Journal | Il Tolomeo
Journal issue | 26 | 2024
Research Article | Habel de Mohammed Dib : une histoire d’émigration en quête de visibilité
Habel de Mohammed Dib : une histoire d’émigration en quête de visibilité
Abstract
The article proposes an analysis of the novel Habel (1977) by the Algerian writer Mohammed Dib. Written with a style steeped in allegory and lyricism, as elusive and complex as the reality represented, the novel delves into the inner universe of a young immigrant in search of visibility. The space of the city outlines a ‘topography’ of the character’s intimacy, in a dysphoric heterotopia of disillusionment. The analysis also explores the space of the supermarket, tracing the contours of a paradoxical non-place: a transient microcosm that, as a workplace, gives the emigrant a minimal sense of identity. Ultimately, rather than returning to his homeland, Habel chooses to reside in a psychiatric clinic with his beloved, Lyli. In a paradoxical twist, it is precisely the space of the hospital – heterotopia of ‘deviation’ – that salvages Habel from anonymity. Here, within the ‘closed’ regenerative space of the clinic, in contrast to the open yet consuming city, Habel can be reborn, albeit in madness. Situated between stylistics, semiotics, and narratology, this study interprets Habel’s heterotopic, destabilising trajectory as the prelude to an euphoric, neutral, and purifying delineation of the ‘douceur’ of utopia (Foucault 2009), within a new, uchronian present.
Submitted: Oct. 22, 2024 | Accepted: Oct. 26, 2024 | Published Oct. 30, 2024 | Language: en
Keywords Visibility • Heterotopy • Mohammed Dib • Migrant literature • Habel
Copyright © 2024 Francesca Todesco. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Tol/2499-5975/2024/01/008
