9/11 and the affair of the muslim headscarf in essays by Tahar Ben Jelloun and Abdelwahab Meddeb

Ben Jelloun's L'Islam expliqué aux enfants and Meddeb's La Maladie de l'islam, both prompted by 9/11, share the similar intent and didactic function of countering reductive representations of Islam fostered by Islamic extremists and the media, and of tracing historically the link between terrorism and the Muslim faith. Taking into account their location (Ben Jelloun and Meddeb are prominent Maghrebian intellectuals who have been residing in France, for decades), this article demonstrates that these essays do not foster a better understanding of Islam by their French readership. In particular, thay fail to present a balanced account of the issues surrounding the headscarf affair in France and contribute to the confusion between Islam and terrorism, in part because international news bears on domestic issues. In addition, this article addresses 9/11's impact on the translation of literature from the Francophone Arab world.