In brief
A woman named Saada Arbane has publicly accused Daoud of using her life story as a basis for the book's heroine, alleging significant parallels between her experiences and those of the fictional character. The lawsuits, citing confidentiality breaches and laws against exploiting civil war traumas, have surfaced amid tensions between Algeria and France.
The recent Goncourt prize-winner Kamel Daoud is embroiled in controversy after a patient of his wife's psychiatrist practice accused him of appropriating her personal story in his latest novel, "Houris.” Saada Arbane, a survivor of a brutal Islamist militant attack during Algeria's civil war, claims that the character Fajr mirrors her life experiences, including the aftermath of this attack, which left her communicating through a speaking tube.Arbane asserts that she had multiple therapy sessions with Daoud's wife, Aicha Dahdouh, detailing intimate aspects of her life that mirror those attributed to the character in the book. These included Fajr's physical injuries, her fraught relationship with her mother, and her expressed desire for an abortion. Arbane contends she rejected a meeting with Daoud when he suggested using her story for his novel.In response, two lawsuits have been filed against Daoud and Dahdouh, one invoking medical confidentiality and the other pointing to a law restricting discussion on national tragedies that emerged following the civil war. This legislation makes public discussion of such matters sensitive and has led to the prohibition of "Houris" in Algeria, including a ban on Daoud's French publisher from participating in the Algiers book fair.Daoud, now residing in Paris, has yet to make any comments on the lawsuit. However, his publisher, Antoine Gallimard, condemned the situation as part of a smear campaign against the author championed by pro-regime media in Algeria. Gallimard emphasized that while "Houris" drew from Algeria’s tragic past, its narrative and characters were fictional.Recent events have intensified scrutiny on the author, especially against the backdrop of evolving geopolitical tensions between Algeria and France. This climate has grown fraught, particularly following President Macron’s comments on Western Sahara. The literary landscape has further been shaken by the reported disappearance of another prominent Algerian author, Boualem Sansal, highlighting the risks facing writers who criticize the Algerian regime.
