Rivalry and brawl of languages in Djebar’s fiction

Date de réception : 26/04/2025 Date d’acceptation :25/06/2025

Abstract

Our article explores the theme of language rivalry and their ongoing confrontation in Assia Djebar's novel La Disparition de la langue française. Through her writing, Djebar seeks to highlight the competition among different languages within Algerian society: Amazigh, Arabic, French, and English. She attempts to classify them according to their social significance while demonstrating their shifting hierarchy over time. To shed light on the rivalry and clash of languages in Djebar’s fiction, we first examine her aesthetic perspective on these languages by linking them to human emotions. Then, we demonstrate that each language experienced its moment of glory before fading away to make way for the next, following the rhythm of historical events. This study is based on the sociology of literature and stylistics.