The body besieged : the embodiment of historical memory in Nina Bouraoui and Leïla Sebbar / Helen Vassallo.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-163) and index.

Introduction. / Nina Bouraoui and Leila Sebbar, Embodying the Trauma of "Algeria Lost" -- Embodying a Fractured Identity: Writing on the Divide in Nina Bouraoui's Garcon manque and La Vie heureuse -- The Embodiment of Environment: Re-thinking Alienation and Re-constructing Identity in Nina Bouraoui's Poupee Bella and Mes Mauvaises Pensees -- The Pain of Algeria Remembered: Vestiges of Algeria in Exile. Leila Sebbar's Lettres parisiennes: Histoires d'exil and Journal de mes Algeries en France -- A Linguistic Alienation: Finding an Affiliation to Arabic in French. Leila Sebbar's Je ne parle pas la langue de mon pere and L'arabe comme un chant secret -- Conclusion. Sites of Embodied Memory: Toward the Possibility of "Algeria Regained."