Tahar Ben Jelloun © Markus Wissmann - shutterstock.com.jpg
Liseuse marocaine © Marko Rupena - iStockphoto.com(1).jpg
Leila Slimani © Markus Wissmann - shutterstock.com.jpg

The Moroccan novel of French expression

In the aftermath of independence in the Maghreb, many Maghreb writers writing in French, blamed for using the language of the colonizer, found themselves faced with a dilemma: to continue or to give up writing in the language of Molière. Some intellectuals even thought that French-speaking Maghrebian literature would soon disappear. The novelist, like any French-speaking Moroccan writer, is at least bilingual: the language of writing serves above all to express the multidimensional aspect of his cultural and linguistic heritage. The vision of self and of the world that he translates into French passes through the filter of the languages he has learned. Linguistic plurality has not always been experienced in harmony and serenity, given the unequal status of languages in Morocco: historically, the conflict has resulted in different attitudes on the part of the writer and, aesthetically, in different writing strategies.

Moroccan French-speaking writers, far from abandoning their French-speaking pen, created a current of thought that did not reject the French cultural heritage, but considered it in terms of the national future. The magazine Souffles, created in 1966, played a decisive role in this debate. It was in relation to culture that the journal's leading action group (ARC: Association de recherche culturelle) raised the problem of language and literature in Morocco: French-speaking Moroccan literature was judged for its contribution to the national heritage; the choice of language per se was not considered a priority; the main issue was to define the ideological and literary options of a population that had long been alienated and marginalized. Far from disappearing, French-speaking Moroccan literature thus developed, finding itself ideologically legitimized. It must be said that the main actors, direct or indirect, in the Souffles

debate were the writers themselves: Abdellatif Laâbi, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Mourad Khireddine... This position enabled French-speaking Moroccan literature to take on new linguistic and aesthetic directions, as the writers were concerned to make their language more accessible to an imaginary universe that draws its sources both from the national heritage and from the Western heritage. They have thus allowed themselves to be influenced by the models of thought and writing of European literature (symbolism, surrealism, the philosophy of Marx, Derrida...). However, some are attempting a linguistic "guerrilla war" (Khaïr- Eddine), while others are thinking about a "dialogical" language that can express the mother tongue in French (A. Khatibi). Despite the youth of this literature - some forty years old - the themes and aesthetics are varied.

The reader, both Western and North African, may feel uneasy about Moroccan literature in French today: he or she is often misled, less by the interwoven reference to bicultural elements than by the confusing use of the language. Since Souffles

' important reflections, there has been no in-depth theorization of Moroccan culture, especially in its literary expression (particularly French-language). This is why these questions remain unanswered. Nevertheless, a partial - and individual - answer deserves attention: it is that of Khatibi. It appears in his theoretical work, but also in his literary creation. It starts from the observation of a factual state of affairs: "Europe inhabits our being"; but the writer's duty is to pose "the Maghreb as a horizon of thought" and to work to build it up, at his own level, that of writing and thought. This is what Khatibi has been trying to do for at least ten years, by challenging the "savage thinking" of ethnocentrisms, Western and Muslim, by exploring the "intersemiosis of the two languages", the territory of salvation. For him, it is illusory to write in French as a Frenchman or in Arabic as an Arab. It is therefore necessary to go beyond the Arab-French antagonism to reflect and create a new territory that offers the possibility of knowledge and acceptance of one's being as it is historically constructed: only this path allows the writer a - relative - liberation from the fascism and racism of the single language (and thought). These questions still arise today for all French-speaking Maghrebi writers. Since 1980, each one has been trying to give them an answer based on the issues that concern him or her. Moroccan novelists such as Driss Chraïbi or Tahar Ben Jelloun are asking more questions about the national heritage: they are reactivating the novel in the light of traditional forms such as epic, tale and legend. The novelists of the new generation, that of the 1980s, are making relatively different choices: Abdelhak Serhane seeks above all to reconstruct individual and social reality from the news and scenes of daily life, but from a critical perspective. By introducing popular idioms (proverbs, sentences, swearwords), he aims to subvert dominant discourses and socio-political violence through parody, irony, pastiche and the translation of forbidden language. The texts are intended as a revolt against the history of an alienation that is not entirely exhausted. Another example, Edmond Amrane el-Maleh, before his death in November 2010, used meditation and intimate expression: the writer favoured inner monologue, reverie, memory. He aimed to reconstruct a repressed history (that of the man and of Moroccan society of Jewish origin) and to reactivate the imaginary that is linked to it.

Tahar Ben Jelloun

Who doesn't know Le racisme expliqué à ma fille? First published in 1998 and translated into some twenty languages, this book is a real pamphlet for respect and tolerance. But who is Tahar Ben Jelloun? Born in Fez in 1947, this writer and poet went to a bilingual primary school and then to the French high school in Tangier. After studying philosophy, which he taught for a while, he moved to Paris and studied psychology. He obtained a doctorate in 1975. Although he had already published a collection of poetry in 1971(Hommes sous linceul de silence) and novels(Hourrada, 1973; L'Écrivain public, 1983), it was in 1985 that he achieved real success with his novel L'Enfant de sable. Two years later, he was awarded the Prix Goncourt for La Nuit sacrée. Tahar Ben Jelloun published many other works. Think for example of La Nuit de l'erreur (1997), L'Ablation (2014) or his rewriting of tales with Mes contes de Perrault (2014) and Le Mariage de plaisir (2016).

The 2000s

The 2000s saw the emergence of young writers who defied censorship by revealing a country lost between taboos and religion. Abdelliah Taïa and Rachid O will not hesitate to deal with their homosexuality, a delicate and shameful subject in Morocco. Writer and filmmaker born in 1973, Abdelliah Taïa also holds a doctorate in literature. He published his first collection of short stories, Mon Maroc, in 2001. This was followed by Le Rouge du tarbouche (2004), L'Armée du salut (2006) and Le Jour du roi (2010), which won the Prix de Flore. In 2007, he also wrote an article for a Moroccan newspaper entitled "Homosexuality explained to my mother". In 2012, he adapted his third novel, The Salvation Army, a film that won the Grand Prix du Jury at the Premiers Plans Festival in Angers (2014). Rachid O (born in 1970) also evokes the experience of Muslim homosexuals in the Maghreb. His five novels published by Gallimard have all met with great success (L'Enfant ébloui, 1995; Plusieurs vies, 1996; Chocolat chaud, 1998; Ce qui reste, 2003; Illiterates, 2013).

The writer Mohamed Choukri (1935-2003) saw his autobiographical novel Le Pain nu (first published in 1973 in English and then in French in 1980) banned in Morocco between 1983 and 2000. He relates his adolescence during his exodus from the Rif in Tangier. He talks about violence, politics, taboos, which made it a controversial work in Morocco. Since then, it has become one of the symbols of Moroccan literature. Mohamed Choukri has also written a collection of short stories La Tente (1985) and Jean Genet and Tennessee Williams in Tangier (1992), Paul Bowles. Le Reclus de Tanger (1997).

Leïla Slimani is another key figure in contemporary literature. Born in Meknes in 1981, this woman of letters grew up in a family where French was spoken. She completed her higher education in Paris and became a journalist. She published her first novel, Dans le jardin de l'ogre, in 2014 and was a finalist for the Prix de Flore. Two years later, she was awarded the Prix Goncourt for her novel Chanson douce, which, written in the form of an analepse - a flashback - tells the fate of two small children murdered by their nanny. This thrilling novel makes her one of the most beloved authors of her generation. She published other works such as Le Diable est dans les détails (2016); Le Pays des autres (2020) which is the first volume of a trilogy.

Fouad Laroui lives in the Netherlands. Born in 1958 in Oujda, Fouad Laroui writes mainly in Dutch and French. This doctor of economics has written numerous books and has received numerous awards. For example, De quel amour blessé, published in 1998 (impossible love between a North African and a Jew); Une année chez les Français in 2010 or Les Tribulations du dernier Sijilmassi in 2014; Ce vain combat que tu livre au monde (2016) and L'insoumise de la Porte de Flandre (2017). His collection of short stories, L'Étrange Affaire du pantalon de Dassoukine (The Strange Affair of Dassoukine's Pants), published in 2012, was awarded the Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle. Between comedy and psychology, the author wields his pen to perfection and paints a portrait of contemporary society.