Probing the Past: Leïla Sebbar, La Seine etait rouge/The Seine was Red

Franco-Algerian novelist Leila Sebbar enters the realm of historical inquiry with La Seine était rouge, a novel that probes the massacre of Algerians in Paris on October 17,1961, and its cover-up by French authorities. My study explores the narrative strategies the novelist uses to retrieve collective memory, particularly her use of témoignage and war memorials, and my experience of preparing the English language translation. Bringing both processes together, I test the hypothesis that both enrich the interpretation of a text that provides important clues to our understanding of a fateful day in the history of Algeria's anti-colonial struggle.