Malek Alloula
Malek Alloula (1937–2015) was an Algerian poet, writer, editor, and literary critic. He is chiefly notable for his poetry and essays on philosophy. He wrote several books, including Le Harem Colonial in 1981, translated into English as The Colonial Harem, which was generally well received.
Malek Alloula

Michel-georges bernard · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- November 3, 1937
- Birthplace
- Oran, Algeria
- Education
- École Normale Supérieure, Sorbonne
- Occupation
- Writer, Poet, Literary Critic
- Spouse
- Assia Djebar 1980-2005
- Place of death
- Paris, France
- Died
- 2015 · Berlin.
- Nationality
- Algeria · France
- Fields
- creative and professional writing · poetry · literary criticism · prose
- Languages
- French · Arabic
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Malek Alloula (1937–2015) was an Algerian poet, writer, editor, and literary critic. He is chiefly notable for his poetry and essays on philosophy. He wrote several books, including Le Harem Colonial in 1981, translated into English as The Colonial Harem, which was generally well received.
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wikidata · Q3281820 · wikipedia · Malek Alloula
In this article
Biography
Biography
The author analyses colonial photographic postcards of Algerian women from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, arguing that the postcards do not accurately represent Algerian women, but rather a Frenchman's fantasy of the "Oriental" female.

Le poète Malek Alloula, le peintre Abdallah Benanteur, le peintre Mohamed Aksouh en 1993
Michel-georges bernard
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — November 3, 1937 • Birthplace — Oran, Algeria • Education — École Normale Supérieure, Sorbonne • Occupation — Writer, Poet, Literary Critic • Spouse — Assia Djebar 1980-2005 • Subject — Orientalism, post-colonialism • Notable Works — The Colonial Harem (1986) • Place of death — Paris, France • Language — French
Biography
Biography
He was born November 3, 1937, in Oran, Algeria. Having graduated from the École Normale Supérieure, he further studied literature at the University of Algiers and La Sorbonne, Paris, where he wrote his doctoral thesis on Denis Diderot, a French philosopher and writer. He married Assia Djebar, an Algerian filmmaker and novelist, in 1980; they divorced in 2005. He was the director of the Abdelkader Alloula Foundation, which honors his brother Abdelkader Alloula, a playwright and stage director who was assassinated in 1994 by members of Islamic Front for Armed Jihad.
Works
Works
• Dans tout ce blanc Rhubarbe, Auxerre, Barzah Algiers 2015 • Algérie indépendance. • Les festins de l'exil. • Alger 1951: un pays dans l'attente. • Une enfance algérienne. • Rêveurs/sépultures; suivi de L'exercice des sens: poèmes. • Belles Algériennes de Geiser. • Villes et autres lieux: poèmes. • L'accès au corps: poème. • Villes (poems) • Le cri de tarzan, la nuit dans un village oranais: nouvelles. • Alger: photographiée au XIXe siècle. • Approchant du seuil ils dirent. • Mesures du vent: poème • Le harem colonial: images d'un sous-érotisme. • Causses et vallées. • Villes et autres Leux: Poèmes. • Paysages d'un retour. • L'Exercice des sens. • L'autre regard. • Rêveurs-sépultures: suivi de Mesures du vent: poèmes.
Identity
Identity
Malek Alloula is recorded with the occupation literary scholar. Recorded as writer, poet, literary critic, essayist and literary scholar.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1937
Malek Alloula was born on 13 November 1937.
2015
Malek Alloula died on 17 February 2015.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Oran.
Birth place
Berlin.
Death place
Licensing
Text attribution
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Malek Alloula, revision 1372698509 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3281820: Malek Alloula
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Malek Alloula”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Citations
References
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authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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