Here is an article from Qantara which was originally written in Arabic on the use of social media platforms by Moroccans to self-publish novels and to share information about reading.
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By Ismail Azzam
(translated by Chris Somes-Charlton)
As the trend in social media took off, there was a fear that it would drive young Moroccans further away from writing, against a background of dismal statistics showing that most people in North Africa and the Middle East read only a few pages a year. This fear found its echo in the invasion of smartphones into everyday life, in such a manner that left books as no more than decoration in the front rooms of many households.
Despite this gloomy outlook, many Moroccans actually use social media to find out about books. Visit social media sites and you will see Facebook groups such as "Publications Iʹve read", "Ktoubna" and "Book share". These groups attract tens of thousands of eager readers. Moreover, Moroccan readers get involved in the group discussions on individual books via the Goodreads platform to review the writings.
This interest does not stop at reading books; it extends to writing them as well. These days it is apparent that many young Moroccan writers set out to write novels early in their lives, even though some of them are only known for their literary aptitude through Facebook.
Amongst those writers with whom Moroccan readers have become acquainted via social media is Abdul Aziz al-ʹAbdi who recently published "The book of faces" (a literal translation of Facebook). There is also Abdul-Samiʹ Bensaber, who recently published the novel "A Serpentʹs tail", as well as Mohammed Benmiloud who wrote "The Dangerous Neighbourhood", as well as many others who have either just begun or recently circulated their literary works on social media.
In this article, we will look at some of these writers, although the choice of the names below is not a reflection of their literary merit or lack of it. Rather, they are examples which shed light on the phenomenon of writing amongst young Moroccans.
FULL ARTICLE
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Published by Facebook
Social media has democratised literary publishing, paving the way for young Moroccan writers to publish works which previously would not have enjoyed publication through traditional outlets.By Ismail Azzam
(translated by Chris Somes-Charlton)
As the trend in social media took off, there was a fear that it would drive young Moroccans further away from writing, against a background of dismal statistics showing that most people in North Africa and the Middle East read only a few pages a year. This fear found its echo in the invasion of smartphones into everyday life, in such a manner that left books as no more than decoration in the front rooms of many households.
Despite this gloomy outlook, many Moroccans actually use social media to find out about books. Visit social media sites and you will see Facebook groups such as "Publications Iʹve read", "Ktoubna" and "Book share". These groups attract tens of thousands of eager readers. Moreover, Moroccan readers get involved in the group discussions on individual books via the Goodreads platform to review the writings.
This interest does not stop at reading books; it extends to writing them as well. These days it is apparent that many young Moroccan writers set out to write novels early in their lives, even though some of them are only known for their literary aptitude through Facebook.
Amongst those writers with whom Moroccan readers have become acquainted via social media is Abdul Aziz al-ʹAbdi who recently published "The book of faces" (a literal translation of Facebook). There is also Abdul-Samiʹ Bensaber, who recently published the novel "A Serpentʹs tail", as well as Mohammed Benmiloud who wrote "The Dangerous Neighbourhood", as well as many others who have either just begun or recently circulated their literary works on social media.
In this article, we will look at some of these writers, although the choice of the names below is not a reflection of their literary merit or lack of it. Rather, they are examples which shed light on the phenomenon of writing amongst young Moroccans.
FULL ARTICLE
