Global Maghreb: Transnational Recognition and Knowledge of a Postcolonial Literature

2026-07-22

Global Maghreb: Transnational Recognition and Knowledge of a Postcolonial Literature offers a groundbreaking approach to the study of Postcolonial literatures and, more generally, literary history, by (1) promoting a genuinely interdisciplinary approach that spans both literary studies and the social sciences (i.e., sociology, history); (2) reframing the “national literature” used in literary studies with a transnational (and multilingual) perspective; and (3) questioning the Postcolonial in the context of Globalization. The objective is to understand the impact of transnational circulation of texts and writers on literary recognition, as well as to historicize the transnationally produced knowledge of these literatures. The research is focused on North-African countries that gained independence from France in the 1950s/1960s (i.e., Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and examines them in an international landscape (ie., French, Arabic, English). The work is divided into three case studies. (1) “Transnational intermediation of Maghreb literature” develops a macro understanding of the circulation of texts, using a bibliographical database and interviews with translators and other intermediaries of the transnational circulation. (2) “Female Maghreb Writers in the USA and France” compares the literary/political reception of female writers and their work in the two countries. (3) “Transnational creation of a national literature” historicizes the nationalization of “Tunisian literature” and the exclusion of writers for political (European writers after independence), religious (Jewish writers), ethnic (Black writers) or linguistic (Francophone) reasons, and highlights the ongoing struggles on this literature’s “identity.” The dual objectives of Recognition and Knowledge are inherently political. As such, GLOMAG is an original and effective means to combat (1) global cultural hierarchies, and (2) prejudices regarding so-called “identities” (especially those concerning Muslims).

France

2025-10-01