Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Van Tuyl, Jocelyn

Keywords

Storytelling, Francophone, North Africa, Ben Jelloun, Ben Mansour, Chami-Kettani

Area of Concentration

French

Abstract

This thesis examines the role of storytelling in forming group and individual identities in three North African francophone novels: Latifa Ben Mansour's La Priere de la peur, Yasmine Chami-Kettani's Ceremonie, and Tahar Ben Jelloun's L'Enfant de sable. These novels present several forms of storytelling: stories that unite communities, stories that contradict each other, and stories that are variations of the same story reflecting the storyteller's individuality. The first chapter uses trauma theory to examine La Priere de la peur—specifically, the role storytelling plays for a survivor of a terrorist attack, and the way her stories unite her family even after her death. The second chapter focuses on Ceremonie and argues that the women in the novel try to use stories to unite against patriarchal authority, but ultimately fail because their stories reflect an internalization of the patriarchal ideals for women. Finally, the third chapter examines L'Enfant de sable, positing that Ben Jelloun uses multiple variations of a story to show how individuals can create unique and distinct identities while also maintaining the peace of the larger group.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida Libraries, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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