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Abdelfattah Kilito

アブデルファッターフ・キリート

Abdelfattah Kilito

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1945-04-10 (Rabat, Morocco)
Nationality
Morocco
Languages
Arabic, French, German

Career

Occupations
literary scholar, writer, professor
Active Years
1970-
Influenced By
Al-Hamadhani, Al-Hariri

Education

Mohammed V University
Faculty of Letters / Classical Arabic Literature
Country: Morocco
Later became a professor at the same university

Awards

King Faisal Prize (Arabic Language and Literature)
2023
Category: Arabic Language and Literature
Organization: King Faisal Foundation
Result: 受賞
Sultan Al Owais Prize (Criticism & Literature Studies)
2006
Category: 批評・文学研究
Organization: Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation
Result: 受賞
French Academy Award (Le prix du Rayonnement de la langue française)
1996
Organization: Académie française
Result: 受賞
Great Moroccan Award
1989
Result: 受賞
Atlas Award
1996
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Les séances: récits et codes culturels chez Hamadhânî et Harîrî

1983 scholarship/criticism

A scholarly study analyzing narrative forms and cultural codes in classical Arabic texts by Al-Hamadhani and Al-Hariri.

classical Arabic literaturenarrative formscultural codes

L'Auteur et ses doubles: Essai sur la culture arabe classique

1985 essays/scholarship

Essays on the figure of the author and the idea of doubles/multiple narrators in classical Arabic culture.

author theorynarratologytext and self
Translations
  • The Author and His Doubles: Essays on Classical Arabic Culture

La langue d'Adam: et autres essais

1999 essays

A collection of essays exploring language, culture, and religious allegory.

languagecultural studiesallegory
Translations
  • The Tongue of Adam

Les Arabes et l'art du récit: une étrange familiarité

2009 criticism/cultural studies

A comparative-cultural discussion of Arab storytelling traditions and their contemporary significance.

storytelling traditionscomparative culturemodernity
Translations
  • Arabs and the Art of Storytelling: A Strange Familiarity

Thou Shalt Not Speak My Language / Je parle toutes les langues, mais en arabe

2008 essays/essays

A work of essays on language, identity and translation; available in French and English translations.

language and identitytranslationmultilingualism
Translations
  • Thou Shalt Not Speak My Language (translated by Waïl S. Hassan)
  • Je parle toutes les langues, mais en arabe

Bibliography

  • Les séances: récits et codes culturels chez Hamadhânî et Harîrî (1983)
  • L'Auteur et ses doubles: Essai sur la culture arabe classique (1985)
  • La langue d'Adam: et autres essais (1999)
  • The Clash of Images (1995)
  • Les Arabes et l'art du récit: une étrange familiarité (2009)
  • Je parle toutes les langues, mais en arabe (2013)

Translations of Works

  • The Author and His Doubles (translated by Michael Cooperson, 2001)
  • The Tongue of Adam (translated by Robyn Creswell, 2016)
  • Arabs and the Art of Storytelling (translated by Mbarek Sryfi and Eric Sellin, 2014)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
scholarly and meticulous analysisprose essay stylecomparative literary approach
Recurring Motifs
narrative structurelanguage and identitydialogue between classical and modern

Legacy

Abdelfattah Kilito is internationally recognized for connecting classical Arabic literature with modern theory; he has received several major prizes and is widely read in translation in Europe and beyond.

Archives

  • Mohammed V University archives (holds related materials)

Quotes

  • I speak all languages, but in Arabic.
    Source: Je parle toutes les langues, mais en arabe (book title) (2013)

Trivia

  • He frequently writes in French as well as Arabic.
  • Published Je parle toutes les langues, mais en arabe in 2013.
  • Awarded the King Faisal Prize in 2023.