Spanish poet and novelist Juan Goytisolo sees the section about the slave Massoud and his sodomizing punishments as ‘un concentré d’humour qu’on dirait sorti tout droit des pages des Mille et Une Nuits’ [a mass of humour that appears as stemming from the pages of the Arabian Nights], and notes that ‘l’ironie se distille finement’ [irony is finely distilled] in the account of Al-Hākim’s councils.32 As extensively shown by Echevarría in his read-ing of Carpentier’s El Recurso del método, Marquez’s El otoño del patriarca and Roa Bastos’ Yo el Supremo, parody is a constant feature of the dictator novel, often used to demystify the authority of the despot by undermining speech, rewriting foundation myths or recreating the radical power of the text. Throughout the novel, Himmich similarly uses parody to dismantle the logic of fear produced by the discourse and the power of the despot. As suggested by the subtitle of the second edition of the French translation,
‘au pays des peurs et du rire’ [in the country of fears and laughter], humour works as a counterweight to the symbols and performances of tyranny.
The portraits of Al-Hākim’s devotees are particularly comical. Hamza Ibn Ali, said to be their elder, ‘se distinguait par un front large et proéminent, sur lequel il comptait souvent pour convaincre l’auditeur et confondre l’adversaire’ (88) [whose hallmark was a broad forehead, something he relied on to convince his listeners and defeat his adversaries]. Meanwhile, Hassan al-Farghani holds the nickname ‘Akhram Narine fendue’ [Akhram Split Nostril] in reference to ‘une blessure de son nez, par ailleurs aplati et
32 Juan Goytisolo, ‘Préface’ in Bensalem Himmich, Le Calife de l’épouvante. Au pays des peurs et du rire (Casablanca – Paris: Editions La Croisée des chemins – Atlantica-Séguier, 2010), p. 11–14 (14).
énorme’ (89) [an enormous snub nose with a split nostril]. The physical defects of Al-Hākim’s devotees contrast with their pompous honorary titles (‘le doyen des adeptes’ [the Respondent’s Guide]; ‘l’Assistant du Guide’
[the Guide’s Assistant]) and thus work metaphorically to deconstruct the very body of tyranny and the instruments of its promotion.
Another example of parody is provided in the last chapter as the Egyptian people throw at the ruler ‘un torrent véhément de brochures et de billets satiriques, qui injuriaient sa lignée, ses titres de noblesse et ses actes’ (174) [an angry torrent of manifestos and pamphlets, all of which ridiculed Al-Hākim and cast aspersions on his origins, lineage, and deeds].
Himmich’s text emphasizes the effect of people’s caustic and satirical state-ments by noting that ‘ces écrits transformaient l’être entier d’Al-Hākim en une mémoire avilie, ballottée par la morbidité et la peur, attirée par un tourbillon magnétique vers l’abîme de la destruction’ (175) [these texts […]
had a dire effect on Al-Hākim’s entire mental state; they triggered a sordid retrospective beset by the foulest of memories and a sense of sheer panic].
Interestingly, fear shifts from the population to the ruler as satire and irony seem to succeed where the rebel Abu-Rakwa and his military action have ultimately failed. A symbol of this destructive fear pervading the figure of the despot, one of the satirical letters is handed over to Al-Hākim by a veiled woman who appears as ‘un épouvantail bourré de morceaux de tissu et de papier’ (175) [a statue made out of strips of paper]. Thus, in Le Calife de l’épouvante, parody and irony seem to be embedded both in history and literature, opposing to the power of tyranny and dictatorship that of rhetoric, creativity, and humour.
Beyond this ‘résistance satirique’ (176) [resistance by sarcasm] that operates in both the historical and literary space, Himmich’s text can also be read as an enthusiastic celebration of language, writing and rhetoric against dictatorship. The numerous excerpts of historical sources and biographi-cal accounts used to introduce the chapters or to support the narration work to unveil the very complexity of Al-Hākim’s personality and rule.
These written fragments, which ‘apportent des matériaux que le récit de fiction prolonge ou contredit’ [introduce material that fictional narrative
develops or refutes],33 offset the written materials produced by the despot, including not only his decrees but also his sayings transcribed by secretar-ies, historians, and devotees. To borrow Echevarría’s words, one can con-cede that in Himmich’s novel ‘it is not the voice, but writing, it is not the dictator-author, but the secretary-writer, who reigns’.34 The symbolic power of writing is reinforced by the originality of speech as characters are con-stantly crafting ingenious utterances to resist and undermine the power of tyranny. In the section about Al-Hākim’s court sessions, scientist Abou Ali Ibn al-Haytham and poet Ibn al-Sa’sa’ le Qarmate escape death by means of their rhetorical discourses which seduce the ruler. Moreover, the Prophet’s message reported by the Soufi sounds like an implicit call to champion the power of language and creative reasoning: ‘O homme de Dieu, fasses que ta parole ne soit pas du même ordre que la réalité des tyrans […] Laisse ton imagination miner la tyrannie par la patience et la réfutation créative’
(83) [Man of God, do not adjust your words to the world of tyrants. Let your imagination weaken tyranny through patience and creative denial].
The same use of rhetoric and linguistic creativity is a fundamental feature of the rebel Abu Rakwa. Throughout the lengthy third chapter, his eloquent speeches ‒ supported by lyrical, spiritual and metaphorical references ‒ help him to earn the confidence of the tribes and to organ-ize the rebellion against the despot. Interestingly, he uses the power of metaphor to legitimize his actions as he claims in one of his speeches:
‘Nul prêche ni avertissement ne sert avec la tyrannie. Comment serait-ce possible alors que la peau du porc est inutile au tannage?’ [Neither advice nor preaching can prevail against tyranny. How could it when pig-skin is never to be tanned?] (129). The implicit comparison of the ruler to a pig is significant as it introduces the idea of illegitimacy by referring to an animal that symbolizes prohibition in Islam. Here again, the linguistic creativity of the rebel and his talent as an orator work to counterbalance Al-Hākim’s poetic utterances and the legitimizing rhetoric of his devotees. In this
33 Federico, Arbós, ‘Postface’ in Bensalem Himmich, Le Calife de l’épouvante. Au pays des peurs et du rire (Casablanca – Paris: Editions La Croisée des chemins – Atlantica-Séguier, 2010), 245–51 (249).
34 Echevarría, p. 76.
respect, Himmich’s work, like Latin American dictator novels, seeks to undermine or at least to resist ‘the metaphoric foundation of this rhetoric of power’, since ‘both power and rhetoric are generated together and cannot exist independently of each other’.35 It is as if the military struggle against tyranny and dictatorship has no choice but to perpetuate and extend to both spaces of language and writing.