Children of the New WorldChildren of the New World
However, Djebar focuses on the experiences of women drawn into the politics of resistance. Her novel recounts the interlocking lives of women in a rural Algerian town who find themselves joined in solidarity and empower each other to engage in the fight for independence. Narrating the resistance movement from a variety of perspectives—from those of traditional wives to liberated students to political organizers—Djebar powerfully depicts the circumstances that drive oppressed communities to violence and at the same time movingly reveals the tragic costs of war.
A pioneering work of interconnected perspectives, Children of the New World is a novel of insurgency and resistance by one of the Arab world’s most distinguished woman writers.
“Assia Djebar's point of view is feminist and anti-colonial, but her novel is no propaganda piece." ? New York Times Book Review
Centering women in political resistance, Children of the New World follows a robust cast of women in a rural Algerian town who find themselves joined in solidarity as they empower one another to engage in the fight for independence. Narrating the resistance movement across a variety of perspectives—from traditional wives to liberated students to political organizers—Djebar powerfully depicts the circumstances that drive oppressed communities to violence while she movingly reveals the tragic costs of war.
Children of the New World was written following the author’s own involvement in the Algerian resistance to colonial French rule, making it both intensely personal and deeply resonant. First published in 1962, this timeless novel “embodies Djebar's refined literary sensibility, empathy for people caught in times of violent change, and penetrating insights into the complex and painful difficulties between men and women” (Booklist).
A compelling war novel, as seen by women, sheds light on the current Iraq conflict.
Title availability
About
Contributors
Details
- New York : Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2005
From the community