HIBAPRESS – Mohamed Zariouh
In the heart of the city of Nador, specifically in the hall of the Cultural Complex Library, time and place hosted an exceptional cultural event last Saturday, where the novel “Donkey's Biography” by the Moroccan writer Hassan Ourid was presented and signed. This meeting, which brought together a select group of intellectuals, artists, and those interested in literature, was a window through which the audience looked out onto the world of the novel and its deep thought.
The cultural meeting came within the framework of the first session of the “Lucius Theater Days,” which is organized by the Lucius Association for Amazigh Theater, in cooperation with the Regional Directorate of Culture in the Oriental region, on the occasion of the celebration of World Theater Day. These events extended from March 26 to 30, to form a living platform for cultural and artistic interaction between the public and creators.
In this context, both Youssef Toufiq and Ahmed Zahed presented the meeting, where the dialogue was open with the writer Hassan Ourid, who took the audience on a journey through the contents of his novel, explaining the intellectual and critical dimensions it contains. The questions were not limited to the literary aspects only, but rather went beyond that to explore the symbolism contained in the novel, especially with regard to criticizing the social and political reality.
In response to the audience's questions, Hassan Ourid revealed the motives behind writing his novel, as he indicated that this literary work stems from a deep feeling about the challenges of language in conveying some major human issues. He explained that the main character in the novel, despite his extensive knowledge, finds himself facing a bitter reality, which is that knowledge alone is not enough to understand life, but rather direct contact with reality is what creates the true understanding of the self.
In his speech about the relationship between the subjective and the objective in the novel, Ourid affirmed that his work does not seek to provide final or conclusive answers about life, but rather aims to explore the big ideas that occupy the mind, and try to convey them to literature in a style that opens the way for contemplation and reflection.
