Writings from the Sand, Volume 1

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Writings from the Sand, Volume 1

Collected Works of Isabelle Eberhardt

Isabelle Eberhardt
Edited and with an introduction by Marie-Odile Delacour and Jean-René Huleu
Preface by Edmonde Charles-Roux
Translated by Melissa Marcus

600 pages
1 map

Paperback

May 2012

978-0-8032-1611-2

$50.00 Add to Cart

About the Book

Born in 1877 in Geneva, Switzerland, Isabelle Eberhardt became a rebel at an early age. She dressed like a man so she could have access to areas forbidden to women, smoked in public, and scandalized Genevan society. Already multilingual (French, German, and Russian), she began studying Arabic language and Islamic culture and eventually converted to Islam and joined a Qadiriyya Sufi brotherhood. Eberhardt traveled throughout North Africa and wrote about her experiences in short stories, journals, and reflections. She married an Algerian and led a legendary and stormy life that included subversive political anarchism, the mysticism of Islam, numerous love affairs, and most importantly, writing unmatched by her contemporaries.

Writings from the Sand, Volume 1, at once the document of a remarkable life and a literary treasure, appears here in English for the first time. Volume 1, including journals, diary entries, and observations of life in North Africa, offers a view of the culture and people of French Algeria rarely seen by outsiders—the peasants, prostitutes, mystics, criminals, and other marginalized members of a colonized society. This translation brings to life a brilliant woman ahead of her time while also raising questions—about North African history, colonialism, gender representation, and writing—that resonate in our day.

Author Bio

Isabelle Eberhardt (1877–1904) died at the age of twenty-seven in a flash flood in the desert town of Aïn Sefra, Algeria.

Melissa Marcus is professor emerita of French at Northern Arizona University. She is the translator of Fawzia Assaad’s Layla, An Egyptian Woman and Malika Mokeddem’s The Forbidden Woman (Nebraska, 1998).

Praise

"This collection is an important additionto the literary canon and will be essential for literary theorists, biographers, and historians. It will also appeal to contemporary readers who will relate to the wanderlust spirit and find their values of freedom and independence reflected here."—Shoilee Khan, ForeWord Reviews

"[Writings from the Sand, Volume 1] is a splendid chronological compendium of Isabelle Eberhardt's life and writings about all that fascinated her."—Daniel P. King, World Literature Today

Table of Contents

Foreword 
Preface
Introduction 
Chronological Landmarks 
Isbelle Eberhardt's Itineraries

Wanderings 
 Tunis Hours 
 Russian Mansucripts 
 Notes from June 4 (Geneva) to August 3, 1899 
 In the Land of Desert Sands 
 Notes from August 6 to September 9, 1899 
 An Autumn in the Tunisian Sahel 
 Amira 
 Memories of the Tunisian Sahel 
 Notes from Winter 1899 and Spring 1900 
 Onward to the Blue Horizons 
 Reminiscences 
 Fantasia 
 Notebooks 
 Springtime in the Desert 
Return to the South 
 Bou-Saâda 
 At the Zaouïya 
Oranese South, Part I 
 Reflections of War 
 Mograr-Foukani 
 Hadjerath-M'guil 
 Ghost Town 
 Beni-Ounif 
 Little Fathma 
 Sidi Slimane 
 Sunday in the Village 
 The Marabouts 
 Mériéma 
 Lizards 
 Agony 
 Market 
 Djenan-ed-dar 
 Douar of the Makhzen 
 The Bible 
 At the Home of Bou-Amama's Cousin 
 Trades from the Past 
 Legionnaires 
 Figuig 
 At the Cherifien Amel's Home 
 Lovers' Corner 
 Beni Israël 
 The Djich 
 Ramadan Evenings 
 Evening Gatherings 
 Last Visions 
 Aïn-Sefra's Market 
 Return 
 High Plateaus 
 Oudjda 
Oranese South, Part II 
 Musicians from the West 
 Muslim Death 
 On the Road 
 A Halt in the Desert 
 Ben-Zireg 
 Lying Water 
 Perfume of the Oasis 
 Béchar 
 Legionnaires and Mokhazni 
 Reflections in a Courtyard 
 Killing Time 
 Kenadsa 
 Entrance to the Zaouïya 
 New Life 
 Slaves 
 Women's Small World 
 Transformation 
 The Barga 
 The Enlightened One 
 The Marabout's Indignation 
 Message 
 A Vision of Women 
 Friday Prayer 
 Lella Khaddoudja 
 Nomad Lords 
 Messaoud 
 Saharan Theocracy 
 In the Margin of a Letter 
 Saint's Afternoon Tea 
 The Rebel 
 Sudanese Festival 
 With the Students 
 Evening Reflections 
 The Return of the Herd 
 Oblivion Seekers 
 Kenadsa Evenings 
 Desert Gypsy Women 
 In the Mellah 
 Strong Images 
 Music of Words 
 Powers of Africa 
 Moghreb 
 Departure 
The Daily Journals 
 First Daily Journal 
 Second Daily Journal 
 Third Daily Journal 
 Fourth Daily Journal 
Appendices
 Things from the Oranese South 
  Works Dedicated to Isabelle Eberhardt 
  Works by Isabelle Eberhardt 
  Glossary of Arabic Words 

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