year of the elephant (abouzeid)

Leila Abouzeid

Year of the Elephant: A Moroccan Woman’s Journey Toward Independence

Author Background

● Born in 1950 in El-Ksiba, Morocco

● Father worked worked as an interpreter in the French colonial administration and took an

active role in the national resistance that lead to the independence of Morocco from

France in 1956

● Studied at the University of Texas at Austin and the Mohamed V University in Rabat,

Morocco

● Morocco’s best known female writer. In addition to poetry, newspaper articles, short

stories, and translations, she has published three books: a novel, Year of the Elephant in

1984 (translated into English in 1990), an autobiography, Return to Childhood: The

Memoir of a Modern Moroccan Woman in 1993 (English translation, 1998) and in 2003,

The Last Chapter, a semi-autobiographical work that treats identity, gender, and male-

female relations.

● Deliberately chooses to write in Arabic—not in French—although many of her works have

been translated into foreign languages.

● She currently lives in Rabat, Morocco, where she is in demand as a speaker on television

and radio.

Morocco & The French

● Located in the Maghreb region of North Africa between Algeria (to the east), the Atlantic Ocean (to the west), and the Mediterranean Sea (to the north).

● Culture is blend of Arab, indigenous Amazigh (Berber), Sub-Saharan African, and French / European influence

● Colonized in early 20th century as a protectorate of France. (Spain took the coast during the same period, but colonial influence is largely French.)

● Official languages: Modern Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic (Darija), Berber. French is an “unofficial” third language (likely not claimed because of colonial history); for practical purposes, used as a second language for business, administration, government.

● Gained independence from France in 1956. (Officially Kingdom of Morocco)

Morocco & the FrenchFrance's exile of Sultan Mohammed V (then king of Morocco) in 1953 to Madagascar and his replacement by the unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa sparked active opposition to the French and Spanish protectorates by the Moroccan people. The most notable violence occurred in Oujda where Moroccans attacked French and other European residents in the streets. France allowed Mohammed V to return in 1955, and the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence began the following year.

Morocco & the French● In 1912 the French colonial authorities in Morocco introduced the French language

to the country, making it the language of government administration, educational instruction, and the media.The French government had intended for the French culture and the French language to be viewed as "civilization and advancement.”

● Arabic was only used for traditional activities and religious services.

● In 1956 Morocco declared independence and the government declared modern standard Arabic as the official language.

● After independence, to facilitate economic growth and to increase its ties to Europe, the Moroccan government decided to strengthen its ties with France, resulting in the promotion of French. By 2005 Morocco engaged in economic liberalization and privatization; these activities, in many sectors, have reinforced the usage of French.

Year of the Elephant● English translation in 1989 was an event in cross-cultural literary

history, representing as it did the first novel by a Moroccan woman to be translated from Arabic to English. Originally published in Arabic as Am al-Fil in 1984 in Morocco.

● Addresses issues common in modern Moroccan literature, such as family conflict and divorce.

● Takes a unique approach to these issues, however, by looking at them from the perspective of a woman working through the issues.

● Explores conflict that often occurs between traditional culture and modernism, the value of a woman in Moroccan society, and the true meaning of independence (nationally and personally).

● Challenges Western discourse on Islam through Zahra’s reliance on tradition & religion as a source of independence; characters and representation of Islam in the novel challenge stereotypes of fanatical fundamentalism and oppression often held in Western societies.

Year of the Elephant ● The title of the book is an allusion to the story of the year Muhammad,

the Islamic prophet. In the story, an invading army sent to destroy Mecca (the holy city of Muhammad’s birth) were defeated when flights of birds dropped stones on the troops. The elephants carrying the troops knelt down and refused to walk further.

● Abouzeid gave her novel the title of Year of the Elephant because its setting is the final stage of the battle for Moroccan independence against the French, won not by the armies and tanks of a superior foreign enemy, but by the faith and termination of the ordinary people of Morocco.

● As you read, you might consider how this relates to Zahra’s personal battles throughout the novel.

Big Questions for Year of the Elephant

● How do national and personal independence correlate in the novel? Why might Zahra entwine the two as she tells her tale?

● Thinking back to our discussions of “the post-colonial novel,” can we consider Year of the Elephant a “post-colonial novel”? How and why?

● Can Zahra’s story be considered an example of Islamic feminism? How and why?

● Questions on page xxxiv of Elizabeth Warnock Ferna’s intro to the first edition (difficult questions about feminism), especially: Is Zahra’s choice a feminist choice?