The Turbulence of Postcolonial Displacement, Exclusion and Racism in Tahar Ben Jelloun’s Les Yeux Baissés

What is it about?

This article examines the Moroccan-French author, Tahar Ben Jelloun’s novel Les Yeux Baissés, translated as With Downcast Eyes. A winner of the Prix Goncourt, the author narrates the challenges of postcolonial displacement, exclusion and racism in a French multicultural neighbourhood. The novel explores the theme of displacement as one that is two-fold: first, it refers to the migration process, though the text also foregrounds the socio-cultural dimension of being “out of place” in the diaspora. I delve into the way migrants’ children experience the turbulence of displacement, exclusion and racism. While engaging with postcolonial theoretical debates, this study considers the representation of migrants’ alienation in the narrative resulting from a lack of French hospitality and acute hostility. As such, this article demonstrates that postcolonial displacement is not enabling homogenizing cultures, but rather reinforcing boundaries at the social and cultural levels in the diaspora.

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