Abstract
The question of Alienation is a core subject-matter of human conditioning in the present era. Therefore, it is natural that a controversial issue like alienation should leave such an indelible influence upon contemporary literature. The question of Alienation, in its different manifestations, has been conceptualized and discussed, most importantly, within the existentialistic literary perspective. Due to its historical and socio-cultural conditions, the African as well as the Maghrebian literature could not shy away from the influence of alienation, understood as an identity loss and as a sense of inferiority, experienced either before or after the contact with the Other. The dispossessed personality's search for identity is a commonplace theme in modern fiction. The present paper will discuss the different nuances of the word alienation and analyze this theme in La Mémoire Tattouée (1971), a Moroccan literary text written in French by Abdelkebir Khatibi. The aim is to show how language discontinuity stands as a cause that creates a sense of inferiority, subordination, and alienation.
 Key words: identity, alienation, inferiority, existentialism, La Mémoire Tatuée, Abdelkebir Khatibi
Highlights
Resumen La Alienación es un tema central de la condición humana en la época actual
Many characters in different literary texts experience a feeling of alienation from their different social institutions
Caddy Compson, in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, went through what can be termed as love and family alienation
Summary
Resumen La Alienación es un tema central de la condición humana en la época actual. Es natural que un tema controvertido como la alienación deje una impronta marcada en la literatura contemporánea. La cuestión de la alienación, en sus distintas manifestaciones, ha sido conceptualizada y abordada principalmente desde una perspectiva literaria existencialista. Debido a sus condiciones históricas y socioculturales, tanto la literatura africana como la Magrebí no podían evitar la influencia de la alienación, entendida como pérdida de identidad y como sentimiento de inferioridad experimentado antes o después del contacto con el Otro. El presente artículo trata sobre los diferentes matices de la palabra alienación y analiza este tema en la novela marroquí La Mémoire Tatuée (1971), escrita en francés por Abdelkebir Khatibi. Palabras clave: identidad, alienación, inferioridad, existencialismo, La Mémoire Tatuée, Abdelkebir Khatibi
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