Novel
The Repudiation
La Répudiation
Rachid Boudjedra · 1969
Synopsis
In post-independence Algeria, Rachid tells Céline, his French lover, about the ruined childhood that made him who he is. His father, Si Zoubir, has repudiated his mother in order to marry a very young girl, and the house has filled with half-brothers, silences and humiliations. Amid the memories, the unbridled sexuality, the superstition and the hypocrisy of a traditional society, there emerges the Clan, an occult organisation to which the father is bound and which intends to control everything, until the day Rachid falls into its hands.
Context
The novel appeared from Denoël in November 1969. Its crude language and its frontal attack on Muslim traditionalism caused an immediate scandal: a fatwa calling for the author's death was issued after publication. Critics hailed him as the leading figure of a new experimental fiction, fed by a difficult youth. The author produced an Arabic version in 1982, and the book appeared in English in 1995, translated by Golda Lambrova.
Who it is for
A novel in French, with long sentences and a continuous monologue that mixes dream and memory. The tone, raw and violent, is sustained throughout.
Prizes and reception
First novel by its author, whose scandal launched his career; translated into Arabic by the author himself and into English.