Kateb Yacine’s Intelligence Powder is a play that looks at post-colonial Algeria and how France affected it as their oppressor. In July 1962 Algeria achieved independence after a bitter war lasting over seven years. Some 300,000 Algerians died to win their nation's freedom. The war was fought brutally on both sides, but the need for a violent independence struggle was deeply rooted in the violence French imperialism had imposed on Algeria for over a century (Birchall, n.d.). The hero of Intelligence Powder is a person arranged by Kateb called Puff of smoke, a philosopher who lays bare the hypocrisy but especially the idiocy of the Mufti, Cadi and Sultan (representatives of religious and political public authorities) and even ordinary citizens. In a pleasant style, using simple words and resorting to stylistic, irony mainly through full sequences of strangeness when the ridiculous reminiscence of Kateb Yacine writings provides excellent insight of the Algerian society fifty years ago, whose intellectual level still …show more content…
The sultan and the mufti represent greed and the Cadi represents the false religion within Algeria. In this play we also see a free spirit, an elusive thinker opportunely called Puff of smoke, for all to be ridiculed. In this play in one act, mockery is their obscurantism and it is as unfathomable as the eternal collusion of interests between the powerful and the religious professionals: "The Sultan. [...] Only God can help us God preserves our people. God save our people eternal agitators. God forbid hard heads, philosophers, poets, orators, mad and scholars. " The idea that God has always been a great tool to calm the people in society and determine hope for a better life in all
This author does many things well in his description of this French class these include: use of detailed descriptions, real life examples, and purposeful misspellings of the teacher’s dialogue. All of these literary devices help to enhance the author's work and provide an almost surreal tone to the author’s work. A weakness of this article is that the purpose of these techniques does not truly present itself until the
The Arabian Nights translated by Husain Haddawy is a collection of stories within stories, all reflecting the frame story of King Shahrayar’s desire for vengeance and the cleverness of his supposed future murder victim Shahrazad. Throughout the development of the stories, the images of cutting and separation appear constantly in both the literal and symbolic sense. These themes are especially evident in “The Story of the Three Apples.” The murder of a young woman, the mistake of a husband, the noble justice of a vizier, and the intense vengeance of a caliph, expose King Shahrayar’s shortcomings in his rule of his kingdom and the smooth manipulation of him by Shahrazad.
The use of God as a shield works on believers, but not on nonbelievers. The question “why bad things happening to good people” still cannot be answered for the nonbelievers, a common critique of religion itself. Regardless of the problem of theodicy, however, religion has worked really well to create and maintain the reality. Berger explains that it is because religion legitimates effectively. “Religion has been the historically most widespread and effective instrumentality of legitimation….
That football match was interrupted by football fans entering the field, which had a figurative meaning. Dubois explains, “The France-Algeria game would be a powerful tool for those who wished to portray the dream of a multicultural France as nothing more than a silly, indeed dangerous utopia” (Dubois 210). This football match illustrates the post-colonial emotions and its impact on soccer. His writing helps shape the history of French soccer and how it was globalized through these two players. Dubois’s novel gave a great perspective and interesting background that was enjoyable to read.
Mahfouz, as well as Said, shared a direct contact with the Arabian lifestyle because they grow up in that society. Mahfouz’s novel depicts the real world with the touches of the supernatural and mystic, but as a form of evil in the world not as exotic and uncivilized as the Europeans did. Mahfouz’s Arabian Nights and Days “takes new depths and insights as it picks up from where the ancient story ends” (Fayez 229). Mahfouz uses the Arabian Nights tales and Shahryar’s and Scheherazade’s society to portray the contemporary social and political issues of his people. Mahfouz aims to show various thematic concerns of the people of the East than the early versions left out.
The narrative of the French, Jewish, and Berber relations, while an exceptionally well-rounded story does not acknowledge, in the text itself, Geertz’s role in the situation - thus giving an incomplete account of the events. To not be reminded of the author's role, allows the reader to view the narrative as fact when in actuality the author’s observation and interpretation separate the reader from the truth. Observation is often taken for granted as an ethnographer's view and understanding is changed depending on the perspective he uses. While his approach to ethnography provides the reader with a coherent narrative, it neglects to show how the information was gathered or an evaluation of the reliability of the sources. Had he placed himself
In October 1905, James Joyce wrote “Araby” on an unnamed narrator and like his other stories, they are all centered in an epiphany, concerned with forms of failures that result in realizations and disappointments. The importance of the time of this publication is due to the rise of modernist movement, emanating from skepticism and discontent of capitalism, urging writers like Joyce to portray their understanding of the world and human nature. With that being said, Joyce reflects Marxist ideals through the Catholic Church’s supremacy, as well as the characters’ symbolic characterization of the social structure; by the same token, psychoanalysis of the boy’s psychological and physical transition from one place, or state of being, to another is
Edith Wharton’s In Morocco is an account of her one month’s journey to Morocco during the French colonial period. In her description of the great suqs of Marrakesh starting with “the enchanted circle of Bahia”, getting into the bazaars where different merchants meet and trade with each other. Then, she describes the souks as being Dark, fierce and fanatical along with being overcrowded and that they are “mere mud lanes roofed with rushes”. Next, she describes the other “throngs” in the souks from fanatics in sheepskins to bare-legged Berber women.
Jean- Baptiste Molière’s play “Tartuffe” is an unquestionably humorous comedy. The play defines the hypocritical acclaimed “Christians” we have in society. Daily, many people are blinded by admiration of religious figures who they believe are Gods disciples and can lead them to the gates of heaven. In “Tartuffe”, the author uses irony, satire, and tone to uncover a man follies of unreligious faith, the lust of women, money, and power.
Raffi Khatchadourian is the grandson of Hagop Khatchadourian, a seemingly lucky survivor of the Armenian genocide in 1915 Turkey. R. Khatchadourian is on a mission to discover how his grandfather survived and to update the world on the quiet, yet relevant goings-on in present-day Turkey. He documents his findings to share with the readers of The New Yorker in an article dubbed A Century of Silence. The piece struggles heavily with organization, and harmony, both of which are key ingredients to a page-turning article.
Several issues of oppression with special emphasis on the two different poles: the coloniser and the colonised, the indigenous and the other, the tormentor and the tormented were addressed in the novel (Diler and Emir
This essay will examine the historical accuracy of the film Les Miserables in terms of the social, economic and political conditions in French society post French Revolution. The film Les Miserables depicts an extremely interesting time in French history (from about 1815-1832.) Even though the story line does not depict every detail and event that occurred during the time period as well as the fact that some aspects are dramatized for entertainment purposes, the film effectively spans thirty years of economic, political and social aspects of French Society. However it also manages to bring in references to the past, the French Revolution (1789-1799) and the impact it had on the society portrayed in the film.
The ending of James Joyce’s “Araby” is certain to leave its reader reeling. The final scene, in which the young protagonist fails in his mission to purchase a prize for the girl he loves, drips with disappointment. The reader feels a profound melancholy which matches the protagonist’s own, an impressive feat given the story’s short length and the lack of description, or even a name, given to the boy. How does Joyce arrive at this remarkable ending? By utilizing the trappings of the Boy Meets Girl and Quest “masterplots” in his story only to reveal the story as an Initiation, Joyce creates an experience for his readers that mirrors that of the protagonist.
In addition, the philosopher falls pray to the classical misconception of blaming God for all the evil in
George Orwell’s “Marrakech” is a non-fictional essay written in the year 1939 that explores the central concerns of the text that were going on within the Moroccan town such as colonialism, racism, oppression and poverty. Orwell describes his time within Marrakech and details the oppression and unfair treatment of the original natives of the land. He very cleverly evokes intense emotions in the reader by opening up his writing to interpretation and in-depth analysis rather than just trying to give a flat out negative opinion which would not have been nearly as effective. Due to this, our appreciation and sympathy towards the text is enhanced and is furthered even more through the use of techniques such as personal anecdote, powerful images and comment and opinion.