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So Vast the Prison
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So Vast the Prison Hardcover - 1999

by Assia Djebar; Betsy Wing (Translator)

An Algerian living in exile and writing under a pseudonym plays the contradictions of her heroine's existence against the bloody carnage of Carthage, a great civilization to which the Berbers were once compared.


From the publisher

So Vast the Prison is the double-threaded story of a modern, educated Algerian woman existing in a man's society, and, not surprisingly, living a life of contradictions. Djebar, too, tackles cross-cultural issues just by writing in French of an Arab society (the actual act of writing contrasting with the strong oral traditions of the indigenous culture), as a woman who has seen revolution in a now post-colonial country, and as an Algerian living in exile.
In this new novel, Djebar brilliantly plays these contradictions against the bloody history of Carthage, a great civilization the Berbers were once compared to, and makes it both a tribute to the loss of Berber culture and a meeting-point of culture and language. As the story of one woman's experience in Algeria, it is a private tale, but one embedded in a vast history.
A radically singular voice in the world of literature, Assia Djebar's work ultimately reaches beyond the particulars of Algeria to embrace, in stark yet sensuous language, the universal themes of violence, intimacy, ostracism, victimization, and exile.

Details

  • Title So Vast the Prison
  • Author Assia Djebar; Betsy Wing (Translator)
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 368
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Seven Stories Press, New York
  • Date 1999-10-05
  • ISBN 9781583220092 / 1583220097
  • Weight 1.43 lbs (0.65 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.3 x 6.33 x 1.26 in (23.62 x 16.08 x 3.20 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: African
    • Cultural Region: Arab World
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 99041329
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

Citations

  • Kirkus Reviews, 11/15/1999, Page 1770
  • New York Times, 02/13/2000, Page 21
  • Publishers Weekly, 10/25/1999, Page 50

About the author

A beloved author, translator, and filmmaker, Assia Djebar (1936-2015) was born Fatima-Zohra Imalayen in the Algerian town of Cherchell. Her novels and poems boldly faced the challenges and struggles she knew as a feminist living under patriarchy, and as an intellectual living under colonialism and its aftermath. Djebar's writing, marked by a regal unwillingness to compromise in the face of ethical, linguistic, and narrative complexities, attracted devoted followers around the world, and received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Venice International Critics' Prize, the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Yourcenar Prize, the Frankfurt Peace Prize, and a knighthood in France's Legion of Honor. She was the first Algerian woman to be admitted to France's prestigious cole Normale Suprieure, and the first writer from the Maghreb to be admitted to the Acadmie Franaise.
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So Vast the Prison
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So Vast the Prison

by Djebar, A.

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So Vast the Prison
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So Vast the Prison

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So Vast the Prison : A Novel
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So Vast the Prison : A Novel

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So Vast the Prison : A Novel
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So Vast the Prison : A Novel

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So Vast the Prison : A Novel
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So Vast the Prison : A Novel

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So Vast the Prison
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So Vast the Prison

by Djebar, Assia

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So Vast the Prison: A Novel
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So Vast the Prison: A Novel

by Assia Djebar/ Betsy Wing

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So Vast the Prison
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So Vast the Prison

by Assia Djebar; Betsy Wing [Translator]

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Seven Stories Press, 1999. First Edition, first printing. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Originally published in French. Octavo, 9 1/4" tall, 363 pages, bluish gray boards with silver title on spine. A near fine, clean, hard cover first edition with light shelf wear, gently read; binding tight, paper white. In a fine dust jacket, with the original price present.
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So Vast the Prison
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So Vast the Prison

by Assia Djebar; Betsy Wing [Translator]

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Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9781583220092
ISBN 10
1583220097
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