Endorsements

Djawad Rostom Touati asserts his literary truths Interview by Aomar Mohellebi (journalist, L'Expression, January 2024) How did the title of this book, which is not an essay but rather a novel, come about? Touati answers that the idea behind the novel's title was to inscribe it in a literary tradition of debate, even polemic. “There's a kind of reflex today: as soon as you criticize a work or an author who is celebrated and praised, especially overseas, you're labeled jealous, embittered, or you're given a completely adulterated anthropology that says: we don't forgive those who succeed. So I've decided to take a closer look at this certificate of good literature,” explained Touati, pointing out that he had decided to do so through the novel, through aesthetics. The author confirmed that many of the readers who read his book thought it was an essay, or rather a pamphlet. Why the novelistic detour? “Wouldn't I assume that my work would be strictly academic? In fact, it's not a question of assuming or not; the idea was that, on the one hand, I wanted to carry out this work of criticism, but on the other, I didn't want to limit myself to the four examples I cited in the review”, replied the guest of the ‘Cheikh multilivres’ bookshop. He went on to say that, through this book, he wanted to question the content of the works cited, as well as the place of the aspiring writer in literature. Djawad Rostom Touati then gave a more or less detailed summary of the plot of his novel, in which the main character is the poet Nadir. Touati spoke about what he calls literary mercenarism, which he believes is currently on the rise. What caught the audience's attention during Touati's talk was his pertinence in delivering his thoughts, his intellectual rigor and the arguments he put forward to back up his convictions as a literary critic, as well as the undeniable eloquence he displayed. Of course, not every truth is worth telling. But Djawad Rostom Touati has broken this “rule” by asserting his own, even though he knows the wrath he could inevitably incur by saying out loud what many other intellectuals would find difficult to articulate, at least publicly. It's not just the writer who spoke in Tizi Ouzou on Thursday, but above all the literary critic and intellectual, the real thing. One who engages in the public sphere without being cold-hearted or tongue-tied.