Souffles (1966-72). Major journal of Maghrebian culture. Published in Rabat, Morocco, and edited by Abdellatif Laâbi, Souffles drew to it all the most prominent francophone Moroccan writers and intellectuals of the post-Independence period: Khatibi, Ben Jelloun, Chraibi, Nissaboury. The journal provided a forum for the discussion of national culture and decolonization. Appearing quarterly over a six-year period, it reached out to the international stage in its alliance with the Vietnamese, Palestinian, and American anti-imperialist struggles. A major issue debated in its columns was the continued use of French and the avoidance of acculturation on the one hand, and the problem of Arab ‘traditionalism’ on the other. The recognition of Arabic as the national language led to the production of Anfas (eight issues only) as a parallel Arabic enterprise. Souffles was closed by order of the Moroccan government in 1972 and its editor Laâbi was arrested, tortured, and imprisoned along with other members of the Parti de la Libération et du Socialisme.
[Jackie Kaye]
