Born 4/8/1936 Cherchell (West of Algiers)
Background
Middle class bourgeois family
Attended French lycee at Blida
Gained license in Paris (history and geography)
Gained place at the Ecole Normale Superieure but didn't take it
Has lived in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and France.
In Paris exposed to feminist literature.
Writes articles on bilingualism (linguistic identity is a poignant issue for her as she is caught between the French [colonial] and Berbere [indigenous] tongues through her nationality.)
Genre; six short stories composed between 1959 & 1979. Two look at the post colonial era and the other four at the pre-revolutionary or revolutionary years. Published after a ten year gap in writing.
Djebar's original quest as a writer was to give Arab women a voice they had been denied. Through this language of the coloniser Djebar promotes the need for bonding between the oppressed women in patriarchal societies. Her message is that women should see each other as sisters as opposed to enemies. From this bonding she hopes that understanding will come about and a cry for change will follow. Hence one can speak of an "engagement" in this work. The work shares its title with Delacroix's painting (1832). In both works the female universe is closed, themes of "regard" and "etouffement" (suffocation) are explored in a world where voice and hearing are denied. The book also evokes the idea of the oral tradition through these snap shots into a world were many women were illiterate (women; guardians of tales of the past) . The woman assumes for the most part the mother role but in portraying the modern Sarah she risks betraying patriarchal Arab-Islamic values of Algeria in favour of western values. She is hence torn between the colonial and colonised world. Sarah's job as a translator of Arab folk songs which are in danger of dying out demonstrates Djebar's allegiance to her culture. None the less she has been accused of toning down her campaign for the emancipation of her sisters (so clearly present in earlier novels like La Soif) and the work has consequently been perceived as a rupture with her earlier works. There is a cruel irony in that the book is unlikely to be as widely read as would be required for change to come about, due to low levels of literacy in this target group.