Circumcision, Tattooing, Rituals of the Hammam in the Moroccan literature in French: Abdelkébir Khatibi and Tahar Ben Jelloun Cover Image

La circoncision, le tatouage, les rituels du hammam dans la littérature marocaine d’expression française : Abdelkébir Khatibi et Tahar Ben Jelloun
Circumcision, Tattooing, Rituals of the Hammam in the Moroccan literature in French: Abdelkébir Khatibi and Tahar Ben Jelloun

Author(s): Magdalena Zdrada-Cok
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Moroccan culture; rituals; tradition; transgression

Summary/Abstract: This article compares the functions of rituals in the novels of Abdelkebir Khatibi and Tahar Ben Jelloun ("La mémoire tatouée", "Harrouda", "L’Enfant de sable", "La Nuit sacrée"). The aim of the study is to show that Abdelkebir Khatibi and Tahar Ben Jelloun represent the traditional rituals of the body as elements of a hybrid language (corpslangue). This “language tattooed on the body” expresses the plurality of the North African culture and the contradictions of Moroccan society. It shows the Moroccan individual torn between the loyalty to tradition and the need for transgression.

  • Issue Year: 2014
  • Issue No: 9
  • Page Range: 132-141
  • Page Count: 10