Souffles–Anfās and the Moroccan avant-garde post-independence

Abstract

ABSTRACTTen years after Morocco gained its independence from France and Spain in 1956, the relatively brief appearance of the journal Souffles (1966–1972) and its Arabic companion Anfās (1971–1972) served as the umbrella for an avant-garde movement with multi-faceted literary, cultural, and political goals. The journal published work by leftist intellectuals who saw Morocco and other newly-independent Maghrebi and African countries to be plagued by two different, but interrelated, misfortunes: first, that of French economic, cultural, and political domination; and second, that of the rule of self-serving authoritarian regimes, namely the dictatorial reign of King Hassan II of Morocco. This article argues that the creation of Souffles triggered the birth of a movement which sought – on the one hand – to rethink and redefine literature and national culture, and – on the other – to deconstruct various forms of authority (the state, God, tradition, religion, patriarchy, etc.) in order to delegitimize the theocratic and autocratic regime of King Hassan II and potentially other regimes in Africa and the Arab world.