Taos Amrouche
Marie-Louise-Taos Amrouche (4 March 1913 in Tunis, Tunisia – 2 April 1976 in Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire, France) was an Algerian writer and singer. In 1947, she became the first Algerian woman to publish a novel.[1]
Biography
She was born to a family of Kabyle Roman Catholic converts, the only daughter in a family of six sons.[2] Her family had moved to Tunisia to escape persecution after their conversion.[2]
Her mother Fadhma Aït Mansour, who was a famous Kabyle singer,[3] had a great impact on her life, and her literary style would reflect the oral traditions of the Kabylie Berber people of her mother's heritage.[2] Amrouche received her elementary and secondary education in Tunis,[1] and in 1935 went to France for studies at the École Normale at Sèvres.[2] From 1936, in collaboration with her elder brother Jean Amrouche and her mother, Amrouche collected and began to interpret Kabyle songs.[2] In 1939, at the Congrès de Chant de Fès, she received a scholarship to study at the Casa Velasquez in Spain, where she researched the ties between Berber and Spanish popular songs.[2]
Her autobiographical first novel, Jacinthe noir, was published in 1947 andis one of the earliest ever published in French by a North African woman writer. With her compilation of tales and poems La Grain magique in 1966, she took the nom de plume Marguerite-Taos, Marguerite being her mother's Christian name.
While she wrote in French, she sang in Kabyle. Her first album Chants berbères de Kabylie (1967), which was a great success, was a collection of traditional Kabyle songs that had been translated into French by her brother Jean. She recorded several other albums, including Chants sauvés de l’oubli (“Songs Saved from Oblivionâ€), Hommage au chant profond (“Homage to a Profound Songâ€),[2] Incantations, méditations et danses sacrées berbères (1974), and Chants berbères de la meule et du berceau (1975).[1]
She was an activist in Berber issues and was among the founders of Académie berbère in 1966.
She died in Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire in France.[1]
Bibliography
- Jacinthe noire (1947) - reprint Joëlle Losfeld (1996), ISBN 2-909906-63-9
- La Grain magique (1966) - reprint La Découverte (2000), ISBN 2-7071-2578-4
- Rue des tambourins (1969) - reprint Joëlle Losfeld (1996), ISBN 2-909906-62-0
- L’Amant imaginaire (1975)
Selected discography
- Chants berbères de Kabylie (1967)
- Chants De L'Atlas (Traditions Millénaires Des Berbères D'Algérie) (1970)
- Incantations, méditations et danses sacrées berbères (1974)
- Chants berbères de la meule et du berceau (1975)
- Au Theatre De La Ville (1977)
Further reading
- Denise Brahimi, Taos Amrouche, romancière, Joëlle Losfeld (1995), ISBN 2-909906-57-4
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Taos-Amrouche, Marguerite (Marie-Louise)", in Hsain Ilahiane, Historical Dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen), Scarecrow Press, 2006, p. 120.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Marguerite Taos Amrouche", Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- ↑ "Amrouche, Marguerite Taos (Algeria)", Literary Map of Africa, University Libraries, Ohio State University.
External links
- Bio details, bibliomonde.net - in French
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