This paper explores the depiction of trauma and exile in an Arabic novel and motion picture set in the 80s and 90s in Algeria. Through the experiences of the protagonists in Ahlam Mosteghanemi"s novel Memory in the Flesh and Yamina Bachir-Chouikh"s film Rachida, the article examines the body as a site and record of trauma and exile, where loss is experienced at both national and individual levels. Through the damaged bodies of men and women, these works demonstrate the disintegrating effects of the Algerian civil war.