Dashuria, fantasia

The novel "Dashuria, fantasia" (various traditional martial games, Algerian horsemanship) is a historical parade, a dialectic between writing (in French) and speech (in Arabic), an investigation into the nature of Algerian identity, and also an "inner archaeology". This historical parade begins with the conquest of Algiers in 1830 and runs until the War of Independence (1954–1962).

Djebar draws on archives and the testimonies of eyewitnesses, written at the time by various artists, officers, publicists and unknown soldiers. These episodes describe acts of barbarity committed by the French, who exterminated entire tribes, as well as individual experiences that highlight the pride and unmatched courage of Algerians in the face of the conqueror. The novel conveys in detail the atmosphere, colours and noises of these historical events, as well as the presence and psychology of historical characters.

Women's accounts are reflected in detail in the novel. Words, modesty, laconic expressions and their popular way of speaking: a dialogue between the recent and the distant past; between personal and national experience; between writing and speech; between the language of the father and the language of the mother.

The author, in love with the musicality of French, uses a dazzling and varied vocabulary. Her style may deter readers unaccustomed to such verbal extravagance. But the result is an extraordinary attention to detail, a call to all the senses. In this autobiographical quest, everything finally comes together in a double movement: in the rediscovery of culture and nature, and the discovery of the feminine side and kinship with Arab women and her mother. The novel begins with the figure of the father – a connection with French; its end is a feminine belonging to Algerian culture, based on emotions.