Reading Maïssa Bey “Madame Lafrance” September 14, 2017
Poster on the occasion of the reading of “Madame Lafrance” by Maïssa Bey (Algeria) on September 14, 2017, at the Literaturhaus Villa Augustin in Dresden.
On September 14, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.,Maïssa Bey presented her novel *Madame Lafrance* ( Sujet Verlag Bremen, 2017) at the Literaturhaus Villa Augustin in Dresden. This event marked the kickoff of the author’s book tour in Germany.
Maïssa Bey is one of Algeria’s most renowned French-language authors. In her novels, short stories, and plays, she reflects on the turbulent present and history of her country and the Maghreb, navigating the tensions between tradition and modernity, the colonial era and the postcolonial era.
She was born in 1950 near Algiers, studied French, and worked as an educator. Deeply affected by the bloody civil war that ravaged her country during the so-called “Black Decade” (1992–2002), she began to write. Maïssa Bey, who describes herself as “an Arab by birth, culture, and language. and a Muslim—deeply shaped by Muslim culture and tradition,” chooses literature as her medium to be more than a “silent, passive witness in the face of her violent and challenging contemporary history.” She helps us understand that this history transcends the supposed boundary of the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Europe, in both directions—in the past, the present, and the future.
*Madame Lafrance* is a poetic historical narrative in which Maïssa Bey examines 132 years of French colonial rule in Algeria through the voice of an unnamed child. In 25 scenes, the author traces its major stages, from the landing of the French armada in 1830 through the resistance led by Emir Abdel Kader to the bloody war of liberation, the rampage of the terrorist organization OAS, and the declaration of independence in 1962, which was accompanied by an exodus of nearly all French citizens from Algeria. The preparatory work for this linguistically complex text took two years. The author weaves factual accounts, newspaper articles, diaries, and letters from contemporary authors into the child’s perspective, thus creating a text that oscillates between fact and fiction.
“Maïssa Bey’s narrative proves above all to be a literary work written in prose that vibrates with poetry.” Pierre Daum, Libération
The event was a collaboration between the Institute of Romance Studies at TUD Dresden University of Technology, the Literaturhaus Villa Augustin Dresden, Sujet Verlag Bremen, and the Institut Français Sachsen.
WHEN? September 14, 2017, 7:00 p.m.
WHERE? Literaturhaus Villa Augustin, Antonstr. 1, 01097 Dresden
Poster on the occasion of the reading of “Madame Lafrance” by Maïssa Bey (Algeria) on September 14, 2017, at the Literaturhaus Villa Augustin in Dresden. © Das Erich Kästner Haus für Literatur Dresden
Photo 2 on the occasion of the reading of “Madame Lafrance” by Maïssa Bey (Algeria) on September 14, 2017, at the Literaturhaus Villa Augustin in Dresden. © Das Erich Kästner Haus für Literatur Dresden
Photo 3 on the occasion of the reading of “Madame Lafrance” by Maïssa Bey (Algeria) on September 14, 2017, at the Literaturhaus Villa Augustin in Dresden. © Das Erich Kästner Haus für Literatur Dresden
