Abd Al Latif Mahfouz (Arabic: عبد اللطيف محفوظ) Moroccan critic and intellectual, and professor of higher education at Letters and Human Sciences faculty, Benmic – Hassan II University in Casablanca. He is also the coordinator of the semiotics laboratory and analysis of literary and artistic discourses of the same faculty.
He published his first critical work in 1989 on "Wadifat Al Wasef Fi Al Riwaya" (The Function of Description in the Novel). His critical project constituted one of the most prominent projects built on the foundations of pragmatic epistemology and semiotics. For more than a quarter of a century, he has worked in the semiotic narrative method, seeking to open Arab narratives to new possibilities, looking at the formation of the Arabic narrative text as a language and structure to reveal its rhetorical features and semantic visions. During his journey, he published several books that combined theory and application, such as "Aliat Iintaj Al Nas Al Riwayi" (Mechanisms of Narrative Text Production), "Al Maenaa wa Fardiaat Al Iintaj: Muqaraba Simiayiya" (Meaning and Production Hypotheses: A Semiotic Approach), "Simyayiyaat Al Tazhir" (The Semiotics of Endorsement), "Albinae w Aldalala fi Al Riwaya: Muqaraba min Manzur Simiayiyat Al sard" (Construction and Significance in the Novel: An Approach from the Perspective of Narrative Semiotics), and others.
In addition to writings in the fields of semiotics and literary criticism, Abdel Latif Mahfouz opened up about narrative creativity, and in January 2019 he released his autobiography titled "Rohab Mutaeadid" (Multiple Phobias) by Dar Al-Fasla in Tangiers, A year later, the publisher will publish a second edition after the first one runs out in a short period. Then Abdel Latif Mahfouz will continue his narrative creativity by publishing a novel entitled "Wadi Al Laban" (Valley of Milk) by Dar Al-Fasla in Tangiers in 2021.
Speaking about the contexts of his writing of the childhood biography "Rohab Mutaeadid" (Multiple phobias) Abdellatif Mahfouz says, "Rohab Mutaeadid" (Multiple phobias), oriented more towards diagnosing the prevailing social values in the sixties and seventies of the last century in Fez, where I monitored them through simple events, which may not seem important, but the reactions towards them implicitly embody the values, and spontaneously avoid declarative; I also referred to events that narrate the difference in the general mood and the form of its division over some new entertainment products and structures that had a decisive impact on the transformation and openness of Moroccan society, such as television and cinemas.
Education
Bachelor's degree in Arabic language and literature from the Faculty of Arts in Rabat, 1982. Certificate of in-depth studies from the Faculty of Arts in Rabat, 1984. Certificate: Postgraduate Diploma from the Faculty of Arts, Rabat, 1987. State Doctorate from the Faculty of Arts in Rabat, 2000.
Professional career
Professor of Higher Education at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Ben M'sik, Casablanca (Hassan II University – Casablanca) from 2004 to 2021. Qualified Professor from 2000 to 2004. Assistant Professor of Higher Education from 1987 to 2000. Head of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature from 2002 to 2011. Head of the PhD unit "In reading theories and curricula" from 2002 to 2008. Coordinator of the Arabic Studies course from 2002 to 2006. Ph.D. training coordinator "Narrative Discourse Analysis" since 2009. Coordinator of the Master of Semiotics and Discourse Analysis from 2015 to 2019. Director of the Laboratory of Semiotics and Analysis of Literary and Artistic Discourses from 2016 to 2021. A national expert within the National Committee for the Accreditation of Master's and Doctoral Trainings in 2009 and 2010. Supervising many theses in the unit of reading theories and its curriculas, in the formation of "Narrative Discourse Analysis" and in the formation of "Advertising and Media Professions". Supervising many theses in several Moroccan and Arab universities.