Questo scrittore algerino e martire della rivoluzione algerina divenne noto per la sua scrittura in questa lingua. Ha insegnato per diversi anni prima di diventare ispettore dei centri sociali. Il suo lavoro letterario, spesso ispirato alla sua vita e cultura, esplora temi di identità, lotta e cambiamento sociale. Romanzi acclamati dalla critica sono stati tradotti in diverse lingue, a testimonianza del loro impatto universale.
Set in the 1920s and 1930s, the story follows Amer, a Kabyle-Berber man who leaves his village for work in French coal mines. An accidental death of his uncle leads to a cascade of betrayal and revenge when he returns home. Mouloud Feraoun intricately depicts the struggles and complexities of Kabyle life during this tumultuous period, highlighting themes of identity, familial loyalty, and the impact of colonialism on personal relationships.
"This honest man, this good man, this man who never did wrong to anyone, who devoted his life to the public good, and who was one of the greatest writers in Algeria, has been murdered.... Not by accident, not by mistake, but called by his name and killed with preference". So wrote Germaine Tillion in Le Monde shortly after Mouloud Feraoun's assassination by a right wing French terrorist group, the Organisation Armee Secrete, just three days before the official cease-fire ended Algeria's eight-year battle for independence from France.However, not even the gunmen of the OAS could prevent Feraoun's journal from being published Journal, 1955-1962 appeared posthumously in French in 1962 and remains the single most important account of everyday life in Algeria during decolonization.Feraoun was one of Algeria's leading writers. He was a friend of Albert Camus, Emmanuel Robles, Pierre Bourdieu, and other French and North African intellectuals. A committed teacher, he had dedicated his life to preparing Algeria's youth for a better future. As a Muslim and Kabyle writer, his reflections on the war in Algeria afford penetrating insights into the nuances of Algerian nationalism, as well as into complex aspects of intellectual, colonial, and national identity. Feraoun's Journal captures the heartbreak of a writer profoundly aware of the social and political turmoil of the time. This classic account, now available in English, should be read by anyone interested in the history of European colonialism and the tragedies of contemporary Algeria.
Un village de montagne, Kabylie, début du siècle. C'est là que vivent les Menrad. Ils ne se rendent pas compte qu'ils sont pauvres. Ils sont comme les autres; voilà tout. Mouloud Feraoun raconte, à peine transposée, sa propre histoire. Il était voué à devenir berger, le destin en décidera autrement.
Hier wachsen die Ereignisse still, und durchaus nicht immer erwartungsgemäss, unter dem Humus eines Alltagslebens heran, aus dessen Kargheit der Autor seinen eigenen litera-rischen Reichtum gewinnt: sei es im souverän eingefangenen Kolorit dörflichen Lebens, sei es in den spröden, aber von Mitgefühl unterfütterten Reflexionen über die Armut. (...) Ein Schriftsteller braucht das Ingenium eines Akrobaten, um diesem Dorfplatz von der Grösse einer Handfläche eine ge-wisse Weite zu geben, um Abenteuer und Dramen in diesen Gässchen spielen zu lassen, die so eng sind, dass nicht ein-mal zwei Gedanken aneinander vorbeikommen. NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG