L’avant-texte des récits de voyage au Maroc au XIXème siècle

Abstract EN

This paper deals with the idea that travel’s literature, texts which are inscribed in the conjunction of reality and fiction, requires a specific prefacial protocol which takes account of this dual nature.

The preface and foreword to the travel texts in Morocco in the nineteenth century provide in this respect the example of a rhetoric dominated by the figure of an exemplary hero traveler, sacrificing himself for science and pleasure of the reader.

In some introductory excerpts, the editor highlights the scientific quality of the narrative.

Travelers like Ali Bey, René Caillié, Gabriel Charmes, Pierre Loti or Reynolde Ladreit de Lacharrière refer to dangers they faced.

We point out how these travel stories privilege the simple and authentic over the literary aspect.