1968), Qui se souvient de la mer (1962), Cours sur la rive sauvage (1964), Dieu en Barbarie (1970), Le Maître de chasse (1973) and Habel (1977). These novels—often marked by the use of symbol, myth, and allegory—addressed subjects such as the French colonial repression of the Algerians, the war for independence and its effects, and the new Algeria after independence. Expelled from Algeria by the colonial authorities in 1959, Dib was eventually allowed to settle in southern France after fellow writers Albert Camus and André Malraux petitioned the government on his behalf. Dib's volumes of poetry included Ombre gardienne (1961), Formulaires (1970), Omneros (1975), and O vive (1987). Among his collections of essays were Tlemcen ou les lieux d'écriture (1994) and L'Arbre à dires (1998). LA Trip, a verse novel, appeared in 1999. Dib became the first North African writer to win the Francophone Grand Prix—the Academie Française's highest literary award—in 1994.

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▪ Algerian author

born July 21, 1920, Tlemcen, Algeria

died May 2, 2003, La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France

      Algerian novelist, poet, and playwright, known for his early trilogy on Algeria, La Grande Maison (1952; “The Big House”), L'Incendie (1954; “The Fire”), and Le Métier à tisser (1957; “The Loom”), in which he described the Algerian people's awakening to self-consciousness and to the impending struggle for independence that began in 1954. The trilogy recounts the years 1938–42.

      Dib, who was at various times a teacher, accountant, rug maker, journalist, and drama critic, wrote of the poor Algerian worker and peasant in his early realistic novels. From the time of his exile from Algeria, in 1959, except for brief sojourns in that country, Dib lived in France.

      Dib's later novels, apart from Un Été africain (1959; “An African Summer”), which retains the realistic mode of expression in his description of a people in revolt, are marked by the use of symbol, myth, allegory, and fantasy to portray the French colonial repression of the Algerian people, the search for the authentic expression of an Algerian personality, the war for independence and its effects, the new Algeria after independence and the struggle of the technocrats for control, and the plight of the Algerian emigrant worker in France. These novels—La Danse du roi (1960; “The Dance of the King”), Qui se souvient de la mer (1962; Who Remembers the Sea), Cours sur la rive sauvage (1964; “Run on the Wild Shore”), Dieu en barbarie (1970; “God in Barbary”), Le Maître de chasse (1973; “The Hunt Master”), and Habel (1977)—like the early novels, express optimism in the brotherhood of mankind. Similarly, he wrote for those who are dispossessed through economic exploitation. Dib's use of the fantastic, the erotic, and the voyage metaphor are integral to his description of the search for truth and self. His later works include La Nuit sauvage (1995; The Savage Night) and Simorgh (2003).

      Though he worked in a variety of genres, Dib viewed himself as essentially a poet. He wrote several collections of poetry, including Ombre gardienne (1961; “Guardian Shadow”), Formulaires (1970; “Forms”), Omneros (1975; Omneros), and L'Enfant Jazz (1998; “Jazz Boy”), and he published two collections of novellas, Au café (1956; “In the Café”) and Le Talisman (1966; The Talisman). Dib was also the author of a film scenario and two plays.

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