"Le mythe du supermale" : entre la France et le Maghreb dans "La vie sexuelle d'un islamiste a Paris" de Leila Marouane

Abstract

“The Myth of Supermale”: Between France and Maghreb in The Sexual Life of an Islamist in Paris by Leïla Marouane Leïla Marouane is a maghrebian writer and feminist. The Sexual Life of an Islamist in Paris is her 5th novel. It is a story of a 40-year-old Maghrebian man born in Algeria who spent his life in France in a traditional Muslim family. The tensions between his country of origin and the host country appear at all levels. The protagonist cannnot combine his traditional side (associated with religion and family life), with his modern side (his work and desires). These contradictory elements constitute his identity, but his psyche is occupied by the question of sexuality. Contrary to the expectations of the reader, “sexual life of an Islamist in Paris” is virtually non-existent, at least for the hero. The dissonance between the title of the novel and the story of the protagonist’s life reveals its schizophrenia. The inability to realize that it is impossible to achieve this “myth of masculinity” can lead to mental disorders, as in the case of Marouane’s hero.