ABSTRACT
Aba, Noureddine b. 1921, Sétif, Algeria; d. 1996, Paris, France playwright and poet The Algerian-born Noureddine Aba has written numerous plays and poems on
a variety of political topics: post-independence corruption and political repression, the Algerian revolution, the plight of Palestinians and the Middle East conflict, Nazi Germany (inspired by his presence as a journalist at the Nuremberg trials), and French colonial rule. In addition, he has frequently examined the fate and experience of individual relationships in the midst of political upheaval. In Gazelle après minuit (Gazelle after Midnight) (1979) and Gazelle au petit matin (Gazelle in the Early Morning) (1978), for example, the fait divers of a young couple discovered dead at the moment of independence serves as the inspiration for sequences of love poems. In his plays, he often makes use of political farce, and his poems frequently draw on thickly layered references to history. His short stories, however, draw on the tradition of Arabic tales such as those found in the Arabian Nights. Using figures such as a sultan to represent arbitrary post-independence rule, they are therefore more allegorical in their relation to politics. Two of these short stories were adapted from his children’s books.
