Irina Georgescu, À la découverte d’une géographie intérieure

In The Search of an Inner Geography

The present article is a review of the first novel of Najib Redouane, Canadian writer of Moroccan origins. The novel, titled À l’ombre de l’eucalyptus (In the shadow of the eucalyptus), delivered under the formal convention of a fragmentary confession of the hero, represents an objective and powerful analysis of the contemporary Arab world. The protagonist of the novel, Wahid, returns from Canda to his family in Morocco after a ten years absence. He rediscovers the lost world of his childhood and adolescence with the eyes of a consience deeply permeated by the Western Weltanschauung. A novel of love and identity quest, In the shadow of the eucalyptus observes the metamorphosis of a contemporary hero in search of himself.
Keywords: contemporary Canadian literature, Canadian writers of Arab origins, identity quest, clash of civilizations, Najib Redouane