The Philosophy of Desert Metaphors in Ibrahim al-Koni: The Bleeding of the Stone

A Tuareg by birth, Ibrahim al-Koni is no longer considered to be simply an emerging author. His works have now earned him international repute and prestigious academic recognition. Themed primarily around a desert context, his novels have been categorized as post-modern, polyphonic, magical or socialist realism, and Sufi fabula. In The Philosophy of Desert Metaphors in Ibrahim al-Koni – “The Bleeding of the Stone”, Meinrad Calleja takes a close look at one of al-Koni’s works – The Bleeding of the Stone – and attempts to prise out philosophical reflections concealed in the text. In it the desert provides a landscape rich in allusions while metaphors allow readers to engage in creative interpretation.