Procédés de décrédibilisation dans al-Fīl al-azraq, roman noir d’Aḥmad Murād
Abstract Contemporary Egyptian author Aḥmad Murād writes works of fiction as well as crime novels. The detective genre emerged very late on the Arab literary scene in comparison to its birth in the 19th century in the West. Al-Fīl al-azraq (The blue elephant), that we are about to analyse, is based on a psychological story. It fits into the matrix of the black novel as it appeared in the United States in the interwar period and incorporates many of its strategies. In this article, we will try to uncover the processes of “decredibilization” established in the novel, in order to create “undecidability” as to the outcome of the investigation and to set up, from a hermeneutic point of view, some confusion of meaning. We will try subsequently to underline the distinctive features of the generic model of the novel, prominent among which, the open structure, the fantastic themes, the use of the vernacular and a certain social realism outlook.