The Rise Of Dz-Manga In Algeria: Glocalization And The Emergence Of A New Transnational Voice

This article aims to establish Algerian manga as a new object of study within the field of Francophone studies and the broader field of cartooning in the developing world. To this end, it provides a survey of existing works while answering three main questions: How has manga become part of the cultural habits of young Algerian creators and readers? What status does it hold in local cultural production? Finally, what strategies have artists employed to broaden the readership of Algerian manga and how have they taken advantage of the unique possibilities offered by this new medium

Visions Of Odalisques: Orientalism And Conspicuous Consumption In Leila Sebbar\u27s Le Peintre Et Son Modele (2007)

Many Algerian writers (Alloula, Djebar, Boudjedra) have revisited the representational politics of colonial iconography despite awareness that this endeavor is at risk of renewing exoticism. This article examines how Leïla Sebbar\u27s Le peintre et son modèle reproduces such a problematic stance through the inclusion of a photograph by Joel Leick inline with her short story. Whereas Sebbar attempts to deconstruct the photograph\u27s orientalism by placing it outside the realm of the aesthetic and resituating it within the sexual exploitation of women in the former French colonies, I intend to demonstrate how this photograph reintroduces the very inequalities that her text tries to evacuate. Leick\u27s model elicits an eroticized gaze from readers, who become onlookers and obedient participants in the neocolonial consumption process. Rereading Sebbar\u27s short story through the lens of this photograph thus shows current limitations to the power of postcolonial texts and, ultimately, their troubled dependence on orientalist iconography

Figure Of An Anartist: Keeping Local Francophone Literature Engaged With Mustapha Benfodil\u27s Literature-Action

At a time when the Algerian Francophone publishing market remains dominated by Paris and the readership of French is said to be dwindling in Algeria, the future of Algeria\u27s Francophone literary culture appears bleak. Through the writings of Mustapha Benfodil, perhaps the most unavoidable author from the post-Civil War generation, this article analyzes the ways in which contemporary Algerian literature asserts its autonomy from the Parisian “center” and redefines the literary sphere as a cornerstone of social change in Algeria. Paying particular attention to the figure of the “anartiste” first described in Archéologie du chaos (amoureux) (Barzakh, 2007), and later realized in the public collective “Bezzzef” (Benfodil, “Cherche”), I argue that Benfodil\u27s artistic endeavor moves beyond the sphere of literary experimentation into that of social action. By writing novels that double as aesthetic manifestos and social pamphlets, and bringing them to life through public performances, Benfodil creates new artistic processes designed to renew the cultural field. The tangible materiality of this literature-action, I contend, serves an essential role in illustrating how Algerian francophone literature connects with its society and “becomes” Algerian

Cute Girls, Tough Boys: Performing Gender In Algerian Manga

This article explores the way in which masculinity and femininity are constructed in Algerian manga, an emerging, understudied sub-genre within the field of Algerian graphic art. Through the exploration of youth-oriented publications of shojo and shonen manga, I will demonstrate how these new local works offer a privileged form of expression for and platform to address disaffected Algerian youths. The primary focus of this investigation will be the differences (or lack thereof) between ideals of gender performances as expressed in Algerian manga and ideals of gender identity in society at large. This article will demonstrate that, while some differences manifest a desire for change on the part of both artists and readers, they certainly do not constitute radical revisions of the popular Algerian notions of masculinity and femininity. Ultimately, this study will demonstrate the limits of manga as an imported genre within an Arab-Islamic context, oscillating between the promulgation of alternative social ideals and the reinforcement of social norms

The story never ends: Rachid Mimouni’s Le Printemps n’en sera que plus beau and the production of counter-discourse in Algerian state-sponsored literature

In the process of post-colonial nation-building, the State often attempts to impose its own discourse as the sole source of national identity in order to homogenize the nation. In his influential work Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Benedict Anderson notes the discrepancy between \u27official\u27 discourse, which supports the conception of a unified State, and the reality of a diverse people artificially grouped within the same political entity. To account for their disparity, Anderson argues that the nation is primarily a discursive phenomenon, i.e. a fiction supported by narratives. Based on his concept of imagined communities, literary works come to light as essential tools for nation-building, and writers emerge as key figures called upon to embrace the official model of the nationalist narrative. A new nation\u27s literary production can rely on heavily codified structures of the novel to promote and preserve the fiction of a homogeneous national identity, defined here as an imagined community that shares the same collective values, a common understanding of History, and a profound commitment to the State. Such a propaganda-oriented mindset led Rachid Mimouni to challenge nationalist narrative in his first novel, Le printemps n\u27en sera que plus beau. This text, all too often disregarded as an early work that shows less aesthetic maturity than Mimouni\u27s later writing, merits further analysis as an initial attempt to challenge national narrative. In its closing lines, Mimouni contests not only the attempt to fix literary boundaries, but also the official discourse used in nationalist texts..