Novel
The Honor of the Tribe
L'Honneur de la tribu
Rachid Mimouni · 1989
Synopsis
Zitouna is a small pious village in inland Algeria, kept apart from the world, whose history an old man recounts from the beginnings of colonisation. After independence, Omar El Mabrouk returns, a native of the place who had disappeared, now a representative of the new regime and then a prefect. Out of resentment, he makes the village the seat of his prefecture and sets about modernising it by force: the eucalyptus trees are torn up, modern facilities are installed, and the life of the village is overturned.
Context
The novel appeared from Robert Laffont in 1989. Told in the tone of a folk tale, with a taste for grotesque comedy that American critics have noted, it combines the story of Zitouna with a satire of the administration of independent Algeria. It was translated into English by Joachim Neugroschel, published by Morrow, in 1992, then reissued by Stock in 1999. Mahmoud Zemmouri made a Franco-Algerian film from it, shot in French.
Who it is for
A novel of about two hundred pages, in French, carried by the voice of an old storyteller, between fable and satire.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as its author's most famous novel; Thierry Lhermitte and Saïd Amadis star in its film adaptation.
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