El haik and debates

I am one who likes everything Algerian, I am even capable of finding positive aspects in the worst among us and the worst of our traditions. And being abroad is not the only reason for this as it is not nostalgia for weqt zman, it is deeper in me: I love my people, I love my country, I like wearing the Kabyle Burnous and I’ve always liked seeing men (young and old) in the high plateaus wearing their Qechabia.

This is why I welcome events such as the Haik Day which took place two days ago in Algiers. It doesn’t cost money and creates some change in the capital while reminding the people of a past we all share in our memories.

But my positive stance doesn’t mean I become blind whenever things are related to Algeria and its traditions. It’s our Algerian tradition to criticize after all and this is what I am going to do here.

Book Review: Bleu Blanc Vert

Many Algerian writers, too many of them in my opinion, concentrate in their writings on two specific periods: the colonisation/war of independence and the nineties, the black decade.

And I got fed up with them. This is why I was glad when I found Maissa Bey‘s novel “Blue White Green“. The novel relates a story which takes place between 1962 and 1992.

I actually don’t know what to think of it. I rarely appreciate novels written by Algerian (but not only) female writers. Whenever I read one I get the feeling it’s written by a woman for a feminine readership, unlike novels written by men which are suitable for both genders.

Anyway, the novel is written in the same style as “Voices“. Maissa Bey uses her two main characters, Lilas and Ali, to narrate the story. Each their turn. It starts in 1962 with a girl and a boy and evolves with them as they grow up, love each other, get married, have their child, and ends in 1992.

More money = Better work? Not in Algeria!

Many of you who read the national press regularly will know that since what has come to be known as the “Arab Spring“, many professional sectors in Algeria have experienced intense instability in the form of long and paralysing strikes. The recurring reason for all these strikes is the ‘low’ salaries. Many would say that financial incentives are usually the main motivation behind any strike anywhere. I agree but the point I will attempt to make here is concerned with our cultural outlook with regards to labour and the value of it.

There are many observations which are worth mentioning here:

Are Algerians self-confident?

Pfuel was one of those hopelessly and immutably self-confident men, self-confident to the point of martyrdom as only Germans are, because only Germans are self-confident on the basis of an abstract notion- science, that is, the supposed knowledge of absolute truth. A Frenchman is self-assured because he regards himself personally, both in mind and body, as irresistibly attractive to men and women. An Englishman is self-assured, as being a citizen of the best-organized state in the world, and therefore as an Englishman always knows what he should do and knows that all he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly correct. An Italian is self-assured because he is excitable and easily forgets himself and other people. A Russian is self-assured just because he knows nothing and does not want to know anything, since he does not believe that anything can be known. The German’s self-assurance is worst of all, stronger and more repulsive than any other, because he imagines that he knows the truth- science- which he himself has invented but which is for him the absolute truth.

This excerpt is from Leo Tolstoy‘s War and Peace, and I remember that when I read it I immediately thought Tolstoy didn’t know us Algerians for he would’ve mentioned us otherwise. While smiling at my own thought, I questioned it and wondered whether we are self-confident or not.

Poll: I love the new TV channels!

A few weeks ago, during the In Amenas hostages crisis, audiences of foreign TV channels witnessed something very rare. These channels showed images provided by an Algerian TV channel, Ennahar TV. The private Algerian TV was the only to provide images of the gas plant, the Algerian military forces, etc.

The foreign public may not realise it but this is quite new to us Algerians.
Two years ago, the Algerian government agreed to let Algerian private operators create their TV channels. And like with many topics, the minister’s statement hasn’t been followed by the legislation, and the few private TV channels we have still transmit from outside the country.

Azzedine Meddour

I was still a boy when my interest in History started. An Algerian TV program, called “Facts and Facts“, accompanied me during that period and I still have vivid memories of it.

This program was directed by Azzedine Meddour and presented by Mhamed Benguettaf. It was an unusual way of relating the major historical facts of the 20th century.

Azzedine Meddour was born on May 8th, 1947 in Sidi-Aich, Bejaia, and there he completed his primary and secondary schooling.
He studied French Literature at the university of Algiers and then went to Moscow to study cinematography in the oldest film school in the world, the VGIK. There he met and married Russian Erina in 1977. They had two daughters.

Links: Algerian Female Bloggers

I have shared in a previous post a list of the Algerian English blogs I knew. Today I am going to share links to another category, blogs owned by Algerian women. And as this category is bigger than the blogs written in English, I will only give links to the blogs I follow.

So here they are with no particular order.

Salima Ghezali is an Algerian journalist and you can read her editorials here. She doesn’t really have a blog but I am mentioning her because I consider her weekly audio editorials on Medi1 Radio as blog posts.

Ghania Mouffok is also

Mohamed Racim

One of the reasons why I liked Orhan Pamuk‘s famous book My name is Red, which I mentioned here, was the fact its main characters were Ottoman miniaturists who viewed their art, philosophically, as the perfect art; and who competed with their Persian counterparts and European painters who practised a different art.

In Algeria, and perhaps in most parts of the world, we cannot think of the past century’s art of miniature without mentioning Mohamed Racim (Wiki [En], [Fr]), the father of Algerian miniature.

Mohamed Racim (born 24 June 1896, Algiers – died 30 March 1975, Elbiar, Algiers) was born into an artists family. Both his father and uncle owned a wood-carving and copper-working workshop in The Casbah. Mohamed and his (un)equally famous brother, Omar Racim, worked in the workshop and there they learn the bases of their art.

Athmane Ariouat

Every time Algeria holds its local elections, a movie comes to my mind and probably to many of my compatriots’. I am speaking of Carnaval fi dechra (watch here) and its main character Makhlouf el Bombardi portrayed by Athmane Ariouat.

Athmane Ariouat was born in M’doukal, Batna. At the age of 10, his family moved to Algiers where he studied at the Conservatoire d’art dramatique d’Alger between 1969 and 1972. He also took Arabic theatre courses under Mustapha Kasdarli’s supervision. The rest of his biography can be found on Wikipedia (Ar, Fr) or in this video.

Algeria’s rulers are misunderstood artists

Algeria celebrates this year the 50th anniversary of its independence. The celebrations are very discreet in the country, the logo we see on state-run TV channels being their most obvious form. And as usual, anniversaries are there to look back and reflect on the route the country followed, the achievements, the mistakes, the regressions, etc.

Some people, including our rulers, keep saying that 50 years are nothing in a country’s life and that we should be reasonable and not expect too much. Others seem unable to see any thing positive and believe these 50 years have been wasted. I am more nuanced. I think that one must acknowledge the achievements and admit the failures.