Taos Amrouche
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Marie-Louise-Taos Amrouche (March 4 1913 in Tunis, Tunisia - April 2 1976 in Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire, France) was an Algerian writer and singer.
She was born to a family of Kabyle Roman Catholic converts. She was the first Algerian female writer. Her first novel Jacinthe noir (an autobiographical novel) was published in 1947 . Her mother Fadhma Aït Mansour had a great impact on her life. Her literary style reflected the oral traditions of Kabylie, descended from her mother. With her compilation of tales and poems La Grain magique in 1966 , she took the nom de plume Marguerite-Taos, Marguerite was her mother's Christian name.
While she wrote in French, she sang in Kabyle. Her first album Chants berbères de Kabylie, which was a great success, was a collection of traditional Kabyle songs that were translated to French by her elder brother Jean Amrouche in 1939 . She was an activist in Berber issues and she was among the founders of Académie berbère in 1966.
Writing
- Jacinthe noire (1947) - reprint Joëlle Losfeld (1996), ISBN 2909906639
- La Grain magique (1966) - reprint La Découverte (2000), ISBN 2707125784
- Rue des tambourins (1969) - reprint Joëlle Losfeld (1996), ISBN 2909906620
- L’amant imaginaire (1975)
Further reading
- Denise Brahimi, Taos Amrouche, romancière, Joëlle Losfeld (1995), ISBN 2909906574
