São Paulo – Those who like or want to learn about literature produced in the Arab countries do not need to view foreign sites. Since October 2011, French and Maghrebi literature professor Cláudia Balduíno Ferreira, of the University of Brasília (UNB), has been running blog Literatura magrebina francófona (Francophone Maghrebi literature) with news about books released in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. There, she also publishes critique and reviews on works written by authors like the Moroccan Tahar Benjelloum.
The idea of creating a blog arose together with a research group on the theme that she coordinates at the UNB. “I felt that there was lack of information on French literature in these countries. I then established the Maghrebi Literary Study Group and then came the blog. It is, in truth, a window into the works of the research group,” she said.
Now that the blog has been established, the researcher plans to broaden its reach. “The blog has already been viewed over 5,000 times since it was established, showing that there is interest in the theme, despite its focussing on a restricted topic. We are viewed by people in other countries. I would like to make it into a greater site in future, with a data bank that may be used by the viewers and also to establish partnerships with other institutions,” he said.
Through the blog, readers may learn more about the characteristics of literature produced in the Maghreb. Ferreira mentions, for example, Algerian authors. The works are still influenced by the 132 years in which Algeria was colonized by the French and also cover the interference of religion on the life of people and on family constitution.
In the work of Tahar Benjelloum, in turn, who lives in Paris and Tangiers, questions about the female universe are very common. “People are avid for reading, for learning more about that literature. Therefore, the sense of the blog is to release ideas for research about human relations, about the particularities of the region,” says Ferreira, who published a book in French on Moroccan poetry, in 2011, entitled “Calligraphie de la douleur: l’art et le sacré dans la poésie arabe sur le martyr.”
Other projects
The professor manages the blog and leads the UNB study group. It was with this group that Ferreira organized a seminar in July about the 50 years of independence of Algeria, in partnership with the embassy of the Arab country in Brasília. Politics and literature were some of the themes covered at the occasion. The projects should not stop there. “We want to promote similar events to the one organized with Algeria about the other countries in the region,” she pointed out.
Service
Address of the blog: http://literaturamagrebinafrancofona.blogspot.com.br/
*Translated by Mark Ament