Abstrakt
As a genre profoundly related to Western culture, autobiography implies the narcissistic need or desire for public disclosure of the individual's intimate identity. The concept of such a genre is implicitly mimetic, since the texts created are descriptive.
The writing of the Self in Maghreb is different: although written in French, it is influenced by Arabic poetics, especially by the literary figure of ornament. The present communication explains the functioning of literary ornament and examines the influence of this figure on the organization of the writing of the Self in The Tattooed Memory of Abdelkébir Khatibi.
He shows both how ornament leads to abstraction and hides the "Self" and thus prevents unequivocal, unambiguous interpretation. He also describes how ornament, as part of Maghreb identity, participates in the construction of a new, hybrid identity of the writer through his writing.