Elissa Rhaïs: Difference between revisions

In 1919 Boumendil moved to Paris to pursue a literary career. The novelist and critic [[Louis Bertrand (novelist)|Louis Bertrand]] had written a letter of introduction for her to [[René Doumic]], the editor of the ''Revue des Deux Mondes,'' who shortly after published five of her short stories.<ref name=":2" /> Subsequently, her first novel, ''Saada the Moroccan'' was published by [[Plon (publisher)|Plon]], a Parisian publishing house, using for the first time her pseudonym, Elissa Rhaïs.<ref name=":2" /> ''Saada the Moroccan'' was a bestseller, eventually running to twenty-six editions.<ref name=":2" /> From this time, Rhaïs began to present herself as a Muslim woman who had escaped from a harem, but how instrumental she was in this new persona's construction, or indeed whether she wrote the book and the others that followed at all, has been questioned.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Rosello|first=Mireille|date=2006|title=Elissa Rhaïs: Scandals, Impostures, Who Owns the Story?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3821114|journal=Research in African Literatures|volume=37|issue=1|pages=1–15|jstor=3821114|issn=0034-5210}}</ref> It has been suggested that her new identity was created as marketing ploy orchestrated by Louis Bertrand and René Doumic; alternatively that it was an invention of Rhaïs herself.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Lorcin|first=Patricia M. E.|date=1 December 2012|title=Manipulating Elissa: the uses and abuses of Elissa Rhaïs and her works|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2012.723436|journal=The Journal of North African Studies|volume=17|issue=5|pages=903–922|doi=10.1080/13629387.2012.723436|s2cid=143680947|issn=1362-9387}}</ref>

 

 

Rhaïs did establish a literary salon in Paris, which was frequented by writers such as [[Colette]], [[Paul Morand]], [[Jean Amrouche]], as well as the actress [[Sarah Bernhardt]].<ref name=":2" /> There, Rhaïs dressed in combinations of [[Berbers|Berber]] and Muslim clothing, suggesting an exotic background which was popularised with a cultural fascination at the time for all things "[[Orientalism|Oriental]]".<ref name=":2" /> She spoke out against the emancipation of Arab women, noting in Turkey it had led to "widespread immorality".<ref name=":3" /> Her popularity in France waned from around 1930, which coincided with the death of her daughter and increasing criticism of the persona in Algeria.<ref name=":3" /> Rhaïs retired from public life.<ref name=":2" />