Maux du corps, mots du texte ou la dimension métaphorique de la médecine dans Je dois tout à ton oubli de Malika Mokeddem

Received: 19/12/2025 - Accepted: 09/05/2026 - Published: 30/06/2026

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the interaction between medical and literary discourse in Malika Mokeddem's novel Je dois tout à ton oubli. This interdisciplinary crossroads is part of the author's perspective of writing the in-between and establishing a two-way bridge between two discourses that both converge and diverge. Our objective is to study the metaphorical dimension acquired by medical discourse in the identity re-construction of the characters and to reveal the symbolic processes established by Mokeddem, while examining the sites of interaction and limitation. To achieve this, we employ an analytical approach combining narratological and stylistic tools with a reading inspired by Michel Foucault's work on clinical discourse.

The analysis reveals that the manifestation of medical discourse in Mokeddem's novel is not limited to a simple thematic presence but is combined with a poetic charge leading to a narrative space where the healing process and identity reconciliation intersect. The novel's protagonist, Selma Moufid, a cardiologist, experiences an involuntary resurgence of a repressed childhood trauma following the unexpected death of a patient. The medical setting and instruments – such as the Holter monitor – act not only as diagnostic tools but also as triggers for memory, exposing the fragility of the boundary between objective clinical observation and subjective psychological suffering.

Furthermore, the medical lexicon extends beyond individual pathology to serve as a powerful metaphor for postcolonial Algeria's collective wounds. Infanticide, forced silence, women's bodies marked by obesity and neglect, and the systematic repression of female identity are depicted through a clinical gaze that denounces what Foucault terms biopower. The novel transforms into a collective anamnesis, diagnosing a society afflicted by patriarchal violence, economic hardship, and historical trauma.

Finally, writing itself emerges as a therapeutic act. Through narrative fragmentation, repetition, and the gradual unveiling of the unspeakable, Mokeddem offers her protagonist – and her country – a space for re-construction. Citing Médée as a paratextual figure, the novel redefines female identity not through motherhood or submission but through speech, memory, and storytelling. The act of writing becomes a form of resistance and reconciliation, transforming personal and collective suffering into a narrated existence. Thus, the medical metaphor serves both as a symptom and as a cure, positioning literature as an indispensable tool for healing fragmented identities.