Leila Abouzeid’s Year of the Elephant: A Reexploration Case from a Postcolonial Lens

Abstract

Of the continually rising facts about postcolonial literature is that it makes efforts to control the concept of self-representation, alongside creating a new world and uprooting the cultural and social leftovers of the colonial age. Conversely, it is found that postcolonial literature may reestablish plenty of the key stereotypes already established by the colonial discourse together with recreating a destructive and gloomy discourse that contributes to deteriorating the fabric, consolidation, and image of the colonized societies. Accordingly, this paper aims to reconsider Leila Abouzeid’s Year of the Elephant (1980) utilizing a postcolonial thematic narrative analysis. The methodology makes use of a postcolonial perspective and textual analysis, along with the incorporation of secondary sources. By addressing Year of the Elephant in this way, the piece of research not only is an invitation to rethink conventional perceptions relating to postcolonial issues and concepts but also aims to foster our understanding of Moroccan fiction's legacy as a pivotal figure in contemporary Arab literature.