Boualem Sansal in Rabat: Morocco is “an outstanding country in every field”

Boualem Sansal, the writer and member of the Académie française, described Morocco on Monday as “an outstanding country in every field”, speaking to the press in Rabat on the sidelines of a literary meeting with students at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Mohammed V University in Rabat.

He praised what he called the remarkable transformations the Kingdom has achieved in the economy, culture, science and agriculture. Morocco, he said, has become an emerging country that has taken off and managed to develop, with a development strategy that is bearing fruit.

The Kingdom enjoys a positive image abroad, Sansal added, stressing the weight of its international reach and its appeal to investors, artists and intellectuals.

Turning to his exchange with the students, he argued that literature plays an essential part in awakening minds, sharpening critical thinking and circulating ideas. He also pointed to the contribution intellectuals make in bringing peoples closer together.

During the session, Sansal looked back on his intellectual journey and the circumstances that led him to writing. Discussion covered several of his best-known books, including “Le Village de l’Allemand”, “Rue Darwin”, “2084: la fin du monde” and “La Légende”, while his essay “Le français, parlons-en !” opened a debate on the place of the French language in the Maghreb.

The Rabat meeting followed a talk in Casablanca last Thursday, part of the “Le Grand Témoin” conference series moderated by journalist and columnist Karim Serraj. There, Sansal discussed his books and career, and recounted the events that took him from detention in Algeria to his release and his eventual settlement in France.