Salim Bachi

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Salim Bachi (* 1971 in Algiers ) is an Algerian-French writer who made several successful novels and lives in exile in Paris.

Life

Born in the Algerian capital, Bachi grew up in the eastern Algerian city of Annaba . He followed his French and literature studies in both cities and at the Sorbonne in Paris . Since 1997 he has lived in exile in Paris.

Bachi initially published short stories that were printed in newspapers such as Le Monde diplomatique . Bachi received three awards for his debut novel Le Chien d'Ulysse 2001 (German: The Dog of Odysseus 2003). He received the Prix ​​Goncourt du premier roman, the "Bourse Prince Pierre de Monaco de la découverte" and the Prix ​​littéraire de la Vocation of the Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet Foundation.

The setting for this debut is a fictional Algerian town called "Kirtha". James Joyce's Ulysses structural principle is taken up by this novel. The action takes place on a single day, the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Algerian President Boudiaf in 1992. The aimless nightly forays of a literary student through the city, his dreams and reflections as well as the life stories of his friends and acquaintances are described. This reflects the disorientation of a generation whose self-esteem threatens to be drowned in violence and misery. Without taking sides for either side of the conflict from the outset, this multi-perspective novel shows an ironic image of society. Apparently this approach hit a nerve. The book is not allowed to be sold in Algeria, although it is not officially banned.

Bachi describes life in the colonial prehistory of Algeria in his second novel, La Kahéna 2003 (German: Villa Kahéna , 2006). At the heart of the plot is the house of a Maltese colonial settler built in the fictional city of Kirtha. The house and at the same time the novel, they bear the name of the legendary Berber queen who, in the 7th century, at the head of her people, the Beni Jscher, opposed the invasion of the Maghreb by the Arabs . After an adventurous journey into the Brazilian jungle, the protagonist gains wealth and reputation in the French colony, but towards the end of his life finds himself caught between the fronts of the colonial power and the Algerian population striving for independence. As is often the case in Bachi's works, history becomes a foil and orientation for visions of the future.

Bachi's novel Tuez-les tous from 2006 illuminates the social and political background of Islamist fundamentalism using the example of one of the assassins on September 11th. Ultimately, he describes it as a murderous way out of the dilemma of the contemporary Arab world, which admires the civilization of the “West” for prosperity and technology and despises it for its customs.

The author was awarded the Prix ​​Tropiques . He was a fellow of the Villa Medici in Rome. In 2018 his novel Dieu, Allah, moi et les autres was awarded the Prix ​​Renaudot du livre de poche .

As of 2009, Bachi lived in Paris.

Works

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Internet portal Qantara.de for the dialogue with the Islamic world: Review of The Dog of Odysseus
  2. ↑ international literature festival berlin : Salim Bachi as a guest of the ilb 2006
  3. ↑ Short biography and reviews of works by Salim Bachi at perlentaucher.de
personal data
SURNAME Bachi, Salim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Algerian-French writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Algiers