Morocco

La Civilisation, ma Mère !...
Driss Chraïbi

Going way back in my archives to dig out this North African entry that I read for a high school French class. We were free to choose any novel in French from what was available in the school library. French book covers tend to be exceedingly plain, most often with text only, so I was drawn to this one because of the intriguing cover.

Driss Chraïbi was a Moroccan author writing in French, whose novels deal with colonialism, culture clashes, generational conflict and the treatment of women and are often semi-autobiographical, as is indeed the case with La Civilisation, ma Mère !...

The novel deals with the narrators' attempts to introduce their mother to the modern age as telephones and electricity make their way into a traditional household. The book's second half explores the effects of these changes on the mother and the notion of modernity as her second coming of age.

I was lucky enough to have a classmate of North African origin who was able to help me out with the customs and bits of language that would have otherwise eluded me. A big, and much deferred, shukran to her for helping me out.

Available in English translation under the title Mother Comes of Age. English translator: Hugh Harter.