In this interview we chat with Abdelkader Djemai about his novel The Emir's Last Night, the meaning of the work and the lessons we as readers can learn from reading it.
Topic: What did you think about the book The Last Night of the Emir stimulated?
Djemai: It has long been my wish to write a book woven from fiction and history about this great founder of the first Algerian state. It was, if only subliminally, in some of my publications – such as Nose on the glass and Station of Nord. Over time, I felt an urgent need to dedicate a book to him, in which he is the protagonist, the engine of the story that shows the different facets of his personality.
Topic: What significance does it have for our times?
Djemai: Inherent in great humility, infused with a wonderful humanism, was this man not only an extraordinary warlord who had to take up arms to liberate his country, but also a poet, philosopher, Sufi, theologian and before above all a person who was open to others and the world.
Topic: What lessons do you hope the reader will learn from this reading?
Djemai: I wanted to portray an educated and progressive man who advocated tolerance, dialogue between peoples and religions. Virtues that we urgently need today.
Topic: How did you go about writing the novel, especially in relation to the historical facts?
Djemai: I have read almost everything that has been published about his life and work. I had to make a selection of material that was useful for the realization of my project. The hardest part was finding the starting point, a date, a situation, an interesting detail. I finally settled on the night of December 25, 1847, when he went into exile with his companions from the port of Ghazaouët, never to return to his homeland as long as he lived. In the course of writing, the purely historical facts, the events, descriptions of contemporaries and reports from the military added to this dramatic element, which finally forced him to give up. I have included them in the description of landscapes, places and eventful events in the body of the text, without forgetting, of course, the Emir's feelings, concerns and words. All in an effort to create a coherent and fluid narrative.
Topic: How has your writing style and process of writing changed from "Saison de pierres" to "Emir" and "Nose Against the Glass/Blind Moment" (USA)?
Djemai: After about twenty publications, I continue to believe that writing is a vast field of surprises, difficulties, and failures. It's a long learning process and I see myself as a craftsman, a bricklayer trying to build houses with the tools at my disposal. It is up to the reader to judge whether the work is successful or not.
Topic: Are you currently working on a new project?
Djemai: I am currently writing a novel with the working title On the day when Pelé. It's the story of Nouredine, a seventeen-year-old football fan and admirer of Pelé, who takes part in the match between Brazil and Algeria on June 17, 1965 in Oran, in western Algeria. Football heroes like Mekhloufi and Zitouni play in the Algerian FLN team. Until the beginning of the game he walks through the city and remembers, among other things, the time when the OAS was still up to mischief, the first years after independence and the visits of Che Guevara and various African heads of state in Algeria. Two days later, Houari Boumediene overthrew then-President Ahmed Ben Bella, who was present at the historic game, in a coup.
from the French of Christine Belakhdar
For more information and order requests: https://sujetverlag.de/buecher/die-letzte-nacht-des-emir/
