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Ter Maaleh
“We had returned with our families to live in the village of Ter Maaleh, near Homs”
The narrator, Riad Sattouf
Based on his own memories of youth, The Arab of the future by Riad Sattouf is one of the best-selling graphic novels of the last ten years. This autobiography is set in the cities where the members of the Sattouf family have settled. From Brittany to Libya via Syria in the small village of Ter Maaleh.
Riad, a little Syran-Breton boy
Born in 1978 to a Breton mother, Clémentine, and a Syrian father, Abdel-Razak, Riad was a few years old when his family moved to Libya. His father, a doctor of history, then took a teaching position in history at the University of Damascus in Syria.
The Sattoufs then settled in Ter Maaleh, a small town 180 km north of the capital. It is in this commune that Abdel-Razak’s entire family lives, including his mother. Illiterate but very pious, this woman is warm and loving, especially towards Riad, a little blond boy who is the pride of the women in the family.
Ter Maaleh, Syrian city for living
The blondness of his hair and his curls make the little Riad the attraction of the family. Covered in praise by his mother, grandmother and all the women in the family, this fervor contrasts with their sometimes delicate daily lives. Ter Maaleh is not a rich city and the precariousness is obvious in the streets. If the system D and mutual aid allow some to survive, the Sattoufs are nevertheless not in need.
Ter Maaleh is a very agricultural town, far from everything, and is part of the administrative region of Homs, a city of 775,000 inhabitants.
The pressures of the authoritarian regime of Hafez El-Assad are also felt in the daily life of Syrians. Thus, in this first part of The Arab of the Future, those condemned to death are hanged and displayed in the streets.
The Arab of the Future, a great autobiographical and humorous fresco
The sixth volume of L’Arabe of the futureconcludes the comic book series. Riad Sattouf has thus put into images his story from his birth in 1978 to 2011. The author of Esther’s notebooks decides to tell her story in this great fresco after the first revolts against the Syrian regime of Bachar El-Assad.
If violence of all kinds is present in the six volumes, The Arab of the future is also a very funny work, especially because Riad Sattouf recalls funny memories. His life in Syria, his years at school, his difficulties in learning Arabic, his blondness which makes him look like a Jew or his father’s change of heart towards a rigorous religion make this series a humorous one.
Awarded several major prizes – Fauve d’or for best album in 2015, Los Angeles Book Prize and Japan Media Arts Festival Award of Excellence – The Arabian of the Future is available in more than 20 languages and the New York Times called it “artistically exceptional.”
Sales of the five volumes of The Arab of the Future generated 4.63 million euros in revenue in 2020.
Ter Maela
Ter Maaleh is located in Syria, 180 km north of Damascus, the country’s capital.
It is a small town of about 8,000 inhabitants in the administrative region of Homs. It is also spelled Teir Maalah, Teir Maela or Ter Maala.
In 2011, during the demonstrations against the Syrian government, the inhabitants of Ter Maaleh joined the protest. However, the army suppressed it by closing all roads leading to the town.
Ter Maaleh is one of the settings for Riad Sattouf’s comic book series The Arab of the Future.
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Cult! novels : 100 mythical places of novels (French Edition)
Cult! Novels tells you the secrets of the places that made the history of literature.
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By Damien Canteau
Passionné par l'Histoire, les animés, les Arts et la bande dessinée en particulier, Damien est le rédacteur en chef du site spécialisé dans le 9e art, Comixtrip.