{"id":26303,"date":"2023-05-08T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T07:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldsite\/?p=26303"},"modified":"2023-05-08T09:34:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T07:34:30","slug":"kafka-in-tangier-is-a-brooding-homage-to-metamorphosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldsite\/kafka-in-tangier-is-a-brooding-homage-to-metamorphosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Kafka in Tangier<\/em> is a Brooding Homage to Metamorphosis<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kafka in Tangier<\/em>, a novella by Mohammed Said Hjiouij
\nTranslated from the Arabic by Phoebe Bay Carter
\nAgora Publishing<\/a> 2023
\nISBN 9789920570282<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rula Khateeb Jarallah<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kafka once said, \u201cwe find freedom through failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the first things that springs to mind when we think of Franz Kafka is his famous novella Metamorphosis<\/em>. Translated from the Arabic into idiomatic English by Phoebe Bay Carter, Kafka in Tangier<\/em> by Moroccan author Mohammed Said Hjiouij is an exact parallel but for the fact that it takes place in present-day Tangier, instead of Kafka\u2019s 1915 Prague. However, Hjiouj warns, \u201cThere is no denying that the tale I am telling you [\u2026] shares a certain resemblance with the story it inspired, the one written by Franz Kafka over a century ago. That said, it is most certainly not an exact copy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, both novellas explore the theme of existentialism, which is a philosophical inquiry into the nature of human beings and their feelings of alienation, anxiety, and despair.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kafka in Tangier<\/em> is available from Agora<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here, Hjiouj\u2019s protagonist, Jawad, wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a small hairy monkey for no apparent reason \u2014 at least not at first. Jawad soon realizes that this unexplained transformation is irreversible. Thus, he finds himself isolated and stuck in a nightmarish situation over which he has absolutely no control and no means of resolving.<\/p>\n

With such bizarre circumstances unfolding, the reader is sucked into a web of suspense. By alternating between past and present events in Jawad\u2019s life, we witness the unraveling of a seemingly ordinary family. Though he has become what many around him consider a hideous creature, Jawad reflects his family\u2019s ugly and dark secrets.<\/p>\n

But, Hjiouj writes, \u201clet us now leave the monkey to his mission, the teacher to his loss, the husband to his anger, and the brother to his betrayal,\u201d and let us begin at the beginning. The novella introduces a young and naive Jawad, who is forced to give up his dream of becoming a literary critic and leave university to work two jobs to provide for his family. He is a teacher by day and a vegetable vendor by night. The previous breadwinner of the house, his father, abruptly stopped working after deciding that his job as a bartender was a sin, and now spends his days praying in a corner of the house instead. \u201cThe lord of the household [\u2026] suddenly discovered there was a Lord above him and promptly ceased lording over his household and turned instead to worshiping his newfound Lord,\u201d writes Hjiouj.<\/p>\n

Jawad\u2019s nearly illiterate mother, Fatima, long ago dissolved into the shadows of an abusive marriage and was happy to have her life decided for her by the men in the family. Jawad sees hope only in his sister, Hind, whom he dreams of sending to university to become a writer so that he might live vicariously through her.<\/p>\n

The first significant deviation from Kafka\u2019s novella, other than the setting, is that the protagonist is married. The novella leads the reader to believe that Jawad was tricked into the marriage, with his wife having been pregnant with someone else\u2019s child. She miscarried soon after they were wed. Later in their marriage, his wife gives birth to a girl with Down Syndrome.<\/p>\n

The book opens with Jawad dreaming of a distorted version of an actual event that took place a few days earlier \u2014 giving the reader a clue as to what triggered the metamorphosis:<\/p>\n

He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and on its corner was a green insignia of a snake swallowing its tail accompanied by the words Medical and Reproductive Testing Laboratory [\u2026] The envelope slipped from his grasp and he watched as the breeze tossed it about for a moment as though rocking a feather to sleep, before laying it to rest on the water\u2019s surface. He watched as it floated, drifting with the current until it soaked up the waste water and was dragged by excrement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At this moment, Jawad is forced to face reality. The fragile fabric that held his meaningless life together is violently torn apart, cruelly setting off a profound self-examination and revealing his true self and that of his family. When his family members learn of his transformation, their view of him shifts: previously their provider and carer, he is now a useless parasite and a burden to be rid of.<\/p>\n

Hjiouij presents the reader with two Jawads: the old conscious Jawad, who is aware he is trapped in a creature\u2019s body that is totally alien to him, but who is unable to speak and a prisoner of his memories; and Jawad the monkey, whose body acts without the knowledge of his conscious mind, confronting his struggles and facing up to his realities, especially when every member of his family fails to acknowledge their culpability.<\/p>\n

As the weeks pass with Jawad stuck in his simian body, the family turns on him. He sees no shame in his father\u2019s eyes, only hatred. He sees no empathy in his sister\u2019s eyes, only greed and selfishness. His mother becomes convinced he is \u201ccursed\u201d after her attempts to heal him through rituals and amulets fail. And his wife uses his metamorphosis as the perfect excuse to leave him.<\/p>\n

Another major deviation from Kafka\u2019s Metamorphosis<\/em> is the nature of the protagonist\u2019s struggle. In Kafka in Tangier<\/em>, Jawad is not a passive Gregor Samsa who turns into an insect at risk of being easily squashed or maimed, but a vengeful monster.\u00a0The humiliation and demeaning experiences that befall him become a tool to confront the meaning of his existence. Jawad creates his own essence and embraces a self-affirming outlook.<\/p>\n

The monkey began to slip down the window of the building to the street, intent on a mission of which our hero will know nothing, except that when he wakes up he will find his hands stained with blood and he won\u2019t know how it got there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The reader gets an indicator of this earlier in the story, when Hijouji writes: \u201cOnce upon a time there was, or there wasn\u2019t a kind-hearted individual named Jawad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jawad finds release and freedom in vengeance: \u201c[D]espite the cloud of mystery hanging about him, he is sometimes filled with a feeling of blissful calm. He begins to feel a new kind of freedom. This newfound freedom from any responsibility to his family leaves him as light as a butterfly in springtime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The structure of the novella is a narration by every member of the family, through which they reveal their lives and secrets \u2014 past and present. Hjiouij makes good use of this Kafkaesque technique in revealing the alienation and disconnection of people. Life is a meaningless circle where seeking answers is like having a hamster running in a wheel.<\/p>\n

The last part of the novella is a diary by Hind, who initially feels sorry for her brother. However, losing his financial support forces her to give up studying, just as he once did. As a result, Hind has to work and earn money. She begins to resent Jawad, joins the family in wishing to get rid of him, and plots her escape from a closed and confining society. Hind\u2019s monologue and self-justification of her actions are based on her reading of Kafka\u2019s Metamorphosis.<\/em> She identifies with Samsa\u2019s sister and uses the book as a template for her behavior and newfound mission.<\/p>\n

Hind reflects, \u201cI couldn\u2019t stop thinking about Kafka\u2019s strange story and how much like my family\u2019s story it is.\u201d Hind\u2019s final betrayal of Jawad occurs when she sides with a Frenchman renting a room in their home who tries to assault her, against Jawad, who protects her but scares the man off. At this point, she believes she no longer needs this useless creature, and that the foreigner is her ticket out of her family and country.<\/p>\n

Though the two books\u2019 plots are related, Kafka in Tangier <\/em>charts a different, less claustrophobic path than Metamorphosis<\/em>. The writer includes an element of popular culture in this novella, with the protagonist roaming the bold, brash, and buzzing streets of Tangier, treating the reader to a more vibrant background.<\/p>\n

Kafka in Tangier<\/em> contains political references and the everyday life of the city\u2019s inhabitants spiced with glimpses of daily behavior in a traditionally restricted religious society. Of course, the two novellas differ in the nature of the protagonists\u2019 transformations and their consequences. Hjiouij\u2019s monster can travel easily, whereas Samsa is transformed into a beetle and confined to his family\u2019s apartment.<\/p>\n

Alternate realities have been a focal point for many writers to seek answers to existential questions. Contemporary writers, including Kazuo Ishiguro and Haruki Murakami, have explored the relationship between dreams and reality, the threat of fate, and the influence of subconsciousness. Their novellas provide more original storylines than Hjiouij\u2019s. Yet Hjiouij\u2019s narrative flows well and is engaging. While it does not deviate much from Kafka\u2019s original in terms of theme, small but significant changes set it apart. At the same time, however, Kafka in Tangier<\/em> is a Kafkaesque novella, one with a gloomy individual oppressed by bureaucracy and authority, alienated and stripped of any power to influence the things that matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can choose to be free, but it\u2019s the last decision you\u2019ll ever make.\u201d \u2014 Franz Kafka<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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