Molieresque pastiche et theatrical invention

An experiment in collective writing in secondary-school French class in Morocco

Abstract

This article analyzes an experiment conducted with 128 students in the standard curriculum across four Moroccan classrooms, focusing on the collective creation of a play parodying Molière’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. As part of the national curriculum (MENESFCRS 2007), this initiative aimed to foster students’ mastery of the conventions of classical theater through creative writing and their integration with Moroccan cultural references. The project, structured around writing workshops and interclass sessions, resulted in the creation of Le Marchand de Fès, a collective work set in a local 17th-century context while retaining Molière’s dramatic structure. The analysis focuses on the collaborative process, the textual characteristics produced (hybridization, pastiche, comic innovations), as well as the observed effects on the students’ creativity, self-confidence, and understanding of dramaturgy. The results highlight the relevance of pastiche as a pedagogical, intercultural, and identity-building tool in African schools.