Malek Bennabi Ideas and Bilingualism from Aesthetic Dissidence to the Ethics of Otherness

Abstract

If the Ego is the starting point for any reform in Malek Bennabi’s conception, we can say that the Other is his primary subject of study. In his work, Le problème des idées dans le monde musulman, the Algerian humanist Bennabi does not merely address the ideological problem in Eastern and Muslim society, but, having sufficiently grasped it, also reveals his vision of contemporary social issues. In this sense, he expresses our own capacity to see, to approach, and to transform the Other into a subject. He thus attempts argumentative and pedagogical reflections capable of analyzing the West, identifying its fundamental components by restoring its constituent elements to their sources — an in-depth study aimed at creating an immunity of being in the world. Indeed, immunizing the cultural identity of our Nation is correctly interpreted both in the concept and in its simple translation from Our language to the language of the Other! However, while ideas and language are indeed inseparable, it is important to consider that translation can generate alienation. In other words, bilingualism can certainly reactivate the cultural universe, but it can also create distortions.

This article offers both a reinterpretation of Bennabi and a contemporary application of his ideas. It aims to reflect on the idea of ​​a reflective self and to provide conceptual and theoretical insights into the West that can help formulate an appropriate relationship with it. The objective is to conceive of a balanced relationship with the Other that prevents the current situation from worsening, in a world marked by isolationism and contraction. By rethinking our relationship with the West, we can thus better understand our place in the world today.