al-Hussein
JOUHADÎ
Timatarin, dîwân shi’r amâzîghî
Casablanca, 1997
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With a preface written by Moroccan Academy member Mohamed Chafiq, this collection of poems covers the period from 1975, with a poem on the Battle of Amghala [1] in the Sahara, to 1996, with a poem on the events of the 1st of May in Guelmima [2]. The poet writes about the traditional subjects beloved of Berber poets: aesthetics (beauty, love for a women), politics (historic memory, the King’s speech on Tamazight, the elections, the constitution, tribal wars, the Gulf War, Bosnia, problems with identity and language), daily and social life (childhood memories, social morals with the Tabet affair [3], the misery endured by peasants faced with mounting debts, praise from friends and intellectuals, nature, especially about trees and animals, natural disasters such as the floods in the High Atlas mountains, and the introduction of new technology such as the radio and the television).
The language used is particularly rich, precise, varied and exquisite, and the author manages to convey to the reader his passion about the subject of the poem by a masterful use of this language. The collection contains some very beautiful poems such as those about the beau, the woman, the chameleon and the magic bird called Tingbiw. Other poems are, on the other hand, less interesting, especially those written for the circumstance. Moreover, some poems end in a rather facile moralizing (the consequences of drinking to excess and smoking cannabis, social vices responsible for natural catastrophes and so on.)
The meter used by the poet is generally classical; the additional rhyme at the end of certain poems is, however, regrettable as it is not usually used in Berber poetry. (AL/WO)
Editor’s
Note:
[1] Between the Algerian and Moroccan armies.
[2] On the 1st of May, 1994, militants of the Tilelli (Freedom) Association
of Goulmima, displayed banners written in Tifinagh for the first time.
They were arrested and imprisoned.
[3] Head of the Secret Service in Casablanca, he used his position to
rape hundreds of women and young girls. Condemned to death in March 1993,
he was rapidly executed.