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Abdelkebir Khatibi (1938–2009) stands as one of Morocco’s most profound thinkers and literary innovators—a scholar, novelist, poet, and cultural critic whose work reshaped the intellectual landscape of the Maghreb. Renowned for his exploration of language, identity, and decolonization, Khatibi bridged theory and literature to propose a radically plural vision of the postcolonial self. His writings dismantle rigid binaries—between East and West, self and other, man and woman, body and text—inviting readers into a world of multiplicity and creative freedom.
Decolonization Beyond Politics: A Philosophical and Cultural Mission
For Khatibi, decolonization was not merely a political process but a metaphysical and linguistic revolution. He argued that true liberation required dismantling the inherited structures of both Western metaphysics and Islamic theology, which he saw as parallel systems of domination over thought.
His intellectual project sought to safeguard the Maghreb’s heterogeneity—its layered history, plural languages, and hybrid cultural heritage. By blending fiction, poetry, and theory, Khatibi created a uniquely Maghrebian discourse that challenged all forms of purity, whether linguistic, religious, or ideological.
The Poetics of the “Other”: Pensée-Autre and the Rebirth of Identity
At the heart of Khatibi’s philosophy lies the concept of pensée-autre (“thinking through/as the other”). This idea rejects binary oppositions—colonizer versus colonized, male versus female, Arab versus Western—and embraces difference as an essential part of being.
For Khatibi, the “other” is not an external enemy but an inner mirror, a presence that destabilizes fixed identities and opens space for dialogue and creativity. His philosophy urges a thinking of multiplicity, where identity is always in motion and meaning is always open to reinterpretation.
This vision placed Khatibi among the most original postcolonial theorists of the 20th century—alongside figures like Frantz Fanon, Jacques Derrida, and Homi Bhabha—though his voice remained distinctly Maghrebian, rooted in the landscapes, languages, and memories of North Africa.
Amour bilingue and the Language of Desire
Khatibi’s celebrated novel Amour bilingue (Love in Two Languages) (1990) captures the essence of his linguistic and philosophical thought. The text explores the intimate relationship between a man and a woman from different linguistic backgrounds, where love itself becomes an act of translation.
Through this story, Khatibi introduces his concept of the bi-langue (double tongue)—a condition distinct from ordinary bilingualism. The bi-langue expresses the inner coexistence of multiple languages and cultural voices, a state of perpetual negotiation rather than harmony.
For Khatibi, the bi-langue symbolizes Maghrebian identity itself—a hybrid consciousness that defies the colonial hierarchy of languages (Arabic versus French) and instead celebrates polyglossia as a source of strength and creativity.
The Body, the Name, and the Sacred Text
Throughout his essays and creative works, Khatibi recurrently returns to the body as a text of culture and resistance. His studies on calligraphy, tattooing, and eroticism link the body to language and inscription. The body, for Khatibi, is not only a site of desire but also a canvas of identity, marked by history, faith, and memory.
In his reflections on the proper name, he meditates on how naming both defines and confines identity—how to name is to claim, and how to resist being named is to reclaim freedom. His exploration of narrative seduction and the body as text aligns his thought with post-structuralist and deconstructive traditions, yet his tone remains unmistakably poetic and rooted in Arab–Islamic culture.
The Androgynous Figure: Beyond Gender and Binary Thought
Another central motif in Khatibi’s work is the Androgyn, the androgynous being that transcends gender divisions. This figure embodies his desire to deconstruct gender hierarchies and imagine a world of sexual and intellectual plurality.
For Khatibi, the Androgyn represents wholeness through difference—a state where masculine and feminine energies coexist fluidly, reflecting his broader philosophy of non-duality. In his writings, eroticism becomes a metaphor for cultural dialogue, a language through which identities intermingle and transform.
Scholar, Artist, and Theorist of the Maghreb
Khatibi’s intellectual range was immense. He wrote across genres—poetry, novels, essays, and plays—refusing the boundaries that usually separate art from philosophy. His works on Orientalism, translation, and art history expanded the cultural conversation beyond academia, inviting readers to experience theory as a living, breathing form of writing.
As a scholar, Khatibi championed a decolonized aesthetics—a mode of thinking that preserves Maghrebian plurality and resists the homogenizing forces of both Western modernity and fundamentalist dogma. His essays continue to influence debates on identity, language, and sexuality within and beyond North Africa.
Legacy: A Thinker of Multiplicity and Freedom
Abdelkebir Khatibi’s legacy lies in his refusal to accept simplification. His entire body of work stands as an invitation to think, love, and write “otherwise”—to inhabit multiple worlds without erasing any of them.
Through his concepts of pensée-autre and bi-langue, Khatibi offered not only a philosophy of identity but also a literary practice of coexistence, one that remains deeply relevant in today’s globalized and fragmented world.
He transformed decolonization into an aesthetic and ethical journey, reminding us that the truest form of liberation begins not in politics, but in language, imagination, and the courage to think beyond boundaries.
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