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Translating Nouzha Fassi Fihri's La Baroudeuse: A Case Study in ...

Translating Nouzha Fassi Fihri's La Baroudeuse: A Case Study in ...

Translating Nouzha Fassi Fihri's La Baroudeuse: A Case Study in ...

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"What could have gotten <strong>in</strong>to Sharif? Did he jo<strong>in</strong> the demonstration for spite?<br />

After all, he is a man, even if I belittle that quality <strong>in</strong> him. His wife receives her<br />

ex-husband <strong>in</strong> her home. Right under his nose, she celebrates his presence and<br />

pampers him. In the end, he couldn't take it. No, I'm be<strong>in</strong>g ridiculous! Do I th<strong>in</strong>k<br />

I'm still capable of mak<strong>in</strong>g anyone jealous? Besides, Sharif doesn't have enough<br />

imag<strong>in</strong>ation or romance to make a mounta<strong>in</strong> out of a molehill. God knows what<br />

impulse put him up to this bravado. I never knew him to have any patriotic<br />

<strong>in</strong>cl<strong>in</strong>ations until now."<br />

She sat up and made an effort to remember the facts. In the early<br />

afternoon, when the demonstrators reached the neighborhood where <strong>La</strong>lla Kenza<br />

and her family lived, everyone <strong>in</strong> the household went out on the doorsteps, but the<br />

old woman stood beh<strong>in</strong>d a w<strong>in</strong>dow <strong>in</strong> the entryway to watch without be<strong>in</strong>g seen.<br />

There were men of all ages, but most of them were young. Their voices rose up<br />

low-pitched and calm, as <strong>in</strong> a collective prayer. They walked straight ahead, <strong>in</strong> a<br />

tight l<strong>in</strong>e, arm <strong>in</strong> arm. Young athletes led the way, proud-chested, wear<strong>in</strong>g white<br />

handkerchiefs tied across their brows, rais<strong>in</strong>g high the red flag: a green star on a<br />

field of red.<br />

Their eyes were vague, their beards showed several days' growth, and they<br />

wore simple clothes. Most of them were craftsmen: weavers, blacksmiths, and<br />

carpenters. They shouted slogans: religion and country, k<strong>in</strong>g and government, and<br />

the names of exiled leaders. They showed no zeal and looked for no fight. They<br />

were simply men <strong>in</strong> need, exasperated with humiliation. They wanted to recover<br />

their whole country, neither divided nor dismembered. They wanted to rega<strong>in</strong><br />

their own identity, neither dim<strong>in</strong>ished nor disguised. They were not look<strong>in</strong>g for<br />

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