Some Key Figures Author: Stephanie Enemark<[email protected]> Key figures of Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian literature. Driss Charibi- Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine- Abdelkarim Ghellab- Tahar Ben Jelloun - Abdelkébir Khatibi- Abdellatif Laâbi - Mohammed Aziz El-Hababi- Mostafa Nissabory- Khnata Bennouna - Mohammed Berrada- Rabia' Mubarak - Mohammed Zefzaf- Abdelhak Serhane- Edmond Amran Elmaleh- Leïla Abouzeïd - Ahmed Lemsih- Jean Amrouche - Marguerite Taos Amrouche - Mouloud Mammeri- Abdelhamid Benhedougga - Kateb Yacine - Jean Sénac - Mohammed Dib- Assia Djebar - Tahar Ouettar - Ahlam Mosteghanemi - Leila Sebbar- Rachid Boudjedra- Mohamed Sari- Tahar Djaout - Rachid Mimouni - Aissa Khelladi- Abdelkader Djemaï - Malika Mokeddem- Merzak Allouache- Albert Memmi- Hédi Bouraoui- Salah Garmadi- Abdelaziz Kacem- Mustapha Tlili - Majid el Houssi- Moncef Ghacem - Abedelwahab Meddeb - Fawzi Mellah- Hélé Beji - Tahar Bekri- Amina Saïd - Hafedh Djedidi Literature Key Figures Driss Charibi - One of the most prolific Francophone writers from Morocco, Driss Charaibi is also one who has stirred quite a bit of controversy following the publication of books such as Le Passé simple and Naissance à l'aube. These books offer a reading/writing of Moroccan history that diverges with the mainstream version(s), to say the least. His other publications include the following. Les Boucs (1955), Une Enquête au pays (1982), La Mère du printemps (l'Oum er- Bia)(1982)Mort au Canada (1983), La Civilisation, ma Mère!... (1984), D'Autres voix, Mohammedia, (1986), Naissance à l'aube (1986), Le Maroc des hauteurs (Photos) (1986), L'Inspecteur Ali (1991), and L'Homme du livre. Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine came from an Amazigh family from southern Morocco. This south, especially the towns of Tafraout, Tiznit, and Agadir are always present in his writings. Khaïr- Eddine was famous for his unbridled sense of freedom, making him one of the most controversial figures of Moroccan literature in French. Along with Abdellatif Laâbi and Mustapha Nissabory, Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine launched the artistic journal Souffles in 1966. This publication sent a strong signal that Moroccan Francophone literature was there to stay, but on its own terms. It signaled the end of the era that put the ideological message in writing before artistic expression. Khaïr-Eddine's writings defy all conventions and put all artistic and political suppositions into question. This was clear even in his first book Agadir (1967). Subsequent works confirmed the rebel in Khaïr-Eddine. He proclaimed himself a "linguistic guerilla" with the goal of claiming new ground for unrestrained artistic expression. His works include: Corps négatif suivi de Histoire d'un Bon Dieu (1968), Soleil Arachnide (1969), Moi l'Aigre(1970), Le Déterreur (1973), Ce Maroc! (1975), Une odeur de mantèque (1976), Une vie, un rêve, un peuple, toujours errant (1978), Résurrection des fleurs sauvages (1981), and Légende et vie d'Agoun'chich (1984). Key Literature Figures 1 of 13 Abdelkarim Ghellab (b. 1919) Ghellab's received his education at the Al-Qarawiyyin University of Fes and Cairo University where he got his BA in Arabic Literature. When he returned to Morocco he worked in many different government administration, especially Foreign Affairs and education. He is the current editor in chief of rightwing opposition Independence Party (H'izb Al-Istiqlal). Of all the writers that Morocco has produced since the turn of the century, Ghellab is probably the oldest and the most influential. As a senior founding member of the Moroccan Writers' Union and as the editor of the A'alam daily newspaper and its literary supplement, Ghellab wields much influence on the country's intellectual circles and the cultural life as a whole. His views on social and cultural issues, especially those of Arabization, modernism, and cultural diversity, are reminiscent of Salafi schools of thought. Ghellab's writings cover a wide range of disciplines, especially fiction, literary criticism and politics. The four novels he published between 1965 and 1988 emphasize the bourgeois perspective from which Ghellab looks at recent Moroccan history. He is frequently criticized for over-emphasizing the role played by the urban bourgeois classes in the struggle for independence and glossing over the hardships that the poorer rural areas of Morocco underwent for the same cause. Dafanna Al-Mad'i ( We Burried the Past) (1968) and Lm'aallam Ali (Master Ali) (1971) are both set against the backdrop of French military presence in urban centers and how the educated elite of the cities organized anti-French resistance. These two novels offer good illustrations of Ghellab's tendency to lapse into a type of revisionist history where the role of the urban elites is highlighted. Ghellab published two other novels: Saba'at 'abwab (Seven Doors) (1965) and Wa A'ada Azzawraqu 'ila Annaba'i (The Boat Returned to the Source) (1988). He also published several books on literary issues for example Maa'a Al-'adab wa Al-'udaba-' (On Literature and Literary Figures) (1974) and A'alam Shaa'ir Al-H'amra-' (The World of the Poet of the Red Town --Marrakech) (1981). His political books include: Tarikh Al-H'araka Al-Wataniya bilmaghrib (A History of the Nationalist Movement in Morocco) (1987), Fi Al-Fikr Assiyasi (On Political Thought) (1992) and Maa'rakatuna Al-A'arabiya fi Muwajahati Al-'istia'mar (Our Arab Struggle Against Colonialism) (1967). Tahar Ben Jelloun is certainly one of the better known Maghrebi intellectuals, but he is also one of the more controversial. Some critics attack him for being "auto-exoticizing," claiming his fiction has little other purpose than titillating the occidental reader. In fact, Ben Jelloun, winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1987, is a writer of remarkable talent who alternates between realistic fiction and the fantastic, with the self-proclaimed aim of emphasizing the "irréalisme de l'écriture." Among his better known novels are Harrouda, Moha le fou, Moha le sage, L'enfant du sable, La Nuit Sacrée, and L'Homme rompu. He has also published poems, his first collection appearing in 1972 (Cicatrices du soleil) and his most recent in 1993 (La Remontée des cendres). He is the translator of Mohamed Choukri's novel Le pain nu (1990) from Arabic. Having studied Social Psychology in Paris, Ben Jelloun has also published an essay on the situation of North African immigrant workers in France called La plus haute des solitudes (1977). Abdelkébir Khatibi is probably one of the most influential Moroccan literary figures both as a novelist and critic. His work is informed by his Moroccan and Arabo-Islamic heritage as well as by Western philospohies such as deconstruction. Among his most discussed works are La Mémoire tatoué: autobiographie d'un décolonisé (1971), Le Lutteur de classe à la manière taoiste (1977), De la mille et troisième nuit (1980), Maghreb pluriel (1983), Amour bilingue (1983), Dédicace à l'année qui vient (1986), Figures de l'étranger dans la littérature francaise (1987), Par-dessus l'épaule (1988), Pardoxes Du sionisme (1990), and Un été à Stockholm (1990). Khatibi has also Key Literature Figures 2 of 13 written a drama, Le Prophète voilé (1979). Abdellatif Laâbi was a founding figure in postcolonial Moroccan Francophone literature. He is a prolific poet. The themes and issues that Laâbi deals engages critically in his writings have led him to a dramatic conflict with the Moroccan security which at one point resulted in an 8 year imprisonment in a facility reserved for dissident intellectuals. Laâbi's works include Race (1967), L'Arbre de fer fleurit (1974), Le Règne de la barbarie suivi de Poèmes oraux(1976), Histoire des sept crucifiés de l'espoir (1977), Chroniques de la citadelle d'exil (1978),Anthologie de la poesie palestinienne (1990), Pour les droits de l'homme: histoire(s), image(s), et parole(s) (1989), Discours de la colline arabe (1985), Je t'aime au rés de la mort (1988), L'Écorché vif: prosoèmes (1986), L'Oeil et la nuit: roman itinéraire (1969), Le Baptême chacaliste (1987), Le Chemins des ordalies (1987), Les Rides du lion (1989), Narration du déluge (1986), Saida et les voleurs de soleil (1986), Sous le bâillon, le poéme: écrits de prison, 1972-1980 (1981), and Tous les déchirements (1990). Mohammed Aziz El-Hababi (1922-1993) El-Hababi's did most of his schooling in France where he received a Ph. D. in literature. He was then appointed dean of the University of Rabat. He also Taught at the University of Algiers. El-Hababi was one of the founding members of the Moroccan Writers Union and became its first president in 1961. He was the editor in chief of two publications: Takamul Al-Maa'rifa and Dirasat Falasfya wa 'adabiyah. In Morocco El-Hababi is best known as leading figure in philosophy and literary theory. His main areas of investigation were Islamic philosophy and the contemporary trends in Western thought, especially 'personnalism' on which he wrote his Ph. D. thesis as well published many articles and books. Among his published works there are two novels: Jil Aththama' (The Generation of Thirst) (1967) and 'iksir Al-H'ayat (The Elixir of Life) (1974). He published two collections of poems: Bu's wa Diyaa' (Misery and Light) (1962) and Yatim Tah'ta Assifr (Sub-Zero Orphan) (1988). El-Hababi's most extensively published in French. The following are some of the most important titles he produced: De l'être à la personne: essai d'un personnalisme réaliste (1954), and Le Monde de demain: Le Tiers monde accuse (1980). Mostafa Nissabory is another writer consider part of the post-colonial "new generation of Moroccan Francophone writers." Although not as prolific as Mohammed Khair-Eddine and Abdellatif Lâabi, he, too, played a major role in the experimental publications, beginning in 1964 with Poésie Toute.