Year of the Elephant & Anti-colonial Struggle

The Year of the Elephant is an interesting short novel that treats both the Moroccan independence struggle from French colonial domination (1956) and the aftermath. Since the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon in 1798 the French made repeated efforts to colonize and control North Africa. Morocco was one of the last regions to fall under their authority in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The novel show the main character, Zahra, a young woman revolutionary participating in a variety of revolutionary activities including burning the shops of French sympathizers, smuggling guns and resistance fighters, and supporting prisoners. After the war is over, and the French retreat, we see that many of those who fought for a free Morocco decide to enrich themselves, taking over the homes that the French lived in, becoming corrupt, and losing sympathy with the common people -- a common event after colonialism as described by Frantz Fanon's famous essay, "The Pitfalls of National Consciousness."

The novel also tells an important feminist story about the divorce of Zahra by her husband in favor of a younger wife, and Zahra's struggle to become independent.

The classic expression of anti-French resistance in North Africa is the film, Battle of Algiers (1966), chronicaling the bitter Algerian revolution that lasted from 1954-1962 with likely over a million dead. The film may have something to say about the American presence in Iraq.

Entire film at Dailymotion.