Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Book Reports Assia Djebars Fantasia Assia Djebars Fantasia Assia Djebar’s Fantasia, is an autobiographical novel of an Algerian woman’s struggle to find her voice in a society that rewards the voiceless. In an area heavily laden with cultural traditions, she confounded these traditions by embracing the French language. Her struggles and development through the French language were very important themes within the novel. But what was Djebar’s link to the French language? Why did she pursue it in the manner that she did? Djebar’s Algerian world was filled with traditions that kept women silent. From the veils over their heads to the lack of encouragement to read or write, women were kept down. Djebar longed for freedom and found it in the French language. Flocking to the language of her enemies, Djebar found expression in its words. “I cohabit with the French language:” writes Djebar, “I may quarrel with it, I may have bursts of affection, I may subside into sudden or angry silences – theses are the normal occurrences in the life of any couple.” (213) If we examine this passage we will find what the French language truly meant to Djebar. There had been a relationship kin to marriage between French and her. This relationship starts early in her life with an introduction to French from her father. When Djebar first started to write love letters in French, she began to find the freedom she never knew existed. The language attracted her with its “endless jewels.” This attraction was further spurred by the newfound freedoms she found in French schools. Djebar enjoyed the traditions and Quranic teachings imparted to her at the time however, she felt more fulfilled doing taboo things such as wearing shorts or playing sports. Djebar talks about her love affair with a student. In this affair it was not the love of the man that drove her but more importantly and ironically the budding love of the language. I believe it was the language that intrigued her the most not the actual person. In the passage, Djebar made a point to mention the language used to write the letter, but not the name of the person. To me this signifies the language as being the focal point of the event and not the actual person. If we look in the book, Djebar concentrates more deeply on her relationship with the French language over any other relationship that she had. It was her movement with the French language that was the binding thread throughout all of the stories. The many chapters dealing with the various Algerian wars help to emphasize this. Chapters such as The Naked Bride of Mazuna not only help to exhibit the history and struggle of Algeria, but also help to bring life to Djebar’s own inner struggles. She was a woman who broke free from her own personal veils and through these wars, showed us that other women before her had done the same. Therefore, when she said she was born in 1510, she was really referring to the beginning of a movement of non-traditional women. Women who like her strive to better themselves and their country through acts of courage and freedom. I found it ironic how Djebar throughout the novel hated the French “invaders” yet loves the language. I also find it intriguing that she did not embrace the language completely. Many times she blended in a multitude of Arabic or Berber words into her current spoken word. That brought an interesting perspective to a book originally written in French. Even though many of the words in her languages were idiaphonic, I believe that this blending showed commitment to her culture. By not surrendering completely to the French language, she manages to control the marriage and shape the relationship into something all her own. One example of this can be found when Djebar wrote about the effects of the French term “Darling Pilou”. She stated that, “the French language could offer me all its inexhaustible treasures, but not a single one of its terms of endearment would be destined for my use…”(27) I feel this was a powerful statement that really helped to show her command over the French language. She accepted the language but did not accept the social or cultural ideas behind the language. In this Djebar showed us that she did not embrace France. She did not align herself with it nor did she sympathize with the way it treated her country. Throughout the book we saw that, to her, the French were infidels and invaders. And through the torment and agony she recorded, we saw Djebar never lost sight of Frances cruel place in Algerian history. These facts affected Djebar’s marriage to the French language. She never felt truly comfortable in French or Algerian settings. Djebar stated that,” even where I am composing the most commonplace of sentences, my writing is immediately caught in the snare of the old war between two peoples.”(216) We see this point re-iterated over and over again in the novel. Constantly Djebar struggled with her place in her traditional and non-traditional worlds. From Muslim postures that felt uncomfortable, to French culture that never seemed to make sense, Djebar always seemed to be at odds with her worlds. She certainly relished the freedom she had found in using the French language, but never forgot where she had came from. Evidently the distinction between the two cultures could be greatly felt. Chapters such as the French Policeman’s Daughter helped to illustrate that fact. Between the open affection and many other issues, Djebar found the French culture problematic. Even with those problems, Djebar found French to be a liberating avenue from which to escape the enclosed world that she lived. However liberating French was, its freedom was not absolute. For even in this marriage of language we find a completely new layer of constraints that match the sociological constraints of her culture. Djebar loved the French language and the liquidity of freedom it gave her. But, she could not bear to have it be used to embrace any emotional content towards her. When it came to terms of endearment, Djebar preferred silence as a seducer rather than expressions of love. She felt that when a word was spoken of such a nature, it was immediately cheapened and lost to her. To express such words created a nakedness in her that left her feeling unveiled. It is ironic that Djebar loved French for its ability to give her a voice, yet when it came to its most intimate applications, she reverted back to silence. Ironic cultural parallels such as this can be found echoing throughout the novel. Djebar never wanted to be married at an early age, yet her father married her to French when she was young. Djebar loved French, but would only create true relationships with people who spoke to her in her native tongue of Berber. Only if they came from the same background as her could she ever truly consider them for relationships. Yet these people more then likely would perpetuate the same stereotypical behavior that she wanted to avoid. She talked about how French conflicts were in the past, yet she still felt them in her soul. From all of these ironies one could conclude that Djebar’s personal struggles with French internally, were the exact same struggle as the ones her Algerian brothers and sisters faced externally. And so the battles that raged inside of Djebar were just as important as the ones that raged throughout Algerian history. To understand this is to understand what I felt I learned the most from this autobiographical novel; that Djebar was far closer to her freedom fighting sisters of the past then what the story portrays. Even though she perceived freedom from a completely different platform, she never the less struggled just as deeply, and lost just as much. This novel is a testament to the woman of Algeria and the world because it shows how important the struggle of one truly is. Bibliography: Word Count: 1336
Copyright © 2005 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved.