Output details

The Body Besieged: The Embodiment of Historical Memory in Nina Bouraoui and Leïla Sebbar

This 70,000-word monograph was researched and written over five years. The critical framework builds on theories of embodiment, wounding and illness, setting these in dialogue with postcolonial theory, autobiographical theory and theories of cultural memory, to develop a concept of ‘embodied memory’ as a lens through which to consider the life writing of two important Franco-Algerian women writers known more for their fictional work. Incorporating extensive background research carried out at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the analysis also draws closely on dossiers put together at the Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand, and is influenced by an ongoing dialogue with Leïla Sebbar.