ABSTRACT

This chapter reveals some important issues about the way in which writers have dealt with the profound transformations of North African society in the modern period. From a linguistic and cultural point of view, it is part of Arabic literature, a category that includes the literature from the countries both of North Africa and the Middle East. North African writing is therefore determined by the sense of belonging to an Arab nation which shares the same language and culture, and to a certain extent, the same religion. The development of North African writing in Arabic reflects the need to go beyond the duality between the old and the new, the East and the West, in order to create an authentic language. North African writers have turned to the past and have revitalised the classical tradition of Arabic literature in order to shape a modern discourse.