About
Moussa Ould Ebnou
Mauritanien
Né le 31/12/1956 à Boutilimit
Adresse en Mauritanie : Ilot V 862, Nouakchott, Mauritanie
Aux États-Unis :
850 S 300 W
#A, Logan, Utah, 84321
Tel. +222 36376777 / 7257245581
Emails : mebnou@mauritanie.mr ; clementdomiique333@gmail.com
Website : https://moussaebnou.net/
I am a philosophy professor at the University of Nouakchott in Mauritania. I own DIWAN publishing house, which specializes in publishing Saharan science fiction. My first novel, L'AMOUR IMPOSSIBLE was published in Paris in 1990; The publisher at the time presented it as an African science fiction novel. After that, I have written several novels and collections of short stories in French and have self-translated many of them into Arabic. Salma Khadra al-Jayyousi described my novel The City of Wind (English version, BARZAKH: The Land of In-Betweenin) her book ARABIC FICTION as the only Arabic novel that dealt with the subject of technology.
Nasrin Qader, professor at Northwestern University, wrote about me in her study: Fictional Testimonies or Testimonial Fictions: Moussa Ould Ebnou's "Barzakh". Research in African Literatures, published by Indiana University Press, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 14-31: «The Mauritanian novelist Moussa Ould Ebnou is one of the most innovative writers in African literature today. He is the author of numerous novels in double versions, French and Arabic, in which he masterfully mixes science fiction and mysticism, history and myth, truth and fiction, philosophy and literature. » BARZAKH is a unique blend of science fiction and mysticism, history and myth, truth and fiction, philosophy and literature. The book is chock-full of unexpected twists.The exploration of varied and transdisciplinary themes such as Mauritanian history and culture, philosophy, Islamic tradition and mythology, through the lens of science-fiction, will be of great interest to English speaking audiences looking for new voices and perspectives in science fiction.
Two criteria distinguish good science fiction from mediocre: (a) it must aspire to the same high literary standards as any other genre of fiction, and (b) the science / technology vehicle that propels the plot and its characters, must fall within the realm of plausibility, its futuristic and imaginative elements notwithstanding. My novels easily meet those requirements. If you crave a read that deeply explores the meaning of intrinsic human impulses as love, passion, desire, and courage, then open the pages of my novels… it won’t disappoint you. You will find extended dialog, masterful description, a fair share of thrills and suspense. While we might be picturing aliens and spaceships at the mere mention of science fiction books, science fiction is much more than that. Modern science fiction themes include environmental issues, the implications of the Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about biotechnology, nanotechnology, and post-scarcity societies, and mundane science fiction…
I write science fiction because I'm not happy with this world. As Philip Dick said, "If you are not happy with this world, seek another world." My fictional writing is also part of a larger philosophical project which aims to build a post-metaphysical philosophy. The completion of metaphysics, with its realization in the system of global knowledge in the age of technology, changed the nature of philosophy, whose task became: to develop a new thought that deals with the world of technology, a "meta-technique" which deals with the principles and characteristics of technological beings. This meta-technique aims to know the technical being, unlike the old metaphysics which was interested in the first principles of the physical being. The aim of metatechnics is to know the essence of the technical world and to determine the nature of technical beings. It also studies issues of technical knowledge and examines issues of truth and freedom in the technical world.
Advisor for more than 15 years to the Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Moussa Ould Ebnou led a distinguished career of more than 20 years, during which he directed several state companies, either as Managing Director or as President of the Board of Directors. He began his professional career in 1984 as a permanent consultant for the United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office (UNSO) based in New York.
Diplomas
Doctor of Philosophy (Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne) 1983;
Graduated in journalism (Higher School of Journalism, Paris) 1980.
Professional experiences
Journalist at Jeune Afrique, Paris, 1983;
Permanent consultant to the United Nations. New York. 1984-1985;
Professor at Marymount Manhattan College, New York. 1984-1985;
Professor at the University of Nouakchott, Mauritania. Since 1986;
Managing Director of the Mauritanian Press and Printing Company and the Mauritanian Information Agency, cumulatively, Nouakchott, 1987-1988;
Director General of the Mauritanian Information Agency, Nouakchott, 1988-1991;
Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, Nouakchott, 1991-2007;
Visiting Professor at the Arab Higher Institute of Translation, Algiers. Since 2003.
Published novels and collections
In French :
L’AMOUR IMPOSSIBLE, DIWAN, Nouakchott, 2012 ;
BARZAKH, DIWAN, Nouakchott, 2014;
FRAGMENTS DE FUTURS, DIWAN, Nouakchott, 2015 ;
LA MECQUE PAÏENNE, DIWAN, Nouakchott, 2016.
In Arabic :
مدينة الرياح، دار الآداب، بيروت، 1996
الحب المستحيل، دار الآداب، بيروت، 1999
حج الفجار، دار الآداب، بيروت، 2005
حج 2053، ديوان، 2021
Other published works
In French
Encyclopédie de la Culture Populaire Mauritanienne, DIWAN, Nouakchott, 2003 :
Tome I : Contes d’animaux ;
Tome II : Contes merveilleux ;
Tome III : Maximes et proverbes.
In Arabic :
ج I : حكايات الحيوان
ج II : حكايات الإنسان
ج III : الأمثال والحكم
Other book translated from French to Arabic
La Mauritanie Contre Vents et Marées de l’ancien Président Moctar Ould Daddah.
Novels in progress
HUMAN PET, the draft of which is the short story of the same title published in Honeymoon on the Moon. And Other Stories.
THE AUTHOR AND HIS CHARACTERS, the outline of which is the short story of the same title published in Honeymoon on the Moon And Other Stories.
THE SPATULA MAN (آمريگ أبو ملعقة), a novel that tells the story of a fisherman who belongs to the fascinating Moorish people who have lived for centuries from traditional net fishing, called Imraguens which constitutes a particular ethnic entity in Mauritania . The Imraguens exclusively used a very particular fishing technique, consisting of whistling so that humpback dolphins (also bottlenose dolphins called bottlenose dolphins) approach the shore, dragging schools of mullets with them. The fishermen then had only to enter the water and cast their nets. Then they beat down the mules with a stick to lead them into the nets. For about 80 years, however, they have also been using flat-bottomed, lateen-sail boats called “lanches”.
The traditional territory of the Imraguens covers a third of the Mauritanian coastline. This territory, with an area of 12,000 km2 divided between the maritime part (the Atlantic Ocean) and the continental part (the Sahara desert) has been classified as a nature reserve and has become the Banc d'Arguin National Park, a paradise for birds. migrants, one of the largest parks in West Africa. Created in 1976, became a Ramsar site (wetland of international importance) in 1982 and a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1989, the Banc d'Arguin National Park is governed by law 2000/24 which was symbolically offered by the Mauritanian Government as a donation to the earth on March 14, 2001, on the occasion of the "Campaign for a living planet" of WWF, (the World Wide Fund for Nature). This law defines subsistence fishing activities and in particular fishing on foot known as "Imraguen fishing" and spear fishing under sail. These activities were exclusively reserved for the local Imraguen populations residing in the villages of the PNBA and the use of motorized canoes was prohibited. The greatest difficulty for the Imraguen is to adapt to the restrictions imposed by the new law. For example, the entire Imraguen people are only entitled to a tiny number of vehicles to avoid pollution and looting. The conservation of fauna was privileged at the expense of men in the Park and the protected migratory birds freely took advantage of the fish, of which the majority of species were prohibited from fishing...
The hero of the novel, an Imraguen named Amrig, decides to adopt a bird-like look and live among spatulas, so he can freely enjoy the fish. But the spoonbills only stay in the Park for a while and continue their migration to Europe. Amrig decides to accompany them and builds a glider (an aerodyne without engine). The novel will tell of his journey with the spatulas and how he was welcomed in Europe…
Associative responsibilities
Founding President of the Mauritanian Society of Philosophy;
Founding President of the Mauritanian Association of Writers of French Expression.