Imaleyene, Fatime-Zohra (1936–)
Imaleyene, Fatime-Zohra (1936–)
Algerian novelist and film director. Name variations: Assia Djebar or Assia Djebbar. Born 1936 in Cherchell, Algeria; m. Ahmed Ould-Rouïs, 1958; m. Malek Alloula.
First Algerian woman accepted at L'École Normale Supérieure de Sèvres, joined Algerian student strike (1965) and later collaborated with FLN newspaper Moudjahid during independence struggle; taught North African history and worked for radio and press (1960s); appointed director of Center for French and Francophone Studies at Louisiana State University and Silver Chair Professor of French and Francophone Studies at New York University (2001); works often explore difficulties of altering patriarchal society and tensions between Western and Arabic cultures; novels include La Soif (1957), Les Impatients (1958), Les Enfants du nouveau monde (1962), Les Alouettes naïves (1967), Les Femmes d'Alger dans leur apartements (1980), L'Amour, la fantasia (1985), Ombre Sultanes (1987), Vaste est la prison (1995), Les nuits de Strasbourg (1997), and La Femme sans sepulture (2002); films include La Nouba (1979) and La Zerda ou les chantes de l'oubli (1982).