Moroccan writer
Tahar Ben Jelloun
(
Arabic
:
?????? ?? ????
; born in
Fes
,
Morocco
, 1 December 1944) is a
Moroccan
writer. All of his work is written in French although his first language is
Darija
. He became known for his 1985 novel
L’Enfant de Sable
(
The Sand Child
). He now lives in
Paris
,
France
, and continues to write. He has been nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature
.
[1]
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Tahar Ben Jelloun was born in Morocco in December 1944. As a child, he attended an Arabic-French bilingual elementary school. He then studied in the
Lycee Regnault
in
Tangier
,
Morocco
, until he was 18 years old. He studied philosophy at
Mohammed V University
in
Rabat
.
After he was a professor of philosophy in Morocco, he joined the group that ran the literary magazine
Souffles
in the mid-1960s, and he wrote many pieces for the cultural magazine. He later participated in the student rebellion against "the repressive and violent acts" of the Moroccan police. In 1966, he was forced into military service as his punishment.
Five years later, his first poems were published in
Hommes sous linceul de silence
(1971). Shortly thereafter he moved to
Paris
,
France
, to study psychology, and in 1972 began writing for
Le Monde
. He received his doctorate in
social psychiatry
in 1975.
In January 2003, Ben Jelloun was nominated one of the two candidates for the 16th seat of the
Academie Francaise
,
[2]
the moderating body of the French language.
[3]
This seat was last held by
Leopold Sedar Senghor
. A month later, Ben Jelloun ended his campaign for the position.
[4]
Today, Ben Jelloun is known for his literary career but also his appearances on French media outlets in which he speaks about the experiences of people of North African descent living in France.
[5]
Writing career
[
edit
]
Ben Jelloun's 1985 novel
L’Enfant de Sable
(translated as
The Sand Child
) brought widespread attention. In 1987, he received the
Prix Goncourt
for his novel
La Nuit Sacree
(
The Sacred Night
), which made him the first Maghreb author to receive the award.
His 1996 novel
Les raisins de la galere
(
The Fruits of Hard Work
) is a reflection on racism and traditional Muslim ideas about a woman's place. The protagonist, Nadia (a young French woman of Algerian origin), fights racism and exclusion to find her place in French society.
In 1993, he received the journalistic award
Golden Doves for Peace
, issued by the Italian Research Center Archivio Disarmo.
[6]
Ben Jelloun was awarded the
International Dublin Literary Award
for
Cette aveuglante absence de lumiere
(
This Blinding Absence of Light
) in 2004. In 2005 he received the Prix Ulysse for the entire body of his work.
Ben Jelloun has written several pedagogical works. His first is
Le Racisme explique a ma fille
, translated as
Racism Explained to My Daughter
(1998). The text is an educative tool for children and is the main reason for him being regularly invited to speak at schools and universities. His text is addressed to his own daughter, but he is actually writing to all French children who are troubled by complex but important topics that surround racism.
[7]
He argues that the primary solution to solve racism in France is through education, specifically education starting at a young age.
[8]
He also makes the connection between colonialism and racism in a way that is understandable to his young audience by explaining that colonialism is a type of domination and power that aids racism to exist at the state level.
[9]
He also has written
L'Islam explique aux enfants
, translated as
Islam Explained
(2002), and
Le Terrorisme explique a nos enfants
, translated as
On Terrorism
(2016) in response to the 1990s protests against French immigration laws,
[10]
[11]
the
Islamophobia
following the
September 11 attacks
in the
United States
, and the
November 2015 Paris attacks
,
[12]
respectively.
In September 2006, Ben Jelloun was awarded a special prize for "peace and friendship between people" at the
Lazio between Europe and the Mediterranean Festival
.
[13]
On 1 February 2008,
Nicolas Sarkozy
awarded him the Cross of Grand Officer of the
Legion d'honneur
.
In Africa, his novel
Le mariage de plaisir
was shortlisted for the
GPLA
2016 (Belles-Lettres Category).
[14]
Selected works
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Shusha Guppy
,
"Tahar Ben Jelloun, The Art of Fiction No. 159"
(interview),
The Paris Review
, Issue 152, Fall 1999.
- ^
"Candidatures au fauteuil 16 et au fauteuil 5 | Academie francaise"
.
- ^
"Les missions | Academie francaise"
.
- ^
"Retrait de candidature au fauteuil de M. Leopold Sedar Senghor (F16) | Academie francaise"
.
- ^
???????, ????; El Younssi, Anouar (2014).
"An Exoticized World Literature: Ben Jelloun at the Two Shores of the Mediterranean / ??? ?????? ??????????: ?? ???? ??? ???? ???????"
.
Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics
(34): 225?250.
JSTOR
24392137
.
- ^
"The Journalism Prize 'Archivio Disarmo Golden Doves For Peace'"
, Archivio Disarmo.
- ^
Ben Jelloun, Tahar, Racism Explained to My Daughter. New York: New Press, 1999. Ben Jelloun, Tahar, Racism Explained to My Daughter. New York: New Press, 1999.
- ^
Ben Jelloun, Tahar, Racism Explained to My Daughter. New York: New Press, 1999.
- ^
Ben Jelloun, Tahar, Racism Explained to My Daughter. New York: New Press, 1999.
- ^
"Immigration Laws"
. Archived from
the original
on 2020-12-11.
- ^
"Refworld | Chronology for Muslim (Noncitizens) in France"
.
- ^
"Le Terrorisme explique a nos enfants"
.
- ^
"Italy Lazio cultural festival awards Moroccan author"
.
Morocco Times
. Archived from
the original
on 25 November 2006
. Retrieved
25 September
2006
.
- ^
GPLA 2016 Shortlist:
"Grand Prix of Literary Associations 2016: D-day Coming Closer"
,
Bella Naija
, 2 March 2017.
- ^
Ben Jelloun, Tahar.
"By Fire"
.
Northwestern University Press
. Northwestern University
. Retrieved
3 August
2020
.
- ^
Ben Jelloun, Tahar.
"The Happy Marriage (Le Bonheur conjugal)"
.
Gallimard.fr
. Editions Gallimard
. Retrieved
3 August
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]
- Rawafed: documentary interview Tahar Ben Jelloun "part one". Alarabiya.net
- Rawafed: documentary interview Tahar Ben Jelloun "part two". Alarabiya.net
- Homepage of Tahar Ben Jelloun
- Shusha Guppy (Fall 1999).
"Tahar ben Jelloun, The Art of Fiction No. 159"
.
The Paris Review
. Fall 1999 (152).
- - "Dialogue interculturel et complaisance esthetique dans l'oeuvre de Tahar Ben Jelloun", Par Salah NATIJ, in website
Ma'duba / Invitation a l'adab
, Le Premier Amour est Toujours le Dernier moha le fou, moha le sage.
- "Tahar Ben Jelloun's
The Rising of the Ashes
"
,
City Lights
.
- "Tahar Ben Jelloun Art Review: The Roots of Times"
,
Morocco Newsline
, 15 December 2009.
- Tahar Ben Jelloun:
The Arab Spring
- The Comfortable Way to Take Part in a Revolution
- Ruth Schneider,
"'“Democracy is not like an aspirin you dissolve in water'"
(interview),
Exberliner Magazine
, 17 October 2011
- "Tahar Ben Jelloun (France)"
, Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin.
- Nicoletta Pireddu,
"A Moroccan Tale of an Outlandish Europe: Ben Jelloun's Departure for a Double Exile"
Research in African Literatures, 40 (3), Fall 2009: 16-36
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Special Jury Prize:
Denise McSmith
(1975) ?
Stefano D'Arrigo
(1977) ?
Yury Trifonov
(1978) ?
Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz
(1979) ?
Pietro Consagra
(1980) ?
Ignazio Buttitta
,
Angelo Maria e Ela Ripellino
(1983) ?
Leonardo Sciascia
(1985) ?
Wang Meng
(1987) ?
Mikhail Gorbachev
(1988) ?
Peter Carey
,
Jose Donoso
,
Northrop Frye
,
Jorge Semprun
,
Wole Soyinka
,
Lu Tongliu
(1990) ?
Fernanda Pivano
(1992) ?
Associazione Scrittori Cinesi
(1993) ?
Dong Baoucum
,
Fan Boaci
,
Wang Huanbao
,
Shi Peide
,
Chen Yuanbin
(1995) ?
Xu Huainzhong
,
Xiao Xue
,
Yu Yougqnan
,
Qin Weinjung
(1996) ?
Khushwant Singh
(1997) ?
Javier Marias
(1998) ?
Francesco Burdin
(2001) ?
Luciano Erba
(2002) ?
Isabella Quarantotti De Filippo
(2003) ?
Marina Rullo
(2006) ?
Andrea Ceccherini
(2007) ?
Enrique Vila-Matas
(2009) ?
Francesco Forgione
(2010)
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First work:
Valerio Magrelli
(1980) ?
Ferruccio Benzoni
, Stefano Simoncelli,
Walter Valeri
,
Laura Mancinelli
(1981) ?
Jolanda Insana
(1982) ?
Daniele Del Giudice
(1983) ?
Aldo Busi
(1984) ?
Elisabetta Rasy
,
Dario Villa
(1985) ?
Marco Lodoli
,
Angelo Mainardi
(1986) ?
Marco Ceriani
,
Giovanni Giudice
(1987) ?
Edoardo Albinati
,
Silvana La Spina
(1988) ?
Andrea Canobbio
,
Romana Petri
(1990) ?
Anna Cascella
(1991) ?
Marco Caporali
,
Nelida Milani
(1992) ?
Silvana Grasso
,
Giulio Mozzi
(1993) ?
Ernesto Franco
(1994) ?
Roberto Deidier
(1995) ?
Giuseppe Quatriglio
,
Tiziano Scarpa
(1996) ?
Fabrizio Rondolino
(1997) ?
Alba Donati
(1998) ?
Paolo Febbraro
(1999) ?
Evelina Santangelo
(2000) ?
Giuseppe Lupo
(2001) ?
Giovanni Bergamini
,
Simona Corso
(2003) ?
Adriano Lo Monaco
(2004) ?
Piercarlo Rizzi
(2005) ?
Francesco Fontana
(2006) ?
Paolo Fallai
(2007) ?
Luca Giachi
(2008) ?
Carlo Carabba
(2009) ?
Gabriele Pedulla
(2010)
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Italian Author:
Alberto Moravia
(1982) ?
Vittorio Sereni
alla memoria
(1983) ?
Italo Calvino
(1984) ?
Mario Luzi
(1985) ?
Paolo Volponi
(1986) ?
Luigi Malerba
(1987) ?
Oreste del Buono
(1988) ?
Giovanni Macchia
(1989) ?
Gianni Celati
,
Emilio Villa
(1990) ?
Andrea Zanzotto
(1991) ?
Ottiero Ottieri
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Attilio Bertolucci
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Luigi Meneghello
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Fernando Bandini
,
Michele Perriera
(1995) ?
Nico Orengo
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Giuseppe Bonaviri
,
Giovanni Raboni
(1997) ?
Carlo Ginzburg
(1998) ?
Alessandro Parronchi
(1999) ?
Elio Bartolini
(2000) ?
Roberto Alajmo
(2001) ?
Andrea Camilleri
(2002) ?
Andrea Carraro
, Antonio Franchini,
Giorgio Pressburger
(2003) ?
Maurizio Bettini
,
Giorgio Montefoschi
,
Nelo Risi
(2004) ?
pr.
Raffaele Nigro
,
sec.
Maurizio Cucchi
,
ter.
Giuseppe Conte
(2005) ?
pr.
Paolo Di Stefano
,
sec.
Giulio Angioni
(2006) ?
pr.
Mario Fortunato
,
sec.
Toni Maraini
,
ter.
Andrea Di Consoli
(2007) ?
pr.
Andrea Bajani
,
sec.
Antonio Scurati
,
ter.
Flavio Soriga
(2008) ?
pr.
Mario Desiati
,
sec.
Osvaldo Guerrieri
,
ter.
Gregorio Scalise
(2009) ?
pr.
Lorenzo Pavolini
,
sec.
Roberto Cazzola
,
ter.
(2010) ?
pr.
Eugenio Baroncelli
,
sec.
Milo De Angelis
,
ter.
Igiaba Scego
(2011) ?
pr.
Edoardo Albinati
,
sec.
Paolo Di Paolo
,
ter.
Davide Orecchio
(2012) ?
pr.
Andrea Canobbio
,
sec.
Valerio Magrelli
,
ter.
Walter Siti
(2013) ?
pr.
Irene Chias
,
sec.
Giorgio Falco
,
ter.
Francesco Pecoraro
(2014) ?
pr.
Nicola Lagioia
,
sec.
Letizia Muratori
,
ter.
Marco Missiroli
(2015) ?
pr.
Marcello Fois
,
sec.
Emanuele Tonon
,
ter.
Romana Petri
(2016) ?
pr.
Stefano Massini
,
sec.
Alessandro Zaccuri
,
ter.
Alessandra Sarchi
(2017)
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Mondello for Multiculturality Award:
Kim Thuy
(2011)
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"Targa Archimede", Premio all'Intelligenza d'Impresa:
Enzo Sellerio
(2011)
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Special Award 40 Years of Mondello:
Gipi
(2014)
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