French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Hatzenberger, Les Insulés: Political Exiles in Corsica
History, Politics and Society
Antoine Hatzenberger
Les Insulés. Political Exiles in Corsica
Riveneuve, June 2020
ISBN : 978-2-36013-590-5
160 p. — 11 unpublished photographs
From one island to another, weaving together diplomatic archives and photographs taken by an Alsatian police officer, and focusing on the exile of Mohammed Ben Youssef, this narrative draws parallels with the years of Habib Bourguiba's detention, the banishment of the philosopher Seneca, and the short-lived reign of Baron de Neuhoff—all within the broader context of the history of decolonization in the Maghreb and the insular geography of the Mediterranean...
In 1953, Morocco and Tunisia were under French protectorates. Plans were underway to exile Habib Bourguiba, the turbulent president of the Tunisian Neo Destour party, to the island of Corsica. However, Sidi Mohammed Ben Youssef, the future King of Morocco, was already there! How did the Alawite sultan find himself spending several months on the northern coast of the "Island of Beauty" before being placed under house arrest on the other side of the globe, on the "Great Island"? Under what conditions did he endure this exile? What traces of it remain? Weaving together memories of memories and archival documents, this personal Mediterranean inquiry into political exile on islands and the parallel lives of illustrious figures explores insular histories through previously unpublished photographs of the Moroccan royal family in Corsica. Along the way, from Rabat to L'Île-Rousse, and as far as Antsirabe via the deserted islets of Tunisia, a complete cartography of relegatio in insulam emerges: a post-colonial narrative of island exile. The story of the insulés.
Antoine Hatzenberger is an alumnus of the ENS de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud, holder of an agrégation, and doctor of philosophy. His publications notably include Rousseau et l’utopie (Honoré Champion, 2012) and Passion, nature, politique (Academia, 2017).
This work was supported by the LabEx COMOD (ANR-11-LABX-0041) of the University of Lyon, within the framework of the "Investissements d’Avenir" program (ANR-11-IDEX-0007) managed by the French National Research Agency.
Antoine Hatzenberger roots his investigation in the long historical tradition of relegatio in insulam, the ancient practice of banishing political figures to isolated geographic spaces. By examining the Mediterranean as a network of ideological and physical confinement, the book situates the twentieth-century nationalist struggles of the Maghreb within a classical lineage of state-mandated isolation. The work engages with the geopolitical tensions of the French protectorates, mapping how island spaces served both as holding pens for colonial authorities and as crucibles for future leaders who would eventually shape post-colonial independence movements across North Africa.
This slender volume will appeal to historians of the Maghreb, scholars of decolonization, and readers interested in the intersections of geography, sovereignty, and political biography. By pairing diplomatic papers with rare photographic evidence, Hatzenberger offers a deeply human perspective on institutional displacement. It serves as a thoughtful companion for anyone seeking to understand the intimate mechanics of exile, the symbolic weight of Mediterranean geography, and the enduring echoes of colonial policy in the mid-twentieth century.