“Spel van misleiding”: Over de kunst van Hafid Bouazza

Hafid Bouazza is an influential and celebrated author in the Netherlands today. In the context of contemporary Dutch literature, Bouazza’s Moroccan background still marks a divergence from the born-and-bred Dutch norm. Bouazza both challenges and uses this position to the full. His writing demonstrates that the perceived us-them or self-other oppositions are questionable ideological constructs. He undermines the concept of a unified culture and the wholeness of the self. He explores and exploits stereotypical beliefs held on both sides of the East/West divide. The result is a magical realist setting that both puzzles and enchants. This contribution offers an overview of Bouazza's main thematic concerns in this literary prose to date