Mouna Hachim[a] (born 24 October 1967) is a Moroccan writer and journalist. She has published several novels and non-fiction books. She has also created documentaries.
Early life and education
Mouna Hachim was born in Casablanca, 24 October 1967.[1]
She studied at University of Hassan II Casablanca, where she obtained a degree in French literature (faculty of letters and human sciences at Aïn Chock) and a diploma of in-depth studies in comparative literature (faculty of letters and human sciences Ben M'Sick-Sidi Othmane).[1][2] Her bachelor's thesis focused on the representation of Muslims in the Song of Roland and her DEA thesis on French courtesy in the Middle Ages with the first four troubadours of Langue d'oc.[2][3]
Career
Since 1992, Hachim has worked in the Moroccan written press,[2] and, since 2008,[2] has written in L'Économiste,[4] in the section, "Chronicles of yesterday and today".[3] From 2007 to 2009, she hosted a daily column on Radio Atlantic, "Secrets of family names".[2]
In January 2004, she self-published a novel, Les Enfants de la Chaouia,[5] a family saga spanning three generations, seen as a microcosm of Moroccan society in full upheaval since the beginning of the 20th century. In 2007, she also self-published a scholarly work, Dictionnaire des noms de famille du Maroc (Dictionary of Family Names of Morocco),[6] a revised and expanded edition of which was published in 2012 by Éditions Le Fennec.
In 2011, and for three consecutive years, she was a member of the jury for the La Mamounia literary award,[7] which rewards French-speaking Moroccan writers.
In July 2014, based on her research, Hachim presented a historical documentary in four episodes on the Medi1 TV channel, under the title "La Route des Origines",[8] which presented a journey through Moroccan history centered on place names and the names of tribes and families.
In 2015, she participated in the collective work published by La Croisée des chemins under the title Ce qui nous somme : réflexions marocaines après les événements des 7 au 11 janvier 2015 à Paris after the Charlie Hebdo shooting of 7 January 2015 and the Republican marches of 11 January 2015 in Paris.[9]
In April 2016, she published a historical work under the title Chroniques insolites de notre histoire: Maroc, des origines à 1907 (Najah al Jadida, 2016),[10] which carries out a rereading shifted from official accounts and school textbooks; it was republished in France by Éditions Érick Bonnier in September 2018 under the title l’Histoire inattendue du Maroc.[11]
With the same publisher, she published in September 2019, a historical novel between Europe and Morocco, based on actual events and characters, entitled Les manuscrits perdus (The Lost Manuscripts).[12] She revisits history again in a romantic way with
the novel Ben Toumert ou Les derniers jours des Voilés (La Croisée des Chemins, Casablanca, 2021), a close-up on the fall of the Almoravid dynasty from the viewpoint of women.[13]
Personal life
She is married and the mother of two children.[14]
^ abLoubna Bernichi, "Interview de Mouna Hachim, auteur de Les Enfants de la Chaouia : Casablanca et son arrière-pays", Maroc Hebdo, Casablanca, no. 592, 19 February 2004 (in French)
Aziz Daki, « Cette voix qui nous tient », Aujourd'hui le Maroc, Casablanca, 6 February 2004
Aziz Daki, « La Chaouia ou le chemin de l'écriture », Aujourd'hui le Maroc, Casablanca, 6 February 2004
Loubna Bernichi, « Interview de Mouna Hachim, auteur de Les Enfants de la Chaouia : Casablanca et son arrière-pays », Maroc Hebdo, Casablanca, no. 592, 13-19 February 2004
Loubna Bernichi, « Humilité et limpidité », Maroc Hebdo, Casablanca, no. 592, 13-19 February 2004
Z.Z., « Les enfants de la Chaouia de Mouna Hachim : Une petite merveille », in Emarrakech, 15 April 2004
Driss Ksikes, « Chroniques d'une fille enracinée », Telquel, Casablanca
Nadia Belkhayat, « "Dictionnaire des noms de famille" : découvrez vos origines », L'Économiste, Casablanca, no. 2458, 6 February 2007 * « Littérature : Mouna Hachem, un cimetière comme un autre », Al-Ahram Hebdo, Le Caire, 9 July 2008
« Mouna Hachim : Fille de la Chaouia », in Pascal Airault Julien Félix, « Rencontres casaouies : Cinéaste, musicien, écrivaine ou plasticien, ils sont originaires ou enfants adoptifs de la capitale économique marocaine... Et leurs œuvres s'en inspirent. », Jeune Afrique, Paris, 31 August 2008
« Mouna Hachim », Femmes du Maroc, Casablanca, 29 December 2011 (interview)