L’Histoire berbère d’après J.M.G. Le Clézio et Tahar Ben Jelloun

Résumé

THE BERBER STORY IN THE NOVELS OF J.M.G. LE CLÉZIO AND TAHAR BEN JELLOUN

The article offers a comparative analysis of Désert 1980 by J.M.G. Le Clézio and La Prière de l’absent 1981 by Tahar Ben Jelloun. It concentrates on the ways of presenting Ma el Aïnine, the charismatic leader of the anticolonial uprising in the Southern Morocco 1909–1912, and strives to demonstrate that both works recast the story in the contemporary context. By doing so, the two authors can stress the similarities between the period of the colonial domination and the postcolonial era, and to engage in socially engaged writing that addresses issues such as minority cultures, immigration and social exclusion.