Patient Sues Algerian Author Kamel Daoud Over Allegations of Literary Theft

Saada Arbane alleges that Kamel Daoud used her traumatic experiences without consent, igniting a lawsuit in Algeria.

 

In a dramatic turn of events, Kamel Daoud, the recent recipient of France’s prestigious Goncourt prize for his novel "Houris," faces a lawsuit in Algeria from a woman who accuses him of appropriating her life story. Saada Arbane, a survivor of the brutal Algerian civil war, asserts that the character Fajr in Daoud's novel mirrors her own harrowing experiences, notably a horrific militant attack that left her communicating through a speaking tube.

Arbane revealed her allegations during an interview with an Algerian television station, claiming that Daoud learned about her tragic past during psychiatric sessions with his future wife, Aicha Dahdouh. She argues that the novelist drew directly from her life, replicating specific elements such as her physical scars and emotional trauma, which she previously shared with Dahdouh.

“This is my life. It’s my past. He had no right to chuck me out like that,” said Arbane when describing her refusal to meet with Daoud three years prior, when he proposed using her story as the foundation for his book. Her most prominent grievances include the uncanny similarity in Fajr’s struggles with her mother and her wish to terminate a pregnancy, paralleling key moments of her own existence.

The lawsuits, which have been filed under two distinct legal frameworks, challenge Daoud and his wife's actions as violations of medical confidentiality and the 2005 reconciliation law, which criminalizes the exploitation of the civil conflict's aftermath. This law complicates the public discussion of Algeria's past atrocities, resulting in "Houris" being banned in Algeria, with its French publisher, Gallimard, facing exclusion from the Algiers book fair.

Daoud, who left Algeria to settle in Paris and acquire French citizenship in 2020, has remained silent regarding the lawsuits while facing criticism in his home country. Some accuse him of capitulating to colonial influences and using Algeria's turbulent history for personal gain. His past work, "The Meursault Investigation," also received acclaim, which adds to the complexity of his current situation.

In response to these allegations, Antoine Gallimard declared that Daoud's work, while inspired by Algerian history, is fundamentally fictional. “Houris" portrays a narrative grounded in imaginative storytelling, differentiating it from a direct account of any individual.

As Daoud’s legal troubles mount, tensions between Algeria and France are exacerbated by political strife stemming from President Emmanuel Macron's recognition of Morocco's claim over Western Sahara, further complicating a tumultuous landscape for writers from the region. Meanwhile, another prominent Algerian author, Boualel Sansal, has reportedly gone missing after returning to Algeria, raising alarms about the safety of dissenting voices in the nation.