For me, it is freedom, freedom from everything: when I write, I'm not a woman. I'm not a Muslim. I'm not a Moroccan. I can reinvent myself, and I can reinvent the world.
Leila SlimaniRead
It's very important to say that French doesn't belong to France and to French people. Now you have very wonderful poets and writers in French who are not French or Algerian - who are from Senegal, from Haiti, from Canada, a lot of parts of the world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Language transcends national boundaries and belongs to all who use it creatively.
Leila Slimani emphasizes the idea that the French language is not confined to France or its people, but is a shared heritage that includes diverse voices from around the globe. This perspective highlights the beauty of language as a vessel for expression that connects individuals from different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, thereby enriching the language itself through varied influences.
Themes
LanguageCultureDiversityIdentityExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about cultural diversity, I might say, 'As Leila Slimani reminds us, language belongs to all who speak it.'
More from Leila Slimani
All quotes →Authorities in Rabat believe that if we create a Moroccan character, even in a work of fiction, we are responsible for the image of Moroccan women.
Leila SlimaniRead
I remember that the first time I looked at my son, of course I felt love. But I think the first feeling was not love: it was fear. Someone is needing me. If something happens to him, what am I going to do? Maybe I won't survive if something happens to him? The fear was as big as the love.
Leila SlimaniRead
One of the big mistakes of the Moroccan elite and the elite in the Muslim world was to be afraid of the conservatives. They are fighting for their ideas. Why shouldn't we fight for our ideas?
Leila SlimaniRead
I, too, am interested in identity and Islam, which is what people expect of us. But one must not write what is expected. It's important for North African writers to show they have other things to say.
Leila SlimaniRead
In Morocco, there is an insistence on authority. Children are not encouraged to speak up in front of their parents. My parents were not like this. I was the kind of girl who could tell her father, 'No, what you are saying is totally untrue, and I don't agree with you.'
Leila SlimaniRead
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