Seloua Luste Boulbina

was born in France and moved to Algeria after its independence. She later returned to France to study philosophy. Her main field of research is colonialism and post-colonialism. She is author of Le Singe de Kafka et autres propos sur la colonie (Sens Public 2008; ISBN : 978-2-84190-172-2).

Articles

Being inside and outside simultaneously

Exile, literature, and the postcolony: On Assia Djebar

As an Algerian novelist writing in French, Assia Djebar had to find a way to Arabize the language of the former colonizer; in doing so, she has cut the “umbilical cord” to her country of origin. Her writing, says Seloua Luste Boulmina, in an article based on her speech at the 20th European Meeting of Cultural Journals in Sibiu 2007, turns the tables on the post-colony. The question now is not, “Can the subaltern speak and write?”, but “Can the non-subaltern hear and read?”

Being inside and outside simultaneously

Exile, literature, and the postcolony: On Assia Djebar

As an Algerian novelist writing in French, Assia Djebar had to find a way to Arabize the language of the former colonizer; in doing so, she has cut the “umbilical cord” to her country of origin. Her writing, says Seloua Luste Boulmina, in an article based on her speech at the 20th European Meeting of Cultural Journals in Sibiu 2007, turns the tables on the post-colony. The question now is not, “Can the subaltern speak and write?”, but “Can the non-subaltern hear and read?”