Intercultural Complexity of the Southern Mediterranean: Arab-Mediterranean Perceptions and Outlooks

Abstract

The present paper aims at placing the Mediterranean within the cultural perceptions and literary productions of the Arab World, particularly the Maghreb. How do collective consciousness and cultural representations in the South see the Mediterranean as a heritage of civilization? Does the Mediterranean exist at all for Arabs? Is it completely absent, or does it holds at least a marginal place in the Arab cultural and scientific productions? If the latter hypothesis were true, what are the underlying reasons for this relative marginality of the Mediterranean? These are some of the questions we will try to answer, the goal being to make some clarifications on the outlook of Southern Mediterranean countries towards the Mediterranean cultural heritage.