La représentation stéréotypée de Marrakech dans la poésie coloniale : le cas de Petit Maroc 2 d’Alphonse Métérié
Stereotypical representation of Marrakech: the case of Petit Maroc 2 by Alphonse Métérié

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to study the stereotypical representation of Marrakech by the French poet Alphonse Métérié. In the collection Petit Maroc 2 , the Moroccan city is the object of an ambivalent representation. The predominant mode is a depreciative one. The poet’s view leads us to reflect on the elements of stereotyping and its variations, such as the implicit, the cliché, prejudice, and images of contempt. The analysis of the poems is based essentially on thematic and poetic reflection. To understand the poet’s discourse, contributions from researchers and specialists in literature and other fields of knowledge – particularly discourse analysis as his poetry unites literature and politics – are sought. The approach adopted in this paper provides freedom of action, since poetic language gains much when it borrows its elements of analysis from a variety of sciences. It is deduced that the poet’s choices are determined by the political context and the dominant-dominated relationship. The duality of Metérié on a mission and Metérié as a poet produces a discourse of ambivalence and contempt, hence the profusion of stereotyped images of the city of Marrakech and its human and spatial components. The representation is predominantly depreciatory, illustrated by the use of stereotypes and their variations. Alphonse Métérié’s collection Petit Maroc 2 presents a colonial poet’s view of his city of residence, Marrakech. The city is the site of representations based on preconceived ideas and apriorism inherited from the pre-colonial era. This vision reflects a lack of understanding and awareness of the city’s specificity. Nevertheless, the hold Marrakech has on Métérié’s experience is expressed at various points in the collection.

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