Women going mad: Representations of female madness in stories from the Maghreb from Isabelle Eberhardt to Leïla Marouane

Abstract

Isabelle Eberhardt, Leïla Sebbar, Azza Filali, Malika Madi and Leïla Marouane are five writers with Maghreban connections (as proved in this article) who, in their works (four short stories and four novels), depict several characters of mad women. Firstly, we aim to analyse the descriptions the authors use to express their characters’ madness, then we identify the contexts in which behaviours, considered as abnormal by the other characters or the narrator, erupt. Finally, we try to determine the origin of those women’s madness (or supposed psychosis). Generally, the answer can be found in the violence exerted on the young lady or woman, whether it be social, parental or masculine-based violence, in relation to the cultural and geographical context. As such, the representation of madness, originating from the exclusion imposed on women by an abusive patriarchal system, through the eyes of Maghrebi women, seems to be an inherent trait of women’s literature in Maghreb.