Retelling Resistance: Orality, Writing, and the Kahina in North African Francophone Literature

This study considers the relationship between orality and writing in five francophone North African novels that either draw on or retell the Kahina story. The Kahina, or Dihya, was an Amazigh warrior queen known for resisting the Arab conquest of North Africa in the seventh century. Her story bridges writing and orality in North Africa. She is an important symbol of resistance in the region. In contemporary Maghrebi francophone literature, Dihya joins other historical figures like Jugurtha who continue to inspire authors drawing on the region’s precolonial history. The novels I study attest to and incorporate the oral tradition which, I argue, is crucial to understanding Dihya as a historical and literary figure. This study uses concepts from sociolinguistics and gender studies to show how these novels incorporate and represent oral tradition while resisting and challenging colonialism, patriarchy, and normative gender expectations.