- Najat al-Hachmi (1979-, Morocco) – Jo també Sóc Catalana (‘I too am Catalan’, 2004). This is an autobiographical essay written in Catalonian that describes the author’s cultural ‘rupture’ after moving to Catalonia, Spain, and the dual identity she developed. She is herself born in Nador, in the Rif of Morocco. The essay offers a unique access point to analyze Maghrebi migratory flows, the dispersal of African people throughout the world and their subsequent intercultural relations (reference).
- Tahir ben Jalloun (1944-, Morocco) – Partir (2006, English trans. Leaving Tangier, 2009). This novel is the story of a Moroccan brother and sister who leave their family and country to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain in search for a better life. But once they arrive in Spain, the fulfillment of their dreams comes with much pain and sacrifice. The brother, for example, unwillingly develops a relationship with older Spaniard to survive. The novel reflects on the relationship and intercultural exchanges between Morocco and Spain, and the effects of these exchanges on the population of both countries (reference) (also M: Movement: (E)Migration, Refugees and Return:(E) Migration: Migration (Refugee) literature to Europe).
- Muḥsin al-Ramlī (1967-, Iraq) – Tamar al-Aṣābiʿ (2008, English trans. Dates on My Fingers, 2014). Salīm flees his strict family hierarchy and the violence in Iraq under Saddam Hussain, to settle in Spain. After establishing a family in exile, he runs into his father who became the proprietor of a nightclub in Madrid, confronting Salīm with his father’s new life and his own relationship with him (also in F: Children and Family Life: Parent and Child: Father and Child).
- Ḥussayn Yāssin (1943-, Palestine) – ʿAlī: Qiṣṣah Rajul Mustaqīm (‘Ali: story of an honorable man’, 2017). This novel depicts five Palestinian men who voluntarily joined the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939), leaving behind the Palestinian / British / Zionist conflict (reference). One of them is the communist ʿAlī, who, in the course of the novel, becomes an important military commander. Through ʿAlī’s story, the novel interlinks the history of Spain with that of the Palestinian struggle, particularly from a communist perspective (reference) (also in 1920 Partitioning the Arab World into Mandates: British mandate of Palestine and Transjordan and Egypt: Palestine).
- Muḥammad Zafzāf (1945 – 2001, Morocco) – Al-Marʾah wa al-Wardah (‘The woman and the flower’, 1972). This autobiographical novel openly portrays a central male character, al-Shāṭir, a poor and rebellious man who is obsessed with sex, alcohol, and drugs (reference). He migrates to Spain, where he gives way to all his obsessions in a chaotic search for the self.
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- N. Michelle Murray. 2017. “Migration and Genealogies of Rapture in the Work of Najat el Hachmi.” Research in African Literatures 48(3): 18- 32, p. 17, 18
- ʿIzz al-Dīn Aʿraj. 2018. “‘ʿAlī: Qiṣṣah Rajul Mustaqīm’ … Nūstāljijā Shiyūʿiyyah Namaṭṭiyyah.” www.ultrasawt.com, 18 February 2018, https://ultrapal.ultrasawt.com/%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A-%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%A9-%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%84-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%85-%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%B4%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%86%D9%85%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A9/%D8%B9%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%8A/%D8%AB%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A9-%D9%88%D9%81%D9%86/%D9%85%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA (last accessed 6 January 2023)
- Naṣīr Lʿamālī. 2023. “Al-Malamah al-Bīkārīskī fī Riwāyah ‘al-Marʾah wa al-Wardah’ li-Muḥammad Zafzāf.” Al-Mudawinnah 10(1): 628-645, p. 638