Postcolonial Francophone Literature of the Maghreb



Born in the colonial period, the francophone literature of Maghreb developed from an « ethnologic » type of discourse to a more questioning form of expression.

The latter developed in the 19th century with school-teachers educated in the French tradition and whose primary merit was to establish the presence of an “indigenous” point of view within the colonial system.

The main themes were the question of the existence of an identity in a situation of acculturation, and the fascination for the French language which was the only idiom available to express a s »synthetic »ideal, between the situation of the colonized and the aspiration for an emancipation through literature.

Starting with Frantz Fanon (Les Damnés de la terre, An v de la révolution algérienne) and then put into words by H. Bhabha, postcolonial theory found its expression in the works of J.M. Amrouche, M. Dib, K. Yacine, A. Memmi.

At independence this type of literature meant to be a space of freedom but self-questioning appeared, about language, model of development, modernity, social criticism, anti-clerical discourse and the situation of women ; this was principally present in the works of A. Djebar.

A new generation emerged in the 70s and 80s, that of disenchantment, where language took a more violent and engaged form (A. Chraibi, R. Boudjedra, R. Mimouni, A. Laabi), although it might also be a way (T. Djaout) to express their disarray in a subversive novel.

The beginning of the 21st century was marked by the sense of fright in front of the issue of religion and the social rifts which followed.



Required texts :

- Albert CAMUS, L’étranger, ISBN -10: 2070360024

- Rachid MIMOUNI, Le fleuve détourné/, ISBN-10: 2234052041

- Kamel DAOUD, /Meursault, contre-enquête, ISBN-978-2-330-03372-9

- Boualem SANSAL, 2084, ISBN-9782070149933