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"Al-hijra as-sirrīya and the Maghreb in Literature and Cinema"

Hakim ABDERREZAK

Professor Hakim Abderrezak’s talk centers around clandestine migration from Africa to Europe. He focuses on the Arab expression al-Hijra as-sirriya to look at the discourse surrounding clandestine migrants and refugees today. He interrogates how Arabs view and justify unauthorized passages across the Mediterranean Sea, including what has been termed “the refugee crisis.” In doing so, Abderrezak proposes to rethink the Western-centered discourse about migrants, refugees and clandestine maritime passages. Abderrezak will illustrate his argument by examining cinematic and literary productions depicting clandestine crossings from and through the Maghreb, contending that many such artistic representations that have appeared since the mid-1990s are a response to a hegemonic discourse about the phenomenon and the common portrayal of clandestine migrants and refugees, and he argues that these works often serve as a corrective alternative narrative.