Self-Imposed Exile, Marginality, and Homosexuality in the Novels of Abdellah Taïa, Rachid O., and Eyet-Chékib Djaziri

ABSTRACT

A burgeoning canon of Maghrebian writers in self-imposed exiled in France has in the last decade begun to openly broach the subject of homosexuality in Arab-Muslim communities of the Maghreb. Novels of writers like Abdellah Taïa, Rachid O. and Eyet-Chékib Djaziri reflect a fascinating trans-Mediterranean construction of homosexual identity. Drawing on Svetlana Boym’s critical work, particularly her observation that nostalgia “charts an affective geography of the native land that often mirrors the melancholic landscapes” of the exiled, this paper analyzes the construction of homosexuality against the notions of exile, nostalgia, and marginality. The novels of these Maghrebian writers highlight nostalgia as both cathartic and paralyzing for “gay” migrant protagonists who find themselves trapped in the subtle seam between a cherished Maghreb that is framed as homophobic in the sexual clash of civilizations and a more liberal yet inauspicious France. The nostalgic contemplation of the constitution of a homosexual subjectivity is read as a critical performance and mainstreaming of hitherto marginalized voices that now subvert and fight back against normalizing discourses of ethnicity, sexual and gender identity as well as nationality.

KEYWORDS:

• Exile
• homophobia
• homosexuality
• Maghreb
• marginality
• nostalgia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The term “gay” is used in inverted quotes because of its problematic nature in relation to the Arab-Muslim societies of the Maghreb. Smith summarises in such terms the problem surrounding the use of the term “gay” in reference to the Maghreb: “Established scholarly consensus on the subject has traditionally asserted that a “gay” identity as it has emerged in recent decades in the West does not exist in cultures of Muslim heritage. Though this area of inquiry is rife with terminological problems and cross-cultural misunderstandings, most critics agree there is no ‘gay’ identity in Islamic countries” (2012, p. 36). It is also worth recognizing that there is need to historicize gay identity and not universalize it from a central Euro-American position because the Arab-Muslim world has not remained static and unchanging. Be that as it may, gay identity à la gayborhoods and homonormativity did not emerge on their own in regions such as the Maghreb. The role of globalization cannot be downplayed in how gay identity is perceived in these regions. In understanding the centrality of such historical foregrounding, it is worth acknowledging the very rich histories of homo-eroticism that existed in Arabic heritage in the form of letters, songs and even theology (El-Rouayheb, 2005). It should also be highlighted that Arab writers may not always be familiar with this heritage themselves, or may find irrelevant to acknowledge and refer to it.

2. “Homosexuality was however partially criminalized in France during the reign of the Vichy Regime. From 1940–1944 under Philippe Pétain, there was a modification of Article 334 of the penal code. This modification incriminated anyone who committed an immodest act against a minor of the same sex. This modification was seen as directed at homosexuals because it did not refer to immodest acts against people of a different sex” (Ncube, 2013, p. 74).

3. This points to questions of markets and audiences that Massad (2002, p. 364) alludes to. In France, there has been a market for literary works that broach homosexuality from as far back as the early nineteenth century. Images of homosexuality in the Maghreb were at that time found in novels by French writers such as Gustave Flaubert, Henry de Monthelant, Jean Genet and André Gide, no name but a few. The images presented in these novels were tainted by an orientalist gaze which eroticized and hypersexualized the Arab body (Ncube, 2018, pp. 15–16). The literary works of contemporary writers such as Abdellah Taïa find a ready market and audience in France. This market and audience are in need of “authentic” interlocutors of homosexuality in the Maghreb.

4. See studies by Obermeyer (2000, p. 241) and Krondorfer (2011, p. 497).