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LiteratureNostalgia, love and disappointmentMemory in the Flesh(Dhaakirat al-Jasad)Arab womenwriters haveshown theircreativity,literary taste andtheir aestheticability. Theywent fromwritingas anart towriting asa message.They were able to present theArab world through their literaryproductions and to express what wasinside them. Ahlem Mostaghanemiwas one of those revolutionary authors.She was named “Most distinguished Arabwoman” in 2006. She wrote for a reason andher works went beyond being just love stories.They were a portrait of a nation’s struggle.Mostaghanemi’s award winning novel, aMemory of the Flesh (Dhaakirat al-Jasad)was the first novel written by an Algerianwoman in Arabic. First published in 1985,the novel came to be very popular in theArab world and aroused worldwide interestwhen it was translated into other languages.The novel starts with the narratingvoice of Khaled, whohas lost his love andis writing his ownnovel in response tothe publication ofa novel written byAhlem, his formerlover. Khaled was apainter who foughtin the Algerianrevolution. Hewas a close friendof Si Taher, afreedom fighterand the fatherof Ahlem,w h o s ename wasregisteredby Khalidinsteadof herfather.After the Algerianrevolution, Khaled left for France andbecame a painter and a famous artist inParis. He was later reunited with Si Taher’sdaughter at an art Gallery in France. ForKhaled, Ahlem represents his hometown.Ahlem epitomizes all of Khalid’s memoriesof his childhood, hometown and family. Shebecame a portrait of Constantine, Khalid’shometown, and he soon fell in love withher. She made Khaled go back and forthbetween the past that was full of memoriesand the present that was full of love andpassion. But Ahlem and Khalid’s story wasnot only about love. It was also a story abouthopes, desires, nostalgia, disappointmentand the struggle between generations.Ahlem simply appeared in Khaled’s life tointerrupt his present. She connected himto his past and was able to build a bridgebetween him and his country. However,Khaled was soon disappointed as hesuddenly realized that Ahlem belongedto a different generation. A generationthat presented a Constantine differentto the one that existed inside him.“Memory in the Flesh” went beyond thescope of a love affair to talk about thestruggle of a country and the strugglebetween generations. The novel was allabout memories after the revolution. Itwon the Naguib Mahfouz Prize for literaturein 1998. Mostaghanemi made peoplerecognize the Algerian struggle againstforeign domination and the identity crisisthat dominates the ‘post-independence’nation. Thus, she was able to gainimportant status among the outstandingwomen writers around the world.By Imene Lardjane