The works in this exhibition were authored by members of the Souffles/Anfas collective of writers, gathered here in celebration of this chapter in Morocco’s intellectual history. The image for the poster above comes from issue 12 (1968), available along with a fully-digitized collection of Souffles on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/Souffles/Souffles%201%20-%201966/.
Introducing Souffles/Anfas
The journal Souffles/Anfas (meaning, literally, breaths and, metaphorically, inspirations) was founded in 1966 by a group of Moroccan poets as a space for innovative and experimental creation. In the political ferment of postcolonial Morocco, Souffles/Anfas soon became a home for a vanguard of gifted artists, novelists, film makers and intellectuals who used it as a platform for new ideas about culture, society and politics. The journal combined a domestic focus with an internationalist outlook, including solidarity with the liberation struggles of Third World peoples in general and Palestine in particular. The rising militancy and popularity of the journal eventually led to its banning in 1972 and to the subsequent arrest and imprisonment of its editors. After a long hiatus, the spirit of Souffles is being revived by Souffles-Monde (https://www.soufflesmonde.com), an initiative that aims to offer an alternative forum for critique and internationalism responsive to contemporary questions in the Maghreb and beyond.
A Selection of Writers and Books
The Physical Exhibit
For those on the AUI campus, please stop by and see the exhibit in person in the M6L Café area throughout the month of November 2024.
Image Sources
All images of book covers were originals taken by the Mohammed VI Library. Images for authors were taken from the following websites:
Mohammed Berrada: https://www.e-taqafa.ma/dossier/mohammed-berrada
Ahmed Bouanani: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Bouanani
Driss Chraibi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driss_Chra%C3%AFbi
Mohammed Khaïr Eddine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Kha%C3%AFr-Eddine
Abdelkebri Khatibi: https://xn--rpubliquedeslettres-bzb.fr/khatibi.php
Abdellatif Laâbi: https://telquel.ma/2021/12/03/la-fuite-vers-samarkand-lautoportrait-de-abdellatif-laabi-en-vieux-poete_1746261
Ahmed al-Madani: https://www.hespress.com/%D8%A3%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A-209292.html
Mostafa Nissabouri: https://fr.le360.ma/culture/mostapha-nissaboury-voyage-a-travers-le-mouvement-pictural-marocain-depuis-les-annees-60_75M4X77K2VCGZOUNYCFJYXTKQM/
Abraham Serfaty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Serfaty
Mohamed Zafzaf: https://fr.hespress.com/334971-la-dr-de-la-culture-a-casablanca-lance-le-prix-mohamed-zafzaf-de-la-lecture.html
The Souffles Logo source is: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souffles_%28revue_marocaine%29.
Acknowledgements
The M6L thanks AK for curating the list of texts and writing the introduction. We also thank the Internet Archive for being awesome and having most issues of Souffles/Anfas online.