- Ḥamzah Baqūrī (1932 – 1984, Saudi Arabia) – Saqīfat al-Ṣifā (1983, English trans. The Sheltered Quarter: A Tale of a Boyhood in Mecca, 1991). Partly an autobiography, this novel tells the story of Muḥsin’s upbringing in the city of Mecca, close to the Kaʿbah, in the first half of the 20th century before the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia. From a child’s perspective, it describes the architecture of the city and its urban neighbourhoods, but also the journey of its pilgrims, the status of women, schooling, social life, and religion itself in the holy city (also in C: Cities: Saudi Arabia: Mecca).
- Mouloud Feraoun (1913 – 1962, Algeria) – Le fils du pauvre (1950, English trans. The Poor Man’s Son, 2005). This novel draws on the author’s own childhood experience and tells of the life of an impoverished boy and his difficulties in attaining French colonial education in Algeria. Several chapters that critiqued the French colonial education were left out of the 1954 publication, but later published as part of the posthumous L’Anniversaire (‘The birthday’, 1972) (reference) (also in Colonial Rule of Northern Africa: French colonization of the Maghreb).
- Rīnīh al-Ḥāyik (1959-, Lebanon) – Sannah al-Rādiyū (‘The year of the radio’, 2015). The main character of this novel is Yara, a young Lebanese speech therapist living with her parents in Beirut. Following a period of bad luck after her contract as a schoolteacher is not extended, Yara gets a job as a radio host with her own show. Her program is a live therapy in which she talks with children about their issues and advises them. The novel reflects on the stories of the children, but also the difficulties Yara faces in her career (also in S: Social Issues and Societal Change: Unemployment).
- Salwā al-Naʿīmī (1950-, Syria) – Shibih al-Jazīrah al-ʿArabiyyah (‘The Arabian Peninsula’, 2012). In this semiautobiographical account the author narrates the life of a child with a Christian mother and a Muslim father.
- Ahmed Sefrioui (1915 – 2004, Morocco) – La boȋte à merveilles (1954, English trans. Pandoras Box, 2019). The autobiographical novel shows the inner aspects of social and family life based on strong Islamic values in colonial Fez, Morocco. Its narrator is Mehdi, who comes from an Amazigh family who came to the city of Fez in search for a better life (reference). The novel describes the family’s adapting to the city life, culturally and socially. Mehdi, also trying to find his way in Fez within a family whose attention for him is limited, starts collecting shiny objects in the titular ‘box of wonders’, a box which becomes his own little world for him to retreat to when he feels anxious (reference).
- Abdelhak Serhane (1950- , Morocco) – Les Enfants des rues étroits (‘The children of the narrow streets’, 1986), is a portrayal of the friendship between two children, the narrator and his friend Rahou, growing up in the Moroccan town of Azrou (reference). The story of the two develops parallel to Morocco gaining independence, accompanied by an increase of unemployment, police repression, and corruption. The two are separated when the narrator’s family leaves Azrou. But he returns after some time to find Rahou has gone into exile in France and is left with observing how his town has changed – and stayed the same (also in 1956 Independence Morocco).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Neil Doshi. 2003. “Feraoun, Mouloud”, in in Encyclopaedia of African Literature. eds. Simon Gikandi, Routledge: New York, p. 269
- Ian Campbell. 2014. “Tactile Labyrinths and Sacred Interiors: Spatial Practices and Political Choices in Abdelmajid Ben Jalloun’s ‘Fi al-Tufula’ and Ahmed Sefrioui’s ‘La boîte à merveilles’.” World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications 28, p. 2, 14