INTRODUCTION
North African
literature developed from different traditions and experiences of the countries
that make up North Africa. From the linguistic, religious and cultural
standpoint, this literature includes works from the Middle East. Anissa Talahite posits that the
literature of the region offers a perspective that makes it part of Arabic
literature, which includes the Middle East (39). The literature of North Africa
is made up of works from the three Maghrebian countries;
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as the literature from Egypt, Libya and
Sudan. These countries share a common ethnic, cultural, linguistic and Islamic
identity that has significantly distinguished them from the rest of Africa.
Sudan is one of the most unique of the North African countries. Mazurui, quoted in Soghayroon has
argued that Sudan is an “African country in a racial sense and an Arab country
in a cultural sense .... For many of them, Arabism is a
cultural acquisition rather than a racial heredity” (7). As it is with
the rest of the continent, European colonisation, particularly French
occupation of the Maghreb countries of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, has had
great influence on North African literature.
Many of the North
African writers have published works under the three genres. Some of them have
attained international recognition. Naguib Mahfouz,
Author of Cairo Trilogy (1957), was
the first Arab to win the Nobel Prize for literature; he is a leading Egyptian
writer. Assia Djebar, Nawal El Saadawi and Fatima Mernissi are
among North Africa’s most influential internationally acclaimed female writers,
known especially for their extensive fictional works on the plight of the
Muslim-Arab woman in a patriarchal culture. The literary works of these writers
often lead to several problems for them in their societies; for instance, the
feminist ideologies of the feminist writers clash with their religious
backgrounds, and have resulted in bitter criticism of the writers. Generally,
many North African writers have had to put up with censorship, imprisonments
and death threats from government and Islamic fundamentalists. Some writers,
such as Algerian playwrights Abdulkader Alloula and Taher Djaout have been assassinated.
There is an enduring
view by many North Africans that they belong to pan-Arabic confederacy rather
than to African socio-ideological block (Olusegun-Joseph 223). In this study
therefore, the term ‘Arab’ shall be used interchangeably with North African.
Yomi Olusegun-Joseph
has identified that European “...Orientalist remapping of North Africa as
largely belonging to the ‘Middle East’ rather than Africa is because of its
predominant Islamic cosmic leaning and Arabic socio-cultural predisposition”
(220). He has also argued that colonialist representation of Africa in European
literature, which resulted in black oriented cultural and nationalistic
reactions, has contributed to the marginalization of North Africa in African
literary criticism (224). Bentthar is however of the
opinion that the origin of African literature as the subject of academic
discipline was construed along racial terms, with “blackness” as a literary
category (quoted in Olusegun-Joseph 224).
Olusegun-Joseph has described this postulation as one that has a gap in
that it fails to recognise that black racial affinity possessed by some North
African writers has not exempted them from being left out in mainstream African
literary criticism (224). Achebe has pointedly called attention to the significance
of the complexities of the African scene in any definition of African
literature (27).
The writings from
North Africa have been considerably influenced culturally, politically and in
terms of language of expression by Berber oral traditions of pre-Arab
inhabitants, as well as Arabic civilization, and contact with Europe. Talahite’s summation is that “It seems more appropriate to
speak of North African literatures rather than of one literature” (39). While
some of the non-English North African literary works are available in English
translations, they mostly consist of writings in Arabic and French. The
thematic preoccupations of the North African writer include cultural identity,
colonialism, European misrepresentation, hybridization, poor
leadership, the quest for societal and individual freedom, political
corruption, oppression, Islamic fundamentalism, war, disillusionment, the
Palestine problem, gender relations and patriarchy.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
New historicism has
been chosen as the theoretical underpinning for this study. According to the
new historicists, any understanding of the truth which is based on the past or
a foreign culture that is unrepresented or underrepresented is at best, a
matter of interpretation on the parts of both the writer and the reader.
Secondly, the very existence of any text in a culture changes the culture it
reflects, raising an awareness of vital issues and helping to bring about
change (Grudzina 253). For any new historicist
reading, there are some essential questions to ask; for instance, what event
occurred in any given writer’s life that made him or her who he or she is? What
or who has influence and affected the writer’s world view of life or
philosophy? What are the writer’s social concerns and what did he or she do
about them? What was happening at the time the book was written or in the time
in which it is set? Who are the powerful and who are the powerless? What is
similar or different about the perspective of the book to others written in
that era? In the light of these questions, the study evaluates the subject
matters of the selected texts against relevant backgrounds. This approach has
been selected for this study because answering the questions posed by this
literary theory in the works of the selected writers is central to understanding
trends that have shaped North African Literature.
NORTH AFRICAN PROSE
Fiction as a genre
emerged as an influence by European narrative form on the Arabic folk
narratives. The earliest North African novels are mostly autobiographical. The
authors saw their individual life stories as part of the collective changing
social and historical experiences of their people (Talahite
43).
Driss Chraibi
Driss Chraibi
was a Moroccan Author whose novels deal with colonialism, culture clashes,
generational conflict and the treatment of women and children. He is considered
to be the father of modern Morocco novel. He is critical of both Islamic and
western cultures. The Simple Past (Le Passe Simple) was published in 1954, two years before
Morocco gained its independence. It is an autobiographic narrative. It was
translated from French by Hugh A. Harter. In this novel, the protagonist, Driss Ferdi revolts against his
tyrannical father and flees to France. He dislikes both his father and the
social hypocrisy. Driss’ mother is tyrannised,
subjugated, silenced and secluded by her husband. She seeks refuge in suicide
from the oppressive traditions and the patriarchal expressions by her husband. Driss Ferdi is confronted by a
phenomenon called the “Thin Line”. The Thin Line speaks to Driss
as he tries to understand who he is. In reality, there is a thin line created
by western values that disconnect Driss Ferdi from his root. The story illustrates the plight of
the generation of Moroccans who are a product of French colonial policies and
influence, which leave them with confused identity. The novel also portrays the
oppressive conditions under which the women live in an oppressive tradition.
Both mother and son seek emancipation in different ways but the question that
remains is ‘do they find it?’
Heirs to the Past (Succession Ouverte) is a novel published
in 1971 by Driss Chraibi.
In Heirs to the Past power and
authority is associated with benevolence and wisdom, as opposed to domination
and exploitation. Haj Ferdi, also called Seigneur is his family patriarch and his people’s benefactor.
His death brings so much sorrow to the entire community. He prevents the
trouble that will result from the distribution of his estate by having his will
listened to on a recorded tape instead of the traditional written will. In a calm, commanding voice charged with emotion, he gives his
family the experience of hearing a dead man give his last wishes and advice.
This helps them to cope better with their grief and to accept their share of
the estate without grumbling.
In
his 1972 novel, Mother Comes of Age (La
Civilization, Ma Meré), Chraibi
“charts not just the seclusion, deprivation and suppression, but the doughty
struggle for emancipation of the Muslim woman” (Asha 989). In this novel,
unlike in the Simple Past, the mother
achieves total emancipation. Mother Comes
of Age treats the themes of
oppression and freedom, presented against a backdrop of colonialism. Nagib and Junior narrate the experiences of their mother.
Junior describes her as a ‘happy child’ who has never gone beyond an inchoate
and untainted adolescence and would never become an adult, no matter what the
events (Craibi quoted in Asha
990). According to Asha, “The infantile state of the adult
protagonist may be perceived as an allegory of the docile, infantilized
condition of the colonized” (990). The mother had been orphaned at six
months and married at 13 years. She is hardworking and ingenious. Her sons
incite her to rebellion. They take her out to various places where women never
venture to, such as the park, cinema and a fair. In his own narration, Nagib describes the changes that take place after their
mother has crossed the boundaries of her home: She pursues social-political
causes, rejects patriarchal family domination and protests against colonialism
and imperialism. She rebels against these forms of oppression and exploitation
but soon realises that the government in the independent country is not
different from the colonial government.
Tayeb Salih
Salih is Sudanese writer.
He was born in 1928 and died in 2009. His works have repeated themes, recurring
characters and shared setting. He is the author of The Wedding of Zein – Urs al- Zayn (1962), Season of Migration to the North –Mawsim al –Hijra ila al Shamal
(1966), The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories (1968) and A Handful of Dates (1964). Salih’s novella, The
Wedding of Zein was published in 1962. It was
written in Arabic and translated into English by Denis Johnson-Davies in 1968.
Mohammed Khalel has described this work as an ideal
artistic painting that describes the Sudanese society in its integration and
harmony, which emphasises the social and natural texture of the members of the
same people and the same society (119). In this novella, Zein,
the village eccentric in a Sudanese village is chosen by Ne’meh,
the most beautiful and sought after village maiden. This is a most unlikely
match because Zein, though a likeable man for his
friendliness, possesses an unappealing appearance; such as having just two
teeth. Zein succeeds in breaking the barrier between
“the Arabs of a-Quz, who do not marry with the native
people...” (Salih quoted in Khalel
115). In a wedding that turns out to be the talk of the entire village, Zein unites everyone who belongs to the three main groups
of people in the village the older and religious people, the rebellious young
and adventurous youth and the development-driven young men of influence. The
novel is an attempt to reconcile between tradition and modernism.
Season of Migration to the North is Salih’s most popular work. “It has been acclaimed as one of
the first hundred masterpieces in the world and the best Arabic novel in the
twentieth century” (Idriss 117). The novel treats the
issues of national integration and the quest for national identity as reflected
in the lives of characters in the village of Wad Hamid; a microcosm of Sudan.
The village is made up of people from various cultures; Arabs, Africans and the
racially mixed. Mustafa Sa’eed, the protagonist is a
product of the union between an Arab man and a black woman, “A slave from the
south” (Salih 54). The mutual hatred between the
Arabs and Africans dates back to centuries of master-slave relations. On his return to Sudan, he settles down in
the small village at the bend of the Nile (1). Mustafa is unable to attain a
sense of belonging among his father’s people because of his mixed racial
heritage. They consider him a stranger. His situation is worsened by the
homecoming of an unnamed narrator. The new arrival is an aboriginal Arab son of
the land who begins to question the place of Mustafa and his likes in the
village. Even Mustafa’s marriage to Hosna Bint
Mahmoud displeases those who think that he does not deserve an Arab wife. Thus,
membership in the nation is constrained by history and its members’ origin (Idriss 121).
Season of Migration to the North has also been
described as “... one of the most profound literary pronouncements on African
decolonization in African literature (Olusegun-Joseph 228). Mustafa Saheed goes
to study at Oxford on scholarship. While there, he experiences a culture clash
between occidental and oriental cultures. He exploits western women sexually,
in his quest to “liberate Africa with his penis” (Salih
120). He describes himself as “a colonizer” (94). Abdala
Saeed Adam likens this sexual exploitation to
colonial exploitation of African people and their wealth (96). Salih has explained that Mustafa’s violent female conquest
figuratively has an element of revenge seeking for the violent fashion with
which “Europe raped Africa” (quoted in Olusegun-Joseph 228). Mustafa’s lovers
kill themselves when he eventually rejects them. He murders Jean Winifred
Morris, one of his lovers whom he has married, and serves a jail term for this.
The novel explores the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer.
Mustafa’s eventual rejection of his lovers can (therefore) be interpreted as a
metaphorical rejection of the West on behalf of Africa (Tran 4).
‘A Handful of Dates’ is a short autobiographical story in Salih’s 1968 collection titled The Wedding of Zein. A young boy thinks
highly of his grandfather and hopes to be like him when he grows up. He
considers him a gentle and gracious old man with admirable physical and
personality traits. When his grandfather demonstrates his greed and callousness
toward their neighbour, Masood, a dates farmer, the
boy suddenly discovers that his grandfather is actually a greedy vengeful old
man. Holding unto a personal old grudge against Masood and relying on his
power, wealth and influence, the grandfather takes Masood’s harvested palm
dates. This experience marks a major point in the young boy’s life – a point of
transition from illusion to reality and from innocence to awareness, which are similar to themes in Salih’s The Wedding of Zein
and Season of Migration to the North.
Nawal El Saadawi
El Saadawi is an Egyptian revolutionary writer, feminist,
activist, physician and psychiatrist. She was born in 1930. She writes on Arab women’s life conditions,
questioning the authority and patriarchal power in her society and advocating
women liberation. In the words of Malti-Douglas Fedwa, “No Arab woman’s pen has violated as many sacred
enclosures as that of Nawal El Saadawi
(8). Her works have stirred up several controversies in the Arab world. Most of
her works have been translated into English language. Saadawi
advocates women’s struggle for social power in order to be liberated from male
despotism and self-limiting cultural practises.
According to Fedwa, popular view on El Saadawi’s
writing is that she did not write literature but polemics (1). Saadawi’s novels
include Memoirs of a Woman Doctor
(1958), The Absent One (1969) Woman at Point Zero (1975), The Fall of the Imam (1985), The Hidden Face of Eve (1977), The Circling Song (1978), Two Women in One (1983) Love in the Kingdom of Oil (1993), The Innocence of the Devil (1994), and Zeina (2008).
El Saadawi
has also written short stories, plays and non-fiction memoirs. She has treated
the subjects of male-female relations, sexuality, rape,
the plight of illegitimate children, forced marriage, domestic violence,
politics and religion in her writings. Clitoridectomy
is one subject matter that is recurrent in her works. This practise is exposed
for what it truly is – “a practice meant to dominate women and consolidate the
patriarchal image of women as sexual objects” (Shihada
171). The heroines in her works are
mostly members of the lower social status who undergo physical violence. The
dire situation of the Arab – Muslim woman is brought to light rather strongly
through the sacrifice her heroines have to make to attain freedom. “They often
only attain freedom and power at the sacrifice of their lives, marriage and
honesty” (Ogbeide 25).
El Saadawi’s novel, Woman
at Point Zero (Emra’a Enda Noktal el Sifr) is the life
story of Firdaus, an Egyptian woman who has been
convicted for murder and is awaiting execution. She has witnessed and
experienced the hard life of a woman; from her father’s maltreatment of her
mother, to her own experience of going hungry so that her father, the man of the
house, will have enough to eat; and her experience of genital mutilation. In Fwangyil’s summation, women in Firdaus’
society face oppression from infancy to adulthood to bring pleasure to men
(16). After her parent’s death young Firdaus suffers
sexual exploitation by several men: her
uncle, her physically repulsive and abusive husband who is over sixty years
old, as well as the numerous other men who later come into her life while she
seeks refuge in prostitution. According to Coin, “Marriage and prostitution
represent two different sides of the same phenomenon”, one is simply legal
prostitution of women in marriage, while the other is illegal prostitution on
the streets (430).
Since the law turns a
blind eye on what men do but punishes ‘erring’ women, Firduas
is sentenced to death for killing the pimp who has been beating and exploiting
her. Firduas’ violent action is what finally gives
her freedom (Coin 431). The significance of her action is seen when she
declares, “When I kill I did it with truth not with a knife . . . they didn’t
fear my knife. It is my truth that frightens them. This fearful truth gives me
great strength”. (El Saadawi 112). She describes her
impending death as a journey that fills her with pride (11). Friduas is executed for seeking liberation but her victory
is evident in her final declaration.
Another novel by Saadawi, God Dies by
the Nile focuses on the need for women to rise up against institutionalised
economic and psychological exploitation. In the novel, the mayor of Kafr El Teen, with the assistance of some other religious
and political leaders in the community, takes advantage of Kafrawi’s
poverty and ignorance to sexually exploit and destroy the lives of Kafrawi’s daughters, Nefissa and Zeinab. The mayor sees to the jail sentence of Kafrawi and Jalal, Zeinab’s
husband in order to cover up his crimes. Zakeya, Kafrawi’s sister, who sees the Mayor as Allah – the one in
control of their lives, is driven to kill and bury him by the Nile. Zakeya achieves a sense of freedom by this act of resisting
“oppression meted out against her family” (Shihada
176).
In Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (Muzekkirat Tabiba) the
protagonist is a woman who struggles to a position of relative autonomy. She
rejects social barriers and questions gender roles, such as “the submissive
domestic existence in the kitchen” (Fedwa 15). She
also refuses to keep long braided hair, counters illicit sexual advances and
pursues a career in medicine. As a medical student, she soon finds out that
there is no difference between man and woman. She rejects the myth that
masculinity is an honour and feminity a weakness. Fedwa has stated that El Saadawi
uses medicine as a subject matter in her works to “. . . call for the
integration of traditionally male and female qualities” (21).
THE GENRE OF DRAMA
The question of
whether or not the Arab world has had a tradition of theatre remains an issue
for debate among writers from that part of the world. One popular argument has
been that Islam does not allow figurative arts (Selmane
ii). Tawfiq Al-Hkim has
refuted this assertion. According to him, Islam “permitted
the translation of many works produced by heathens . . . [it] did not prevent
the circulation of wine poetry of Abu Nuwas, the
carving of statues for the palaces of the caliphs, or expert portraiture of
Persian miniatures” (377). The fact has been established that indigenous
art forms existed in pre-Islamic societies; and “Arab-Muslim societies have
long traditions in the performing art and in drama in particular” (Selmane 3). This has been further promoted by colonialism
and western cultural influences.
Arab dramatists have
thus been involved in what Selmane describes as
pouring “local dramatic content into a borrowed form” (13). For instance, in
describing the important role which translation has played in introducing new
ways of writing into Arabic Literature, Talahite has
cited Al-Hakim’s example. According to Al-Hakim, in drama, dialogue and
characterisation, among other dramatic techniques are adopted to suit the
demands of the Arab culture. Some
adaptation of European plays to the Arabic stage have required a change of plot
“so that male and female characters were related” since “tradition did not
allow an Egyptian woman to appear unveiled in front of a person not related to
her” (quoted in Talahite 42). It has been further
argued however, that North African playwrights “have now found a content which
creates its own form (Selmane 13). Therefore, the
study of North African drama will require a proper study of style and thematic
preoccupations. Translations and adaptations of European plays and the changes
these have required to suit the Arabic audience have played significant roles
in bringing about the development of the Arabic drama (Talahita
42 – 43).
Tawfiq Ismail
al Hakim
Tawfiq al Hakim, who has
also written novels, short stories and essays, is a leading figure in drama. He
has contributed immensely to the development of drama, not only in Egypt, but
in modern Arabic literature. The Egyptian playwright has written plays, which
deal with universal and local themes, such as the pursuit of freedom, loss of
direction by the society, political oppression and the Israel – Palestine
conflict. Plays by Al Hakim include The
People of the Cave (1933), Suicide
Secret (1937), King Oedipus (1944),
The Perplexed Sultan (1960), Food for Every Mouth (1963) and Fate of a Cockroach (1967). Al Hakim has been influenced by the French
Theatre of the Absurd and modernist theatre such as the Bertolt
Brecht. However Islam had remained his major source and influence. In his
adaption of King Oedipus (Al- Malik Udib),
the author removes superstitious beliefs, fate and prophesies, to fit with
Islamic sensibilities (Sidebottom 66). He has described his play as “a Greek
tragedy through Muslim eyes” (quoted in Sidebottom 31). Hermalain
has stated that in translation, culture plays a decisive role in attaining an
acceptable rendition (32). There is a need to present “a version which should
produce the same effect(s) and stir up the same emotion(s) on the target
audience” (Leo Hickey quoted in Sidebottom 36).
The Tree Climber (Ya Tali
Al-Shajarah), which dramatises
illusory nature of happiness and knowledge, is a play based on Al Hakim’s
version of the Theatre of the Absurd. He termed his version “Irrationalism” –
“the presentation of the rational world in an irrational framework”, rather
than the true theatre of the absurd’s “presentation
of an absurd work in an absurdist framework” (Al Hakim quoted in Sidebottom
67-68). In this drama of Irrationalism, there are no divisions between time and
place. Sometimes, the past, present and future are all presented as unfolding
at the same time. The significance of symbols also remains unclear to the end
of the play; leaving the audience with the task of tying the various loose ends
together.
In the drama, Bahadir is suspected of murdering his missing wife. He is
however more concerned about his missing lizard, Lady Green, and the orange
tree in his garden. A detective comes to investigate the matter, and in a
series of flashbacks, the unusual relationship between Bahadir
and his wife, Behema is revealed. Bahadir
also learns from a Dervish (a member of a Muslim mystic Sufi fraternity) that
his orange tree will produce all kinds of fruits if it is fertilised with a
human body. After he has been arrested, his wife returns home. Bahadir is released but Behama
does not tell him where she has been for the last three days. She simply
answers ‘No’ to all his numerous suggestions on where she has been. In furry,
he strangles her and buries her under his orange tree. Her body later
disappears, to be replaced by that of his missing lizard. Through the play,
Al-Hakim portrays that the search for happiness is illusory.
In Fate of a Cockroach (Masir Sirsour). Al Hakim uses
allegory to dramatise the Arab nation’s inability to
unite against a united Israel, and the consequences of individualism. The drama
also expresses the need for better leadership in Egypt, as an attack on the
leadership of Gamal Abdal Nasir, Egyptian president at that time. Another theme (in
acts 2 and 3) is feminine domination, which the playwright protests. Al Hakim
is known to be a misogynist. He had given himself the title “Adu Al-marah”, - “Enemy of
Women”. It is believed that he had taken
this position as a result of his mother’s domineering attitude toward his
father while he was growing up (Sidebottom 26). Absurdist elements abound in Fate of a Cockroach. In act one of the
play, the cockroaches, who are larger than ants, are individualistic; as a
result, a cockroach is easily carried away by ants once it falls on its back.
The king cockroach’s court is made up of the self – appointed minister, the
servant and the priest. Amidst jeering and taunting comments from the queen
cockroach, these cockroach leaders are unable to come up with a solution to
their age-long ants’ problem. The minister’s son has just been carried off by
ants. The king himself soon ends up falling into a human bathtub. In acts 2 and
3, in the human world, Samia and her husband Adil argue over the fate of the cockroach in their bathtub.
Eventually their cook runs a bath, the cockroach drowns and its corpse is
carried off by the ants. The humans study the activities of the insects and
wonder at “the genius of ants” (Al Hakim73).
Abdelkader Alloula
Another prominent
North African dramatist is the Algerian Abdelkader Alloula, whose works focus on political and social
situations in Algeria. Alloula’s works are also
significant in the development of North African and Arab theatrical forms. His
plays are mostly projected on cultural artistic traditions, particularly the
art of drama through storytelling, known as ‘maddah’
(narration). In his words, this is “a new approach that was developed because
the classic type of construct was not suitable for us” (quoted in Selmane 96). In his 1980 play, Sayings (Ai-Agwal), about the struggle of the Algerian working
class, a narrator, the Guwal delivers a speech to
people who are gathered around him in a circle. Through the narrator, the
audience receives important information about the actions in the play; as well
as the ‘after – events’ (Hamerlain 35). However, to
suit the non-Arabic audience, the translated English version of the play
focuses on making intellectual communication understood (Hamerlain
36). For instances, the ‘Guwal’ is translated as the
‘minstrel’. The protagonist’s name, Kaddour is
replaced with Will, while Nacer, his greedy and
abusive boss is substituted with Victor. The names in the English version
reflect character roles. In the translation, substitutes are also provided for
political, religious or cultural elements that will be alien to foreign
recipients (Hamerlain 39).
Alloula’s play, The
Story of the Generous People (Al-Ajwad), produced in1984 is also based on his
traditional artistic form. The play tells the stories of different working
class people and their different challenges. These people are victims of social
injustice, corruption and the chaos in their country’s socio-economic system (Selmane 140). Some of Abdelkader Alloula’s plays are, The Leech (1969), Loaf of Bread (1970), Salim’s
Madness (1972) and The Lord’s Bath
(1975), among several others.
Kateb Yacine
Kateb Yacine
is also a prominent Algerian playwright. Yacine is a
poet and a novelist, known for his most significant novel, Nedjma (1956). Yacine is a nationalist and a revolutionist, who actively participated
in the Algerian War of Independence at a rather young age. Kateb
Yacine has been influenced by Bertolt
Brecht in the creation of his political theatre. As a revolutionary writer, Yacine’s works are political, and it attacks religion and
government. Like most Algerian writers, one of his main thematic preoccupations
has been the Algerian War of Independence. He has also written on the
Israeli-Palestine problem; a subject matter which is central to most Arab
literary discourse. Yacine is the author of Intelligence Powder (1967), The Man with Rubber Sandals (1970), Mohammed Take your Suit Case (1971) Palestine Betrayed (1976), King of the West (1978) and Bitter Bread (1981). Many of his works
are however not available in English.
Palestine Betrayed (Falistin Maghdura) dramatises the conflict
between Israel and Palestine. Yacine blames Islam,
Judaism, Zionism and Western powers for the conflict. He uses satire to
denounce injustice and imperialism. In this play, Moses and Mohammed are good
friends and neighbours before the war between their people. The
interference of Britain, France and the United States, for their economic
benefits, tthrough the sales of arms, leads to more
violence. Greedy leaders of some Arab countries also fuel the conflict, and
religious leaders exploit the situation for their personal benefits. The
characters in the play consist of real and fictional ones. His play, Mohammed Take your Suit Case, is
concerned with the post-colonial immigration of Algerians to France, with its
attendant problems of racism in contemporary France. The play exposes the class
collaboration that occurs between the French bourgeoisie and the Algerian
bourgeoisie. The playwright identifies with the plight of the poor,
particularly the peasants.
POETRY IN NORTH
AFRICAN LITERATURE
Early Arabic writings
were classical poetry. These were “the genre per excellence of classical Arabic
literature” (Talahite 41). New themes and techniques
in North African poetry have resulted from contact with the west and with the
need to break from the constraints of classical poetry and, by extension, the
old ways (Al-Shabbi quoted in Talahite
41)
Modern Arabic poetry resulted
from the confrontation between the traditional medieval values and the modern
western cultural values (Badawi quoted in Abu Dib
168). Classical Arab poetry flourished significantly in North African
literature. The classical poetry has been generally considered to be “the
cherished heirloom” of Arabic literary
heritage; treating the time -honoured themes of love and death, courage, war,
God and nature...” (Abu Dib 4).
In the eighteenth
century, poets deviated from the old style. They introduced styles which Badawi has described as “verbal juggling” (7) and
“intellectual frivolity (27)”. As a rejection of such practices, the nineteenth
century poets, pioneered by Egyptian Mahmoud Al-Barudi,
who is considered to be the pioneer of the Arab Renaissance, championed a return
to “the excellence and relevance of the ancient Arabic poetic heritage (Badawi)”. The poets of this era sought to develop the
classical poetic form against a backdrop of their western influence. They were
the bridge between the classical and modern poetry; they were the neoclassical
poets. The poets of this period include Ahmed Shawqi,
Nasif al-Yaziji and Hafiz
Ibrahim of Egypt, others are, Ahmad Rafiq al-Madawi, Ahmed Al-Sharif and Ahmad A. Qanaba
of Libya, among several others across North Africa.
Ahmed Shawqi
Shawqi (1968-1937) is
considered to be the best known of modern Arabic poets (Badawi
29). According to Nada Yusuf, all
students, schools and universities in Egypt and in other Arab countries have
recognised his verses (Lyrics 93) In
1927, in recognition of his considerable contribution to the literary field, he
was conferred the title. “Amir al sho’
araa” (the prince of poets). Shawqi is a pioneer of modern Egyptian literary movement, a
neo-classicist. His subject matters vary
significantly. He has asserted that the main springs of poetry are history and
nature (Badawi 38).
Shawqi’s poems are often
lyrical and many of them have been composed into songs by various musicians.
This is the reason why his poems have transcended “the literary saloons and
narrow forums and placing him on records widespread across the Arab world . .
.” (Yousef). Shawqi has written various poetic forms;
odes, elegies and even panegyrics. He is also known for his poetic stories,
which are often written as odes, using the animal world. He uses this genre to
express moral, national and social desires (Yousef 108). For instance, his
desire to give children “poems that are close to them, from which they could
gain wisdom and good manners according to their understanding” (Shawqi quoted in Yousef 109) has
made him to write children’s poems on animals and family members, among others.
In his poem, “The Bat and the Butterfly Queen”, the butterfly Queen mocks the
bat: “O darkness lover! Have you been derogated by love? / Describe
to me, sluggish naked black fellow” (lines 5-6). The butterfly queen however
soon realises her error of judgement using outward appearance. She comes by
with missing parts one hour later, almost dead. It is the bat’s turn to laugh:
“...whether alive or dead, didn’t I tell you? / Many a black slave friend has a
white loving face” (lines 27 and 28).
Shawqi’s subject maters also
include the past glory of Arabs, religion, history and politics. British
imperialism and European invasions of Arab countries have also been important
subjects for his poetry. In the poem “Damascus”, the poet expresses strong
emotions against the 1925 violence in Syria in the wake of the 1925 – 1926
revolution, which was caused by the French colonial authorities. After
eulogising the beauty and virtue of the Arabs and Damascus, the poet moves on
to condemn French intrusion and the disorder that ensued. He laments about “The
ominous day of death and bombs that harvest people” (line 52). He extols Arab
resilience and describes the revolutionary fighter as “The warrior who has the
nature of battles’ boastfulness and boldness” (Line 61). The young men of the
country are ready “To sacrifice themselves in order that others will be alive”
(line 69). The poet does not forget to remind the French colonialists of
similar Arab violent resistance: “The blood of the revolutionists, France knows
it well / and it knows that the blood is the way of liberty” (lines 64 and
65). Shawqi’s
ode to Damascus is an example of Arab unity. This view is expressed in lines 81
and 82 of the poem where the poet states, “Even if we are different is
countries but we / sacrifice for the same destiny”.
His poems often
reflect his philosophies and views to life. In
a poem titled “Footprint”, he
considers life as a road, “Upon which the masses travel / Toward
specific missions” (Lines 1-3). He admonishes man to live “uprightly”, “nobly”
and “honourably”; to work, in order to live as “respected master”, not
“contemptible slave”. He concludes in line 19 to 21 that such a lifestyle is
required “So that those who come after you should say / Indeed
he has passed through here / for here are his footprints”. Shawqi's
poems have been published in four volumes of his poetry collection titled Al-Shawqiyyat
in 1925, 1930, 1936 and 1943 respectively.
In later years, newer
poets, influenced by the contact with the West, left the boundaries of
neoclassicism in a bid to attain greater poetic aspirations outside the
limitations of neoclassical conventions. This era saw the rise of romanticism
in Arabic poetry. The era also recorded the birth of poetry that is concerned
with the socio-political milieu. Kaadhim is of the
view that contact with empire has particularly played a significant role in the
evolution of nationalist movements (38). Even strong neoclassical poets have
questioned the limitations of neoclassicism; for instance, Ahmed Rafiq-al-Mahdawi, who has
continued to be influenced by classical style, has called for the liberation of
poetry from the traditional old Arabic form in favour of liberal and
progressive ideas, which are not limited by rhyme and elaborate versification
(Abu Dib 27). In the course of this development, a society of modern Arabic
poets, known as the Apollo Society, pioneered a new form of poetry with new
themes and style. This group of the older poets and some younger ones had “A
new vision and encouragement of creative risk-taking” as well as “a sense of
history and lineage” (Qualey 5). Some of these poets
turned to English romanticism completely. Prominent poets of this era include
the Egyptians Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi,
Khalil Mutran, Abdul Rahman
Shukri, Ali Mahmud Talha,
and Abdul Qadir al Mazini.
Others are Tunisians Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi, Bayram al-Tunis and
Al-Tijani Yusuf Bashir.
Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi
Abu al- Qasim-Shabbi was a young Tunisian poet of the romantic era
during the Arab Renaissance. He died at an early age of twenty five
(1909-1934). He is acclaimed to be Tunisians greatest modern poet (Badawi 160). Al-Shabbi deploys
natural imagery to convey his messages. His love for nature is very evident in
several of his poems. In “Chant of the Herder”, the poet’s metaphoric
description of natural phenomena is typical of the romantic poet that he was.
In lines 1-3, he describes the breaking of the day in enchanting terms: “Morn breaks forth singing to the delicate
life always / While the hills still stream in the shadow of thick boughs all
days / The flaky north wind shakes the dried flower
leaves”. Daylight penetrates the darkness of the night as “...the light swings
inside the dark valleys spreading its rays / Morn comes nicely, their light
covers the faraway lands” (lines 4 and 5). In lines 6 and 7, nature celebrates
the dawn of a new day: “Birds, flowers and river waves cheerfully flap their
hands / The lively world has awakened chanting to the life”. The happy herder
calls out to his flock in line 8: “Follow me my sheep and wake up my lambs”.
Al- Shabbi’s poems have attained a place of significance in the
Arab world, particularly his “The Will for Life” and “To the Tyrants of the
World”. These poems have been memorised and reproduced in textbooks
(jadaliyya.com). The poems, especially “The Will for Life” has been subjected
to various versions of English translations. “The Will for Life” has been added
as the last two stanzas of the current Tunisian national anthem. (egypttoday.com). In “The
Will for Life”, the poet’s call to revolutionary action and bravery echoes
throughout the poem; from one imagery to another. This is illustrated in
lines 16 to 18 of the poem: “He who doesn’t like to climb mountains / Will forever live among the hollows / The blood of youth in
my heart roars”. The opening lines of the famous poem have been chanted,
recited and written on signs and walls in Arab cities, especially with the
recent Arab uprising (jadaliyya.com). It reads:
If
one day, a people will to live,
Then
fate must obey
Darkness
must dissipate
And
must the chain give way.
The power of Al-Shabby’s message, resonates
throughout the poem. The last two lines re-echo: “If to life souls aspire / Then fate must obey”. It is with a similar revolutionary
tone that the poet’s “To the Tyrants of the World” has stirred up nationalistic
and revolutionary fervour. Another theme which has been treated in some of Al-Shabbi poems is that of death and the meaninglessness of
life. In these poems, life is portrayed as not worth living and Al-Shabbi’s view of death is fraught with romantic glamour and
seen as a means of “attaining a fuller and more significant life” (Badawi, 168). In the first two lines of stanzas one and two
of “A Storm in the Dark”,
the poet writes: “If I had time in the clutch of my hand / I
would scatter the days to the wind like grains of sand”, “If I had this world
in the clutch of my hand/ I would hurl it into the fire, the fire of hell”. The
poem concludes on the same note in the last two lines of stanza 3. “Absurd is this world of yours / And lost in darkness without end”. Al-Shabbi’s
poetry collection, Song of Life was
published posthumously in 1955 (Badawi 158). Al-Shabbi’s life-long desire to be really heard and understood
by the people for whom he had written his poems and who have often
misunderstood him in his life time (Badawi 159-160),
is expressed in his almost prophetic diary entry dated 7/1/1930. In his diary,
the poet expresses his wish that in the distant future his people, who at that
time did not understand the words he wrote, will embrace his dreams; that the
spirits of the youths will be awakened to chant the message of his poems (166).
Other influences on
modern Arab literature include Marxism, socialist realism and existentialism.
By the 1950s, the need for the writer to have a message rather than simply
creating a work of the imagination was emphasized in the Arab literary world.
This led to the debate on literature of commitment (Badawi
207). In North Africa, new poets came on the scene and some old ones changed
their subject matters. Some, who had been concerned with romantic subjects such
as love and nature, moved on to poetry that focused on social and political
issues. They were the social realist poets.
Kamal Nashat, Abdal Sabur of Egypt, Jili Abd al Rahman of Tunisia,
Sudanese Muhammed Miftah
al- Fayturi and Taban Lo Liyong are among the poets of this period. Some poets such
as Muhammed al-Makki, Muhammed Abd al Hai, Al-Nur Uthman
Abbakar and Muhammad al-Fayturi
have expressed the fusion and acceptance of the African-Arab identity.
Muhammad
Miftah al-Fayturi
Al-Fayturi is a Sudanese poet. He was born in 1936 and died in
2015. His father was Egyptian while his mother was Sudanese. His grandfather
was from Bahr al- Ghazal, now South Sudan. Al-Fayturi
pursued the themes of black Africa, African unity, slavery, anti-colonialism,
race and class in his poems. According to Gohar, “Al-Fayturi faces the dilemma of bridging the gap between
identity and culture. “He also confronts the difficulty of
writing in a manner that blends his double consciousness as an African and Arab
Muslim” (49). His poems on slavery and colonialism show his antiphony
towards the subject matter, which resulted from his hatred for Western/European
policies of exploitation which has targeted
Africans for centuries (Gohar). In the poem
“Nkrumah”, Al-Fayturi describes his “words” in
metaphorical terms. His “words” are: the
“African victims” who are “crucified on the roads” (line 2); the “pregnant
bowels” who are “twisting under the stabs of dagger” (lines 3 and 4); “African
people with / negro features” (lines 9 and 10). In other words, it is for these
oppressed people that he speaks.
In “He Died
Tomorrow”, the death of a black political victim is recounted with furry and
bitterness at the lack of thought for the dead man. “He died / Not a drop of rain wept for him / Not a handful of faces
looked sad” (lines 1-3). In the second stanza of the poem the poet makes
reference to the injustice the poor and the weak have suffered in the face of
oppression. “I am a Negro” (Ana Zinji) is a poem in
which Al Fayturi expresses the need to assert his
identity in a racially mixed society. “Say it, don’t
be a coward...don’t be a coward! / Say it in the face of humanity... / I am a negro (Lines 1-3). In
line 8 he describes Africa as his land. In the poem Fayturi
also addresses the issues of colonialism, describing the white man as Africa’s
“occupying, invading pollution”. (line12). “Al-Fayturi
insists on his ethnic origin as an African celebrating his black identity and
glorifying the history of the African People” (Gohar
50). The poet committed to the African motif in his poetry. His poems are in
different poetry collections such as The
Songs from Africa (1955), Lover from
Africa (1964), Remember me Africa (1966) and African Sorrows (1969).
CONCLUSION
Within the New
Historicist framework, the study has provided an understanding that North
African Literature, in spite of its affiliations to Arab Literature, is African
literature. Indeed North African literature cannot be studied as purely African
without acknowledging or engaging in some study of Middle-Eastern influences
and affiliations of North Africa, as a result of Arab nationalism. There is a
strong influence of the West on North African literary thought and style, (the
influence on language has not been as strong though, since most North African
writers have continued to write in Arabic language).
In addition, the new
historicist reading of the literary texts selected for this study, has shown
that African literature from North of the Sahara has developed from colonial,
and socio-political experiences that are similar to that of their African
counterparts.
Prose has been used
majorly as a tool for protest against colonial, political, religious, gender
and racial exploitations, as examined in novels of Driss
Chraibi, Tayeb Salih and Nawal El Saadawi. It has also served the writers’ purposes for
championing one cause or another. Drama emerged as a relatively new genre in
modern Arabic literature. Today, however, North African drama, which is
modelled after Western dramatic forms, has either been adapted to suit its new
environment or modified in line with the individual Arab dramatist’s style; and
thrives as a distinctively Arab form. This fact is established through the
critical evaluation of selected works of Tawfiq al Hakim,
Abdelkader Alloula and Kateb Yacine.
The historical,
textual as well as contextual evaluation of some selected poems of Ahmed Shawqi, Abu a Qasim al- Sabbi and Mohammed al- Fayturi, has
revealed that poetry, the oldest form of literary expression in the Arab world,
has experienced various stages of development. Contact with the West has not
only influenced subject matters and tone, but it has also altered the
traditional poetic styles. Poetry has, undeniably, been the most effective tool
for social transformation in the Arab world. The analysis of the selected poems,
particularly Sudanese poems, has established the fact that North African
literature, and by extension African literature, is both Arab and black.
This study arrives at
the following conclusions: First, that North African literature has not been
adequately recognised or represented in African literary canon. There is
indeed, the need for African literary studies and criticism to engage in what
Olusegun-Joseph has described as a re-orientation of its gaze “towards a
template of the total artistic, thematic, cultural and epistemological dynamics
of the African historic and textual experience...through functional reading of
its plural representation...” (229). Secondly, that the thematic preoccupations
of the writers in the three genres are mostly essentially the same, but vary,
based on factors such as ideological positions, personal experiences and
gender. Furthermore, the style of writing relies greatly on literary
experiences. Essentially, both theme and style are significantly influenced by
the societal concern at the time of writing. It is therefore evident that a
writer is the product of his society.
Finally, as a
contribution to the few existing discourse on the place of North African literature
in modern African Literature, this study will serve as an academic resource for
the much needed further studies on North African writings in literary studies.
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