Masculinities in War: René-Nicolas Ehni's Algérie roman

Jane E. Evans, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

René-Nicolas Ehni, controversial social figure and critic in France since the 1960s and literary figure especially known for his plays and novels, characterizes his French military service during the Algerian war for independence in his autobiographical Algérie roman, published in 2002. In the novel, the first-person narrator-protagonist intersperses his descriptions of the struggle with scenes from his past and present denoting family genealogies and homosexual relationships. Through a narration that is itself marked by violence, including digressions, rhetorical figures and discontinuous prose, Algérie roman strongly affirms the significance of masculine friendships of every kind.