Identity and the Deconstruction of the Discourse of PowerA Reading of the Two Novels The Andalusian House and The Moroccans

Abstract

This study examines the manifestations of identity and the mechanisms of criticizing authority in «The Andalusian House» by Waciny Laredj and «The Moroccans» by Abdelkrim Jouiti, through exploring the interaction between narrative, history, memory, and systems of domination. Both novels seek to re-examine history from a critical perspective that gives voice to the marginalized, the exiled, and the oppressed, in opposition to official narratives that attempt to impose a singular vision of reality and history. The two works also highlight the fragility of identity when exposed to exclusion or erasure, whether through the experience of exile and displacement in «The Andalusian House» or through political and historical violence in «The Moroccans». From this perspective, the study discusses the role of the novel as a discourse that contributes to exposing the mechanisms of power, unveiling the silenced and the hidden, and restoring significance to marginalized voices. It concludes that the contemporary Arab novel has become a critical space for deconstructing political and cultural structures and for diagnosing the crises and contradictions of society.