Remparts fissurés by Najib Redouane

Redouane, Najib. Remparts fissurés. Montréal: Marais, 2012. ISBN 978-2-92372131 -6. Pp. 89. $18 Can. Should returning to one’s birthplace bring happiness? Does self-imposed exile mean life in interstitial zones? Can writing heal wounds? Redouane, a writer of Moroccan origin living in the United States, depicts in this poetic lament a week spent in Marrakech in June 2009 looking for answers to such questions, knowing that, like fellow“enfants de la tribu égarée”(9), he could well accumulate disappointments. The distinguishing characteristics of Remparts are its narrativity, directness, rhythmic urgency, and thematic clarity. It notes changes to sites from Redouane’s childhood, tracks shifts in his mood, recounts interpersonal encounters that prove unsettling, suggests how intensely “lieux de mémoire” (43, 48, 75) resonate for him, and dramatizes why rest along“[l]e chemin de l’exil”remains“encore lointain”for this“guerrier” (89).Walks through the city predominate, punctuated by succinct, affectionate, knowledgeable descriptions on the one hand and the shock of the new on the other: “éclats de pauvreté et de résignation” (19); hordes of “visiteurs curieux” (27); “de grandes constructions / dominantes et envahissantes” (41); an uncertain spiritual compass “dans l’ère d’une mondialisation dévorante”(50); greedy“arrogance”(55); and a once fraternal “ville millénaire” (67) stripped of its “fierté” and “valeurs séculaires” (82). Punctuated by Arabic, bordering on prose in its syntactic and semantic flow, the free verse tracks the dichotomy between “nostalgies persistantes” (34) and the reality of the present day, aiming to convey via a “parole simple et pleine” (58) both the gentleness and the traumas of remembrance. One intriguing role model is that of a poet with ties to Marrakech who sang “avec le cœur” to preserve the city’s “honneur”: “Ô Chaâir Al Hamra [...] admirable faiseur de paroles célèbres / au ton moqueur et brutal ” (61). Indeed, the latter half of Remparts boasts emotional intensity in its forthright denunciation of the city’s ostensible downward slide and portrayal of Redouane’s desire to cradle his “souvenances” (32) within “gestes libérateurs” (81). The volume’s qualities include the honesty of the inner journey and the interweaving of literal and symbolic “errance” (28, 47, 86) regarding this “intime pèlerinage” (35) to Marrakech as well as the author’s preceding“décennie noire”(80). Some readers may object to the repetition of clichés and formulaic phrases in places or the insistent pessimism about “les frivolités marquantes / des temps modernes” (86). Nonetheless, Remparts offers, with its own particular élan, an authentic glimpse at a trip home in search of affective ties and cultural roots that finds the author ultimately unsettled,“[b]allotté entre exil et déracinement” (82). Southwestern University (TX) Aaron Prevots 280 FRENCH REVIEW 87.1 ...

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