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top list readings by Imen Mzoughi

Dr. Imen Mzoughi, 2023

Although literature and humor are two distinct areas, they complete each other. Indeed, this pape... more Although literature and humor are two distinct areas, they complete each other. Indeed, this paper aims to examine the use of humor as a tool of resistance and subversion in contemporary Middle Eastern fiction in Egyptian novelist Hamdi Abu Golayyel's al-Fāʿil (2008) and Luṣūṣ mutaqāʿidūn (2002). In particular, this paper strives to re-evaluate the main elements of humor such as satire, puns and quibbles. It highlights their use on thematic, stylistic and meta-narrative levels to better accentuate the experience of the characters and the re-emergence of all that has been repressed. Having adopted a structuralist approach to elucidate the intersection of humorous and subversive characteristics in the personality of abject characters, the textual analysis looks at the narratives' strategies and the constructions of the protagonists. This study also examines how humor interacts with the stories' main narrative threads and how it is generated by the textual structure, the characters and the deliberate use of Bedouin accent. More importantly, this study identifies the psychological and social functions of Egyptian humor asserting the need for adopting crosscultural poetics when dealing with humor.

The present study explores the inferences of language and gender construction within North-Africa... more The present study explores the inferences of language and gender construction within North-African states. Enthused by Assia Djebar, francophone novelist, and Ahlem Mostaghanemi, arabophone novelist, it purposes to examine how the notions of freedom and language are profoundly entwined. Centering on their womanist discourse, it scrutinizes how historiography and gender determination impact identity construction. The study also inspects the import of language as a powerful instrument in articulating Algerian female self-determination. In the light of Djebar's L'Amour, la fantasia (1985), and Mostaghanemi's Dhakirat al-Jasad (1993), this study explores Arabic and French languages as sociological instruments for women's freedom. Through the stratagem of comparative study, it scrutinizes how history and autobiography provide the perfect site to discuss political resilience in the midst of a male hegemonic social system. More precisely, it highlights the notions of postcolonialism and identity politics that need querying the North-African familial schemes and the broader social dilemmas. système social hégémonique masculin. Plus précisément, elle met en lumière les notions de postcolonialisme et de politique identitaire qui nécessitent une remise en question des schémas familiaux nord-africains et des dilemmes sociaux exogènes.

Studies on comparative literature have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of th... more Studies on comparative literature have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of the thematic concerns of novels without emphasizing the concepts of divergent and convergent intertextuality. This paper aims to revisit Selvon's The Lonely Londoners re-reading it in dialogue with Naipaul's novel The Mimic Men. The selected novels are controversial. Criticism deployed on all fronts conveys the pluralities and oppositions that are in fact the novels' hallmarks. Yet, the aspects criticized attest to, and confirm, the authors' taking of the less trodden track. The comparative analysis within the scope of this paper will show that Naipaul's and Selvon's fictional representations of creolized Trinidadian and English societies highlight specific cultural and linguistic aspects and that intertextuality is either convergent or divergent. For instance, the structure of Naipaul's text takes as much from Caribbean orature and the wake of Caribbean plantation culture. However, Selvon's novel takes the form of flashbacks. Naipaul innovates and transforms Selvon's structure to generate a Caribbean context, par excellence. Traces of Selvon's style are present in Naipaul's corrosive voice of representing Caribbean identity. Naipaul brings to an apotheosis the creative force already illustrated in the remarkable works of Selvon. This paper aims to track these traces and foreground the idea that texts can speak to each other. More significantly, this paper assesses the main characters' fates to re-question the status of creoles, a status deliberately put between parentheses, denying them the right to voice their hybrid identities. Above all, the close textual reading of Galahad's and Singh's stories is meant to value the trope of intertextuality.

V.S.Naipaul's longing for a great Caribbeanarchipelago within the scope of his novel entitledThe ... more V.S.Naipaul's longing for a great Caribbeanarchipelago within the scope of his novel entitledThe Mimic Men is praiseworthy. Naipaul is a Trinidadian writer stationed in Britain. He was educated in England. His novel The Mimic Men (1967) is a vivid account of the different influences shaping the Caribbean community and individuals. His book invokes a personal journey cast through the character of Singh. The protagonist is the archetype of a critical criollist. The granted awards to Naipaul testify to his genius in adopting and adapting his narrative to accentuate the multi-culturality of the Caribbean.Naipaul belongs to the Black Caribbean diaspora. Yet, he has been stationed in different metropolitan centres. Hisliterary outputs thus match his existential predicament.As a black Caribbean writer,Naipaul embodies both first and third world sensibilities. He can speak on behalf of diasporic identities. The composite of his inclusive representations of Caribbeans finds itself expressed in a nostalgic discourse for a great Caribbean archipelago. Impelled by a growing desire to delineate the features of a Caribbean identity which defies easy categorizations, this paperestablishes a cultural identity for Caribbeanswithout imposing any restricted definition of identity.Also, this paper strives to rewrite the theory of postcolonialism in an endeavour to meet the complexity of the Caribbean archipelago and the identity of its inhabitants.

Imen Mzoughi, 2021

 To help them in getting feedback on their research work for improving the same and making them ... more  To help them in getting feedback on their research work for improving the same and making them more relevant and meaningful, through collective efforts.  To encourage regional and international communication and collaboration; promote professional interaction and lifelong learning; recognize outstanding contributions of individuals and organizations; encourage scholar researchers to pursue studies and careers in circuit branches and its applications.  To set up, establish, maintain and manage centers of excellence for the study of /on related subjects and discipline and also to run self supporting projects for the benefit of needy persons, irrespective of their caste, creed or religion.

the quint : an interdisciplinary quarterly from the north 1 2 Vol. 8.3 (June 2016) the quint : an... more the quint : an interdisciplinary quarterly from the north 1 2 Vol. 8.3 (June 2016) the quint : an interdisciplinary quarterly from the north 3 the quint volume eight issue three an interdisciplinary quarterly from the north editor Sue Matheson production Sue Matheson

books by Imen Mzoughi

It's been more than a year since our last issue, and the journey to our rebirth has been arduous ... more It's been more than a year since our last issue, and the journey to our rebirth has been arduous and fraught with change. But we are happy to announce a new issue of The Journal of South Texas English Studies, titled "Rebirth." Like the phoenix, we have risen from the ashes to spread our wings; unlike the phoenix, we're not flammable-but enough with the metaphor. This issue features notes from the field, scholarly articles, and book reviews revolving around the theme of rebirth in English studies, from literature and rhetoric to the teaching and tutoring of writing.

Papers by Imen Mzoughi

This paper is about the political implications of t he spread of English in postrevolutionary Tun... more This paper is about the political implications of t he spread of English in postrevolutionary Tunisia. It raises fundamental questi ons about the nature of the revolution of 14 of January in Tunisia, identity politics and langu a e. Subsequently, this paper debunks the conventional views of Englis h language teaching and applied linguistics as independent from identity politics. English is thus taught in a new political context marked by a post-modern and decon structive conception of identity. From this vantage point, this article attempts to d iscuss the ‘becoming’ of both the Tunisian identity and the English language in postrevolutionary Tunisia. It delineates the characteristics of the Tunisian identity by inv oking Maryse Condé’s Segu. In effect, I propose to examine three interrelated iss ue of alarming importance: the discontinuities that not only separated the past an d the present, but also the ongoing association between English as an international lan gu ge and Tunisian ...

Human and Social Studies, 2016

Studies on Jean Rhys have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of Rhys’s thematic... more Studies on Jean Rhys have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of Rhys’s thematic concern with the alienation of the white creole without laying emphasis on Rhys’s exploration of the Creole’s identity. There has been no attempt to examine if the creole has to struggle harder and more than whites and blacks to come to terms with her personal identity until now. The answer is affirmative because the creole is a composite human being. Indeed, the white creole is the ‘fruit’ of a mixed union. Born into miscegenation, hybridity and creolization, the creole is physically, linguistically, socially and religiously a diverse human being. Within the scope of this paper, the term identity is used in a broad sense. The creole’s personal identity refers to the different identities the Creole can have at different times and in different circumstances. Correspondingly, she must negotiate the white and black elements of her identity. The Creole must deal with the complexity of her i...

Arab World English Journal For Translation and Literary Studies, 2021

Studies on Jean Rhys have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of Rhys's them... more Studies on Jean Rhys have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of Rhys's thematic concern with the alienation of the white creole without laying emphasis on Rhys's exploration of the Creole's identity. There has been no attempt to examine if the creole has to struggle harder and more than whites and blacks to come to terms with her personal identity until now. The answer is affirmative because the creole is a composite human being. Indeed, the white creole is the 'fruit' of a mixed union. Born into miscegenation, hybridity and creolization, the creole is physically, linguistically, socially and religiously a diverse human being. Within the scope of this paper, the term identity is used in a broad sense. The creole's personal identity refers to the different identities the Creole can have at different times and in different circumstances. Correspondingly, she must negotiate the white and black elements of her identity. The Creole must deal with...

Imen Mzoughi, 2021

Imen Mzoughi, 2020

This paper foregrounds Carson McCullers's holistic perception of women and hunchbacks in her nove... more This paper foregrounds Carson McCullers's holistic perception of women and hunchbacks in her novel entitled The Ballad of the Sad Café. Her endeavor to correct the misrepresentations of women and physically crippled human beings is praiseworthy. She provides a detailed account of the holistic paradigm used within the scope of this novel to dismantle inequalities through dialogues of conscience between different human beings. She strives to show that (in)equality is prevalent in the world. That is why, this article considers the liberating power of love. The protagonist of the novel named Miss Amelia has known a metamorphosis after falling in love with Cousin Lymon, a hunchback. As a physiatrist, Miss Amelia has identified herself with the hunchback in a holistic manner. She has come to terms with the emotional impact of his spinal deformity. In fact, spinal deformity has traditionally had tragic negative connotations since Shakespeare's play Richard III. The narrator sees danger in the triangle: Amelia, the hunchback and Marvin Macy (Miss Amelia's former husband). Yet, the most striking characteristic of the narrator is his/her compassion for the three major characters whose features are symbols of humans' moral isolation and pain. The narrator refers to these characters as wholes. This is due in part to the oral quality of the tale and the personal balladeer's response to the events. Transformation, and, henceforth, wholeness begins when Miss Amelia perceives the hunchback as an ordinary human being. An assessment of McCullers's novel is meant to appraise equality ethics, which is connecting individuals with their original societies and lands. McCullers's credo echoes that of Aristotle in his book Metaphysics: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts" (1045).

On the poetics of Genre in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, 2018

This paper thrives on the idea that the study of verbal art can and must surpass the division bet... more This paper thrives on the idea that the study of verbal art can and must surpass the division between an abstract formal approach and an equally interpretative ideological approach. Form and content are inextricably interrelated. It is this idea that has urged the appraisal of genre. From this vantage point, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye will be a reference text to cast light on the intersection between the politics of form and the poetics of content. It is worthy to note that The Bluest Eye is a coming-of-age novel, a tragedy, a sermon and a parody. Morrison's genius lies in mixing genres altogether to render the journey of Pecola, the protagonist of the novel, more vivid and more authentic. Accordingly, this paper will first highlight the poetics of genre relying on Northrop Frye's theoretical framework reading Morrison's The Bluest Eye as a novel defying rigid generic classifications. Morrison does not work within generic traditions: rather, she transforms those generic traditions. The Bluest Eye is so charged with pain and wonder that the novel becomes a poem.

Studies on William Shakespeare " s writings have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two asp... more Studies on William Shakespeare " s writings have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of Shakespeare " s concern with aestheticizing human values without laying emphasis on his sources of inspiration. This paper is a comparative study of some of Shakespeare " s plays through an elaborate, if subliminal, intertextual dialogue with several key epic poems by Al-Moutanabi. This paper strives to foreground the trope of " anxiety of influence " (Harold Bloom) unearthing links between Al-Moutanabi and Shakespeare. The literary dialogue between both writers clears the ground for a strong assumption of intertextual evocations. In this regard, Khalil Matran asserts that: " on the whole, there is in the writing of Shakespeare a Beduin spirit, which is expressed in the continuous return to innate nature " (8). Accordingly, I must proceed on three levels: I must first situate Shakespeare " s and Al-Moutanabi " s writings in a broader field of intertextuality by dissecting convergences between their texts. Second, my comparative approach will elucidate Shakespeare " s divergences at the level of generic affiliations. Finally, I will appraise the trope of " anxiety of influence " since it confers cross-cultural characterisitics on Shakespeare " s writings.

Dr. Imen Mzoughi, 2023

Imen Mzoughi, 2021

Human and Social Studies, 2016

Arab World English Journal For Translation and Literary Studies, 2021

Imen Mzoughi, 2021

Imen Mzoughi, 2020

On the poetics of Genre in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, 2018

Studies on Jean Rhys have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of Rhys's thematic... more Studies on Jean Rhys have been fragmentary concentrating on one or two aspects of Rhys's thematic concern with the alienation of the white creole without laying emphasis on Rhys's exploration of the Creole's identity. There has been no attempt to examine if the creole has to struggle harder and more than whites and blacks to come to terms with her personal identity until now. The answer is affirmative because the creole is a composite human being. Indeed, the white creole is the 'fruit' of a mixed union. Born into miscegenation, hybridity and creolization, the creole is physically, linguistically, socially and religiously a diverse human being. Within the scope of this paper, the term identity is used in a broad sense. The creole's personal identity refers to the different identities the Creole can have at different times and in different circumstances. Correspondingly, she must negotiate the white and black elements of her identity. The Creole must deal with the complexity of her identity through a web of tangled relationships with both whites and blacks. Read from this light, the personal identity of the creole is not " either/ or, " but reluctantly " both/ and. " In various ways, the creole is an 'Everyman.' The Creole undergoes an awareness, and is eventually, redefined through the image of the 'other.' Indeed, her jump toward her black friend Tia reflects Rhys's basic concern for a Caribbean society in which assimilation and personal identity must blend in a single humane goal, that is, to co-exist beyond the lines of race, gender, class and sex in order to avoid annihilation.

Rewriting is a mosaic of citations, that is, a new kind of writing grafted on an old one. From th... more Rewriting is a mosaic of citations, that is, a new kind of writing grafted on an old one. From this vantage point, Aeschylus's play Prometheus Bound filiates the sources of two Romantic poets, namely, Byron and Goethe. These traverse back history to Prometheus and to the world of mythology. They identify themselves with the figure of Prometheus, who is a container of the foundational ideals of the Romantic vision of poetry and the poet. By the same token, the text becomes a place for the residual elements between traditional and contemporary communities. In this way, Lord Byron and Goethe appropriate and rework the mythical figure of Prometheus. " Unbinding Prometheus " is an endeavour to examine the different treatments of the myth of Prometheus in two different texts by Byron and Goethe with reference to Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound as a manifest text.

This paper is about the political implications of the spread of English in post-revolutionary Tun... more This paper is about the political implications of the spread of English in post-revolutionary Tunisia. It raises fundamental questions about the nature of the revolution of 14 th of January in Tunisia, identity politics and language. Subsequently, this paper debunks the conventional views of English language teaching and applied linguistics as independent from identity politics. English is thus taught in a new political context marked by a post-modern and deconstructive conception of identity. From this vantage point, this article attempts to discuss the 'becoming' of both the Tunisian identity and the English language in post-revolutionary Tunisia. It delineates the characteristics of the Tunisian identity by invoking Maryse Condé's Segu. In effect, I propose to examine three interrelated issues of alarming importance: the discontinuities that not only separated the past and the present, but also the ongoing association between English as an international language and Tunisian identity; the variety of the emerging cultural identities and their potential as alternatives; and finally, the special knowledge that Tunisians believed they gained as a result of understanding their identity in dialogic and horizontal terms.