The Wound
The Wound by Laurent Mauvignier is an illustrated edition published by U of Nebraska Press on January 1, 2015. This 230-page work delves into the lasting impacts of the Algerian War of Independence through the intertwined lives of two cousins, Bernard and Rabut. The narrative unfolds in four parts, exploring how the memories and traumas of the war continue to affect those who lived through it, revealing the emotional and moral scars that persist over decades.
Readers will find a detailed examination of the Algerian War’s atrocities and its profound influence on the individuals involved. Mauvignier’s storytelling captures the complexities of memory and repression, illustrating how the past shapes the present. The novel invites reflection on the broader implications of conflict, emphasizing the wounds that remain unspoken yet deeply felt. Through its exploration of personal and collective histories, this work contributes to the understanding of the war’s enduring legacy in France and beyond.
Official synopsis Publisher
“Where is your wound?” asks Jean Genet in the lines Laurent Mauvignier uses as an epigraph to The Wound. By the time we have finished this four-part novel, we realize that for many the wound lies four decades back in “the Events” that people have tried to not talk about ever since: the Algerian War.
Chronicling the lives of two cousins—Bernard and Rabut—both in the present and at the time of the Algerian War of Independence in the 1960s, we get a full picture of the lasting effects this event had on the men who were involved. Through the fragments of their stories we see the whole history of the war: its atrocities, its horrors, and its hatreds. Mauvignier shows readers how the Algerian War, always present yet always repressed, has sickened the emotional and moral life of everyone it touched—and France itself, perhaps. The epigraph, like the novel, suggests that wounded men may even become the wound itself.
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