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September 5, 2025Open Access

The Unhomely Colonial Home: Reflections on Moufida Tlatli, Leïla Slimani and Albert Camus

Key Points

The concept of home becomes precarious for colonial subjects and settlers, revealing deep gender and class dynamics.
Moufida Tlatli's work emphasizes social change and women's experiences, particularly in Tunisia's shifting sociopolitical context.
Leïla Slimani addresses contemporary social issues, focusing on sexuality and power through her novels set against a colonial backdrop.
Albert Camus reflects on morality and justice, critiquing the social structures of French-ruled Algeria shaped by his own experiences.

Abstract

This article examines representations of home in colonial North Africa through the works of Moufida Tlatli (1947–2021), Leïla Slimani (1981–), and Albert Camus (1913–1960). Tlatli explores themes of gender, oppression, and social change in the Arab world, focusing on women’s experiences and family dynamics within Tunisia’s sociopolitical contexts. Slimani, a French-Moroccan writer and journalist, probes contemporary social issues through novels that involve the topics of sexuality, power, and identity. Camus, shaped by his experience as a French Algerian, grapples with questions of morals and justice while scrutinizing the social structures of French-ruled Algeria. Through the works of these authors, the article investigates how precariousness, liminality, and nostalgia interweave with gender and class dynamics to create an unhomely experience of home for both colonial subjects and settlers in French-controlled North Africa between the 1940s and 1960s.

The Unhomely Colonial Home: Reflections on Moufida Tlatli, Leïla Slimani and Albert Camus

Key Points

Abstract

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