Djaout

Tahar Djaout (1954–1998) was an Algerian writer, journalist, and poet who wrote in French. Emerging in the post-independence literary scene, he produced novels, essays, and journalism that engaged with modernity, secularism, and social critique within Algerian society.

Djaout is best known for his novel Les Chercheurs d'Os (The Bone Seekers), a work frequently cited as a significant contribution to Francophone Algerian literature. His writings often critiqued religious extremism and defended secular, pluralist values, freedom of expression, and human rights. Through his fiction and essays, he explored tensions between tradition and modernity, and the risks posed by fundamentalism to individual liberties.

In 1998, during the Algerian Civil War, Djaout was assassinated in Algiers by Islamist militants. His murder drew international condemnation and underscored the dangers faced by intellectuals, journalists, and writers in periods of political violence. Djaout is remembered for his commitment to free expression and for his role in shaping Algerian literary culture amid a era of upheaval.