No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
A “Church of / for Poetry”: Revue Aguedal and The Friends of Amazigh Literature
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 January 2024
Abstract
This article examines the literary and spiritual initiatives undertaken by Henri Bosco and his collaborators, notably Captain Léopold Justinard, in interwar colonial Morocco. Focusing on the Revue Aguedal, inaugurated by Bosco in Rabat in 1935, I highlight the revue's primary role as a cultural conduit between French and indigenous Amazigh and Arab intellectuals. Bosco's concept of a “poetic church,” championed by contributors such as René Guénon and Ahmed Sefriou, sought to document, safeguard, and translate Amazigh and North African literature. Although the Aguedal literary project experienced interruptions during World War II, it accentuated indigenous perspectives through sections like “Propos du Chleuh,” overseen by Justinard. I also underscore Bosco's simultaneous advocacy for French culture, challenging stereotypical colonial narratives while amplifying Amazigh voices within them. Despite financial challenges leading to the revue's demise after the war, the literary circle fostered enduring literary relationships and left an indelible mark on the nexus of colonial scholarship, literature, and spirituality.
- Type
- Special Focus on Amazigh Literature: Critical and Close Reading Approaches
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Middle East Studies Association of North America
References
1 Bosco, L'Amitié Henri, Cahiers Henri Bosco 25 numéro spécial Les amitiés du Maroc (Aix-en-Provence: Diffusion Édisud, 1985)Google Scholar.
2 Agrour, Rachid, Léopold Justinard, missionnaire de la tachelhit, 1914–1954: Quarante ans d’études berbères (Paris: Éditions Bouchène, 2007)Google Scholar; Justinard, Léopold-Victor, Un grand chef berbère, le Caïd Goundafi (Casablanca: Éditions Atlantides, 1951)Google Scholar.
3 Justinard, Léopold-Victor, “Propos du Chleuh Aguedal, sagesse et poésie,” Aguedal 1.1 (1936): 1–4Google Scholar.
4 Guénon, René, Autorité spirituelle et pouvoir temporel (Paris: Vrin, 1929)Google Scholar; idem, Orient et Occident (Paris: Payot, 1924); Guénon, René, Le Théosophisme, histoire d'une pseudo-religion (Paris: Nouvelle Librairie Nationale, 1921)Google Scholar.
5 Bonjean, François, L'histoire de Mansour, enfant du pays d'Égypte (Paris: Rieder, 1924)Google Scholar; Bonjean, François, contes de Lalla Touria, oiseau Jaune et oiseau vert (Casablanca: Atlantides, 1952)Google Scholar.
6 Amrouche, Jean, Chants berbères de Kabylie: Poésie et théâtre (Algiers: Charlot, 1947)Google Scholar.
7 Sefrioui, Ahmed, Le chapelet d'ambre (Paris: Le Seuil, 1949)Google Scholar; Sefrioui, Ahmed, La boîte à merveilles (Paris: Le Seuil, 1954)Google Scholar.
8 François Bonjean, L'âme marocaine vue à travers les croyances et la politesse (Casablanca: Afrique-Orient, 2015), 161–63.
9 Bonjean, François, “Quelques causes d'incompréhension entre l'Islam et l'Occident,” in “L'Islam et l'Occident,” Les Cahiers du Sud MCMXLVII (1947), 33–51Google Scholar; Guénon, René, “Sayful-Islam,” In “L'Islam et l'Occident,” Les Cahiers du Sud MCMXLVII (1947), 59–64Google Scholar.
10 Justinard, Léopold, “Propos du Chleuh Aguedal, sagesse et poésie,” Aguedal 1.1 (1936): 2Google Scholar.
11 L'Amitié Henri Bosco, Cahiers Henri Bosco 37/38 (Aix-en-Provence: Diffusion Édisud, 1997-98), 13.
12 Haykal, Muhammad Hussayn, “Les causes d'incompréhension entre l'Europe et les Musulmans et les moyens d'y remédier,” in “L'Islam et l'Occident,” Les Cahiers du Sud MCMXLVII (1947)Google Scholar.