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Thèse
TOLER, Michael The Nation rewritten: History, fiction, translation and the Francophone novel in the Maghreb (Driss Chraibi, Tahar Djaout, Morocco, Algeria)
This dissertation considers the work of Driss Chraibi and Tahar Djaout, two Francophone writers from the Maghreb, in relation to the theme of rewriting. The Maghrebi literature from which the complex work of these writers emerges is a hybrid cultural context in which multiple languages jostle for predominance. This situation results from historical circumstances extending as far back as the pre-Islamic period and the Arabian Conquest in the seventh century through the period of French colonization. After independence, the post-colonial regimes in the region sought to increase the legitimacy of their rule by formulating it as a return to a pure, pre-colonial authenticity that was generally defined quite narrowly in terms of exclusively Arab and Islamic essences. This dissertation argues that the writings of these two Francophone writers calls into question these post-colonial national constructions. The first chapter analyzes the three novels that make up the “Berber trilogy” by Moroccan writer Driss Chraïbi, arguing that these works can be read as deconstructions of accounts describing the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb and Spain as put forth by contemporary nationalist formulations of Maghrebi identity. The second chapter looks at the Algerian War for National Liberation as it comes into play in several novels by the Algerian writer Tahar Djaout. I will demonstrate how the texts mirror the manner in which the single party state sought legitimacy through the creation and dissemination of manipulated and exaggerated narratives of the National Liberation Front's role in leading Algeria to independence. Hence these writers are read as authors engaged in the ambitious project of rewriting nationalist historiography. The third chapter provides a close reading of published English translations of these novels, arguing that translators generally have not been sufficiently attentive to these issues, often producing texts that are more rewritings than translations, and which too often undermine the political struggles engaged in by the source texts. |