Skip to main content

Fatma n'parapli - a comix written in Algerian Derja

كُميكس‬ فاطمة انپاراپلي بقلم صافية ورزكي, رسوم محمود بن عمر و سامية ورزكي
(Dalimen editions 2014)

 


written in Algerian Derja by Safia Ouarezki, 
ink by Samia Ouarezki and drawings by Mahmoud Benameur 
(published by Editions Dalimen in 2014)


In Algiers' Casbah, children are playing and telling each other spooky stories inspired by neighbourhood gossip.




"Fatma of the many umbrellas" and "Lalahoum" are two local women who live on their own. Lalahoum gets by, repairing shoes and administering natural and 'supernatural' remedies to women who are in need of comforting and support. Fatma collects broken umbrellas she finds thrown around and repairs them.




These two women, while very much part of the social-scape of their neighbourhood, nonetheless stand out. They both charm and frighten those around them, their singularity allows them a certain freedom of action, one otherwise not authorised to others... or does it?





Fatma n'paraplui is entirely drawn and inked in black which suits the mood of a story told to spook and disturb. In each plate, the perspective changes and alternates. The reader can become a child looking up to grown ups and seeing them enormous, or part of a group of women looking down the street from balconies watching what they perceive as tiny cramped rooftops. Faces are enlarged and facial traits accentuated as if lighted by a lamp at night during halloween.




Fatma n'paraplui makes for an enchanting read. It is written in Derja and thus opens the language-door to natural conversation, Derja-wisdom, and to the kind of wisecracks people exchange daily.








 It is also a wonderful read on account of the story telling devices it uses... which announce a second volume.



Dalimen editions have their own bookshop in Algiers (Cherraga). If you're around, go and visit them!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Moufdi Zakaria - The Algerian Ilyad

I am over the moon to have found a PDF version of the original Algerian Ilyad by the great Algerian war poet Moufdi Zakaria. As it is the original version, it is in Arabic HERE (thanks to archive.org, a fantastic e-resource for old books, you should check it out).  You can access the book in other formats too HERE . The Algerian Iliad - إلياذة الجزائـر  -  l' Iliade algé rienne  is a 1,000 line poem retracing Algeria's history in great historical details.  Throughout, Cheikh Zakaria recounts all the names that have shapped the Algeria's history. He goes through all the regions' history and their greatest most emblematic figures. This poem is so valuable and beautiful.  It should be on the curriculum of any Arabic and history cursus in Algeria.  Perhaps it is and/or you know this poem? Who is Cheikh Moufdi Zakaria? Well, on 5th of July, three days from now, Algeria will celebrate 50 years of independence. A tremendous poem was composed during

"Kan darbe yaadatani, isa gara fuula dura itti yaaddu" (Oromo proverb)

"By remembering the past, the future is remembered". These notes are taken from Mengesha Rikitu's research on "Oromo Folk Tales for a new generation" by (see also his "Oromo Proverbs" and "Oromo Grammar"). Some proverbs are folk tales are worth the detour: 1) Oromo Proverb – Harreen yeroo alaaktu malee, yeroo dhuudhuuftu hin'beektu   "The Donkey doesn't know that it is farting again and again when it is braying." (ie some people concentrating on their own verbosity are unaware of what is going on behind them) You can tell that dhuudhuuftu is the farting can't you, am betting on the sound that word makes. Oromifa is one of the five most widely spoken (Afroasiatic) languages in Africa. Its importance lies in the numbers of its speakers and in its geographical extent. The 'official' numbers point to 30 million Oromo speakers (but there has not been to this day a complete or reliable census). The majority

List: Moroccan Literature in English (and) Translation

Moroccan Literature in English (and) Translation Many readers and bookshops organise their book piles, shelves and readings by country, loosely defined as the author’s country of origin, or of where the story takes place. It’s an approach to fiction I always found odd and enjoyable. There is a special kind of enjoyment to be had by sticking to the fiction of a place and concentrating on it for a while. The pleasure I derive from this may simply be due to my myopia, and the habit it brings of frowning at a single point until a clear picture emerges, but as others engage in the same, and comforted by a crowd, it’s a habit I pursue and which is now taking me to Morocco. This journey, I make accompanied by a list of Moroccan literature in English, that is, translated fiction or literature written originally in English. It is shared below for the curious and fellow addicts. I could say that my tendency to focus on a country is how the construction of the list began, but that w