Historiographic Metafiction and the Interrogation of Collective Memory in J. M. Coetzee’s Foe and Kamel Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête

Ghorab, A. (2021) Historiographic Metafiction and the Interrogation of Collective Memory in J. M. Coetzee’s Foe and Kamel Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête. Research in African Literatures, 52 (2). pp. 54-67. ISSN 0034-5210

[thumbnail of Historiographic-Metafiction-and-the-Interrogation-of-Collective-Memory]
Text (Historiographic-Metafiction-and-the-Interrogation-of-Collective-Memory)
Historiographic_Metafiction_and_the_Interrogation_of_Collective_Memory.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial.

Download (512kB)

Abstract

This paper explores the problem of collective memory as a form of memorization that hinders the process of remembering in John Maxwell Coetzee’s Foe (1986) and Kamel Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête (2013). Drawing on existing research in the field of memory studies and narratology, I argue that the two novels, as historiographic metafiction, adopt a narrative strategy that embeds the previously established discourses of Robinson Crusoe (1719) and L’Étranger (1942) as false stories, then engage in an aggressive subversion. Foe as well as Meursault, contre-enquête access/borrow the canon, yet go beyond the colonial dilemma, highlighting the possibility of indulging in a counter-discursive strategy. While engaging European historical and fictional records, this strategy expands beyond the binary opposition of colonizer/colonized to turn the focus toward the national, the regional, or the local.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Research in African Literatures
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Data Sharing Template/no
Subjects:
?? noliterature and literary theory ??
ID Code:
178577
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
03 Nov 2022 15:55
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
16 Sep 2024 00:22