Narrating the Margins: Mohamed Choukri’s Short Stories “Flower Crazy” and “The Tent”

Most studies of Choukri focus on his autobiographical works, often overlooking his short story collections: Majnūn al-Ward (Flower Crazy) and al-Khayma (The Tent). This talk discusses these stories through Émile Zola’s idea of the “experimental novel,” showing how Choukri uses naturalism to avoid exaggeration and instead focus on how people’s behavior is shaped by their environment—specifically, the city of Tangier and its history.