Politics of Le passé simple

The uproar incited by Driss Chraibi's Le passé simple resulted from the political climate at the time of the novel's publication in 1954, skewing the interpretation of the text. The novel allegorically describes tensions between different political groups in terms of family conflict. The hero Driss's rebellion against his father, 'Le Seigneur', hence assumes the dimensions of a revolt against the king, as he tries to rally his brothers to a 'coup d'état'. The author's images, both historical and novelistic, are modelled on the French revolution and the family romance novels that were its literary complement. Le passé simple draws a historical blueprint for the Moroccan nation, one that was not executed in the short run, but was partially realised over time. The novel dramatises (and predicts) the conflict between the monarchy and elites such as the intelligentsia, symbolised as a father-son conflict. Most analyses have reduced the work to its psychoanalytic dimensions, eliding its political substratum.

Duke Scholars

Author Ellen McLarney Asian & Middle Eastern Studies