Recent Changes

The Body and Allegory
the tyrannical patriarc,patriarch, plays the decision to “make”“ {black-woman-back-muscular-pastel-98-p.jpg} http://media.massal.net/drawing-painting-traditional/l/black-woman-back-muscular-pastel-98-p.jpgmake” his female

Narration and Allegory
Ben{argument.gif} http://www.belfastu3a.org.uk/images/argument.gifBen Jelloun’s employment
In various pockets of the narrative storytelling, Ben Jellon employs the use of poetic language which symbolizes the beauty which still resounds throughout the violent chaos of identity (dis)establishment. Fatuma’s description of her return journey from Mecca reflects this beauty. She finds serenity from the chaos of Mecca in the open expanse of the ocean:
I no longer felt the need to cry out; the tension that had driven me forward abated. I left Mecca without feeling regret…To be on the ocean, far from all ties not to know where I’m going, to be suspended without past or future, to be in the immediate moment, surrounded by that blue immensity, to watch the thin envelope of the sky at night, when so many stars thread their way in and out of it; to feel myself in the gentle grip of a blind sensation that slowly turns into a melody, something between melancholy and inner joy—that was that I liked. (Ben Jelloun 129)

Ben Jelloun's Allegorical Novel
{Peter-Paul-Rubens-Allegory-of-war-1628.jpg} "Allegory of War" by Peter Paul Rubens, http://www.oceansbridge.com/oil-paintings/product/2248/allegoryofwar1628
The Sand Child features a narrative style which challenges western minds to misunderstand everything they may think they understand about the pattern in which stories are told. Described as “sensuous and visual”, Ben Jelloun is said to “wreak havoc on established literary genres and styles” (Abdel-Jaouad 36). Ben Jelloun uses language to juxtapose the chaotic and violent with the poetic and beautiful to order communicate the contradictory nature of colonization. The Sand Child is used as an allegorical tale of the effects which colonization can have on a nation by recounting the life of a young woman whose gender is usurped by her tyrannical father and portraying the inevitable effects of this identity confusion (Sunders 136-137).

Brief Bio of Tahar Ben Jelloun
{morocco.jpg} Source: http://www.worldmapsinfo.com/mapimage/morocco.jpg
Tahar Ben Jelloun, a Maghrib author born in Fez, Morocco, is popularly known for his “cross-cultural” writing style and the controversial issues raised in his novels like The Sand Child. His writing life began in 1966 during his time in Rabat where he was arrested and detained along with many other students under suspicion of extremism against King Hassan II (“Tahar”). He developed a love for literature after asking his brother to send him books while he was incarcerated. In an interview for The Independent, an English newspaper, he states “Literature seemed to be not only a sort of escape but a possible revolt. It inspired me…”
{intro_foto.png} Source: http://www.taharbenjelloun.org/

Brief Bio of Tahar Ben Jelloun
{intro_foto.png} Source: http://www.taharbenjelloun.org/{morocco.jpg}
Tahar Ben Jelloun, a Maghrib author born in Fez, Morocco, is popularly known for his “cross-cultural” writing style and the controversial issues raised in his novels like The Sand Child. His writing life began in 1966 during his time in Rabat where he was arrested and detained along with many other students under suspicion of extremism against King Hassan II (“Tahar”). He developed a love for literature after asking his brother to send him books while he was incarcerated. In an interview for The Independent, an English newspaper, he states “Literature seemed to be not only a sort of escape but a possible revolt. It inspired me…”
{intro_foto.png} Source: http://www.taharbenjelloun.org/
This inspiration has created much success in Ben Jelloun’s literary career. His personal website TaharBenJelloun.org chronicles the numerous recognitions and awards he has received including the prestigious Goncourt Prize in 1987 for his work in The Sand Child and The Sacred Night. According to Hedi Adbel-Jaouad in his review essay “Sacrilegious Discourse”, this achievement can be attributed to the way in which these texts “present new and refreshing material from a collective memory and another world, offering the interplay of ideas both sacred and profane, ancient and modern” (36). Ben Jelloun’s literature commonly deals with the human condition and state of mind. He received his Ph.D. in psychiatric social work in 1975 and draws on much of his experience and understanding of the human psyche in his fiction. This writing style creates discomfort at times in his audience, but forces all to question their understanding of the society around them. As a result of his daring writing style and universal appeal to both eastern and western audiences, Ben Jelloun’s works have been translated into 40 different languages and published in venues around the world (“Tahar”). Ben Jelloun now lives and works in Paris, France with his wife and daughter (Owen).

Presentation by Antoinette S. Melvin
{afghan-girl-615.jpg} Source: http://moroccostudy.blogspot.com/2010/11/sand-child.html
"I have a delicate face, but my beard grows. I have benefited from the laws of inheritance that gives men privileges over women...I would like to leave this house without having the slightest trace of the past follow me. I would like to leave so that I might be born again...rid forever of these lies."
-Amhed, The Sand Child, page 119