Abstract
Since 2007, several complete works of French-language literature have been included in Morocco’s state secondary schools’ French-language module. This innovation was introduced at a time when Morocco embarked on various educational reforms from 2002 onwards. When examining the current literary corpus in the French module, we find two Moroccan novels in French: La boîte à merveilles (1954) by Ahmed Sefrioui and Il était une fois un vieux couple heureux (2002) by Khaïr-Eddine. This raises questions about the legitimacy of these novels in school curricula. Similarly, we might also wonder to what extent national French-language literature supports the official discourse of the Ministry of Education.
By comparing the study of the official texts with the study of the major literary representations of these two works, this study aims to understand the place and legitimacy accorded to these novels in the school curriculum of secondary school pupils. Thus, a comparative examination of the Strategic Vision of the 2015-2030 reform and the General Pedagogical Recommendations for the French Language Module (2007), on the one hand, and the major representations conveyed by the two Moroccan French-language novels in the curriculum, on the other, will enable us to understand what is at stake in this literary selection. Ultimately, it appears that Moroccan French-language literature is influenced by a dual policy of the national education system and bears the consequences to such an extent that one might question whether it is not tragically taking place in a vacuum.
