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Nedjma is a masterpiece of North African writing. Its intricateplot involves four men in love with the beautiful woman whose name serves as thetitle of the novel. Nedjma is the central figure of this disorienting novel, butmore than the unfortunate wife of a man she does not love, more than the unwillingcause of rivalry among many suitors, Nedjma is the symbol of Algeria. Kateb hascrafted a novel that is the saga of the founding ancestors of Algeria through theconquest of Numidia by the Romans, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, and Frenchcolonial conquest. Nedjma is symbolic of the rich and sometimes bloody past ofAlgeria, of its passions, of its tenderness; it is the epic story of a human questfor freedom and happiness.
About the author
Kateb Yacine (1929-89) recieved many literary distinctions including the Prix Jean Amrouche. The 1986 award of the French Grand Prix National des Lettres belatedly recognized him as the most influential author of the first group of Islamic Arab writiers who contributed substantially to literatures in French.Richard Howard, himself a poet, is one of the foremost American translators of French literature. Bernard Aresu, author of the introduction, is Professor of French and Italian at Rice University.
