Tahar Ben Jelloun: Literature, Racism, Migration, and Literary Translation

Recorded October 13, 2021: “Tahar Ben Jelloun: Literature, Racism, Migration, and Literary Translation” - The Author in Conversation with his Translator Rita Nezami, Program in Writing and Rhetoric. Moderated by Patrice Nganang, Africana Studies. Sponsored by HISB and the Department of Africana Studies with special thanks to the students in the seminar on African Literature.
Born in Morocco, Tahar Ben Jelloun migrated to France in 1971 where he has become one of the most celebrated contemporary authors. In acclaimed novels like, The Sacred Night, This Blinding Absence of Light, and Leaving Tangier, Ben Jelloun develops a powerfully lyrical and poetic language; rich in fairy tale, imagery, metaphor, and symbolism. His prose explores the mechanisms of oppression, injustice, racism, gender, the criminalization of migration, corruption and marginality.
Tahar Ben Jelloun has written more than 30 novels, including The Sacred Night, winner of the Prix Goncourt, and This Blinding Absence of Light, winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Rita Nezami is a Senior Lecturer in the program in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stony Brook University. She has translated many of Tahar Ben Jelloun’s works including his autobiographical novel, L’Ecrivain Public/The Public Scribe, winner of the ALTA award, Par le feu/By Fire, a collection of Ben Jellouns writings on the Arab Spring, and Le Mariage de Plaisir/The Pleasure Marriage.
Patrice Nganang is a writer and Professor of Cultural and Literary Theory, Chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Stony Brook University, New York, and author of novels, essays and monographs. His latest books are Mount pleasant (FSG), When The Plums Are Ripe (FSG), and A Trail Of Crab Tracks (FSG), which constitute a trilogy on the history of his native Cameroon. His work has been translated into a dozen languages.