Novel Explores Life of Morocco’s Hassan II Through Eyes of Fictional Historian

The 41-year-old Normalien, Maël Renouard, chose to devote his first novel to the Moroccan monarch, Hassan II, who died more than 20 years ago but continues to inspire admiration in Morocco and around the world. "At first, I wanted to write a little text on Moulay Ismaël. But when I discovered, in my research, that Hassan II had reinstated the position of historiographer of the kingdom, I found that very poetic in a way..." he confides to Jeune Afrique.

The work shows a strong effort of documentary research on the life and works of King Hassan II and a thorough knowledge of the Moroccan monarchy. To achieve such precision in the narrative, the author drew from the source of the books written by the monarch himself, including "The Challenge" and "The Memory of a King" where he talks about his training, the Royal College, the aviators’ coup. He also consulted other works such as "Échec au roi" by François Pédron or the biography written by Ignace Dalle. But, he qualifies, "my book departs slightly from reality. It contains implausibilities," reminding that it is indeed a work of fiction. In this narrative of the imaginary historiographer of King Hassan II (Abderrahmane Eljarib by name), the author attributes to the monarch a certain humor, specifying however that "in a man endowed with such absolute power, the boundary between humor and cruelty is very easily crossed".

"Nothing is more difficult than to grasp and present a head of state who has become a great figure in history. In this book, I do not seek to trace the entire biography of Hassan II, nor to delve into his psychology," adds the author. Part of the book reveals one of the traits of the monarch’s personality. He is described by Morgiane, another character in the novel who addressed the historiographer: "He despises those who flatter him, he hates those who resist him. No relationship with him is possible. Whether he deals with a low-ranking courtier, he is impatient to find someone with whom to exercise his intelligence on an equal footing; but if he is in the company of a man who yields to him in no way by the mind, he is impatient to annihilate him, for no one must risk overshadowing him".

For the author, King Hassan II, like any leader, has "his dark sides". "These kinds of leaders often leave deep traces in the collective memory," concludes the author, who recalls that Hassan II reigned for 39 years, the longest reign after Moulay Ismaël, whose reign lasted 55 years, which earns him the nickname of "sun king".