Lords of misrule: history and fiction in two moroccan novels

Abstract

This study makes use of two novels by Moroccan writers, BenSālim immīsh and Amad al-Tawfīq, to illustrate the way in which the tyrannical behaviour of rulers—in Egypt in immīsh's case, and in Morocco in al-Tawfīq's—inevitably leads to reactions, including resistance and challenge mounted by a variety of figures who are portrayed in heroic fashion. Within the different historical contexts invoked in both novels, the eventual fate of tyrant and hero varies. For Abū Rukwa, the hero of a revolt against the Fatimid caliph, al-ākim bi-Amr Allāh, in immīsh's novel, the outcome is a gruesome death. In each case, however, the exploration of ‘misrule’ that is undertaken in novelistic form is not merely an exercise in fictionalizing history but also a more general commentary on the modes whereby political power has been abused in the past. The relevance of such explorations to current realities in the Arabic-speaking world hardly needs underlining.