Être ce qui ne se dit pas: negotiating a gay identity in Abdellah Taïa’s Une Mélancolie arabe

This article looks at the debate surrounding homosexuality in the Maghreb, and analyzes Abdellah Taa's Une Mlancolie arabe (2008). It draws on masculinity theory to examine the process of asserting a gay identity in the context of a society where the existence of such an identity is often denied. It argues that there is little discursive space in which the protagonist can express a gay identity in the way 'gay' is understood in the West, and considers the difficulty in asserting such an identity in a cultural setting where there is such denial. The article contends that Une Mlancolie arabe questions the ontological security of understandings of homosexuality between men in Muslim-influenced countries, and asserts that the novel challenges the current gender order and attempts to forge a 'gay' identity.