Algerian writer Kamel Daoud spends most of his time in the city of Oran. The author of Meursault, counter-investigationwho chronicled the political and social life of his country, in love with Albert Camus, tells us about his city.
From our special correspondent in Oran,
” Oran is all the bad tastes of the East and the West combined said Albert Camus, who grew up in Algiers. The 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature notably resided in Oran between January 1941 and July 1942 on the occasion of his second marriage. His novel Plague takes place entirely in this port city, in the northwest of Algeria.
He makes this city a very negative description. ” We are in a city without trees, without pigeons and without gardens “. His life at the time was financially complicated, he had just been expelled from the Algerian Communist Party and felt isolated and cramped in Oran society. ” I’m fed up with Oran and everything “, he wrote to a friend.
A somewhat kitsch town
Unlike Albert Camus, the writer Kamel Daoud, born in Mesra, a small village near Mostaganem, devotes a real cult to the city of Oran. In October 2013 his novel was released Meursault, counter-investigationwhich is inspired by The Stranger by Albert Camus: the narrator is indeed the brother of the “Arab” killed by Meursault.
” Oran is for me above all the Mediterranean. What I like about this city is its old-fashioned side, a little kitsch, with a very Haussmannian city center, and this remnant of Spanish, North African, French, etc. crossover culture. This please me a lot “, says the former editor-in-chief at Oran Daily. “ It is a Mediterranean city where decadence is still delicious, a sort of Cuba without Castro “.
” I can’t be away from Oran for too long »
Oran, nicknamed “the radiant”, is the second largest city in Algeria. Founded in 902 by the Andalusians, the city experienced a succession of Arab-Berber dynasties. In the old town, the old people of Oran speak Spanish. In the evening, it is good to stroll along the seafront, which enjoys a magnificent view of the Mediterranean Sea, Mount Murdjadjo and the Fort of Santa Cruz.
” The people of Oran differ greatly from the other inhabitants of the country. They have the reputation of being party animals, more open, more joking, compared to Algiers which has a more political vocation. A friend found the best explanation. He says that Oran was occupied by the Spaniards for three centuries, Algiers by the Ottomans for three centuries, this leaves for the Algiers a culture of barracks, and a sense of celebration among the Oranais “says Kamel Daoud.
” I can’t be away from Oran for too long, confess the writer. I miss the sky, the light, and the dust. It is a whole. We live in the country of our imagination, Oran is a part of myself. I could go into exile elsewhere, but necessarily on the shores of the Mediterranean. »
“ I hope that Oran will open up to the rest of the world »
The historic district of Sidi El Houari, also called “Les Bas Quartiers”, is considered “the old Oran”. We find there the imprint of the various civilizations that the city has known: Arab, Spanish, Ottoman and French.
The town hall of Oran (renaissance style) and the two bronze lions date from the Third Republic. Camus found them ugly! The construction was completed in 1888 with the installation of two animal statues by the sculptor Auguste Cain (1889). Before independence in 1962, the city was predominantly European.
“ I hope that Oran will open up to the rest of the world. It has a magnificent abandoned architectural heritage. We have an island culture and I would like Oran to become the port again “, hopes Kamel Daoud who is currently writing a novel in which his favorite city will be one of the characters.
For Kamel Daoud, visiting Algiers is not visiting Algeria. “ You have to see something else, other faces. All the rest of the country is inhabited and habitable “. If Camus did not like Oran, it is not surprising in the eyes of Kamel Daoud. “ He was a bit like all Algiers. Me, I don’t like Algiers very much. We make it good “. Algiers-Oran is a bit like Paris-Marseille.
Which does not prevent Kamel Daoud from appreciating the author of The Stranger. “ He did not give in to the chimeras of his time. He is an independent man and that cannot be forgiven, neither in France nor in Algeria. “, concludes Kamel Daoud.