The present book analyses the representations of Moroccan identity in colonial and postcolonial discourses. The first part of this book is concerned with the misrepresentations of the Moroccan identity in Walter Harris’s "Morocco That Was" (1921); a book that is highly affected by the ideologically driven colonial assumptions. In the colonial period, the West inflicted a set of systems of categorization on the colonized which they displayed as global objective systems of knowledge. The text under study is examined from an ideological and historical lens. The second part of this study provides a dismantlement of the orientalist falsified images and misrepresentations of Moroccans. Relying on Laila Lalami’s "The Moor’s Account" (2014), this research sheds light on how this postcolonial intellectual makes use of counter-discursive strategies for the purpose of challenging the falsified assumptions of the colonial power.
Table of Contents
Introduction
I. Delimiting the Field: Travel Narrative, Identity, Representation and Resistance
1. Travel Narrative
2. Identity
3. Representing the Other in the Colonial Discourse
4. Resistance and Identity in Counter-discourse
II. The Moroccan Identity in Morocco That Was
1. The Historical Context of Morocco That Was
2. Representing the Moroccan Identity in Morocco That Was
III. Counter Discourse in Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account
1. Rewriting History as a Counter Discursive Strategy in The Moor’s Account
2. Language as a Counter Discursive Strategy in The Moor’s Account
IV. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This study aims to analyze the construction of Moroccan identity by contrasting colonial travelogues with contemporary postcolonial literature. The central research question explores how colonial discourse creates and maintains biased representations of Moroccans, and how postcolonial writers utilize specific counter-discursive strategies to challenge and dismantle these established, often falsified, imperial narratives.
- The ideological influence of colonial travel narratives on Moroccan identity.
- Mechanisms of "othering" and representation in Western imperial discourse.
- Counter-discourse as a tool for decolonizing history and national identity.
- The strategic role of language and cultural translation in postcolonial resistance.
- Comparative analysis of Walter B. Harris's travel writing and Laila Lalami's historical fiction.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 Underestimating the Moroccan Sultans
What I will demonstrate in this second part is that Harris’s Morocco That Was is more than just a spontaneous narrative. In addition to being a travel narrative, it is a historical account which provides explicit and implicit descriptions of the Moroccan Sultans, population, architecture and cities. Morocco That Was is an ideological representation of Morocco in that the book is, as I wish to demonstrate, affiliated with the Ideological Apparatus which celebrates and legitimises colonialism.
In order for the imperial powers to control the East and reach their imperial goals, they resort to a set of processes, one of which is representation using novels, articles and travel narratives. Representation, in this sense, is not used spontaneously; nor is it necessarily based on facts. Rather, it is established by the social conditions in which the person is reared and, especially, the institutions and the discourse(s) related.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: Provides the theoretical grounding by applying Michel Foucault’s discourse analysis to the relationship between knowledge and power within colonial frameworks.
I. Delimiting the Field: Travel Narrative, Identity, Representation and Resistance: Establishes key theoretical definitions regarding travel writing as a colonial institution, the construction of identity, and the methodologies of counter-discourse.
II. The Moroccan Identity in Morocco That Was: Analyzes Walter B. Harris's specific travel narrative, demonstrating how it serves colonial interests through the persistent underestimation and negative framing of Moroccan sultans, officials, and society.
III. Counter Discourse in Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account: Examines Lalami’s novel as a postcolonial response, focusing on her strategies of rewriting historical narratives and using cultural translation to reclaim agency.
IV. Conclusion: Summarizes how the study of these two texts illustrates the struggle between colonial objective-setting and the postcolonial imperative to dismantle imposed cultural stereotypes.
Keywords
Postcolonialism, Moroccan Identity, Travel Narrative, Orientalism, Counter-Discourse, Colonialism, Representation, Resistance, Laila Lalami, Walter B. Harris, Decolonization, Language Appropriation, Cultural Translation, Imperialism, History Rewriting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this publication?
The book examines the portrayal of Moroccan identity through two distinct lenses: colonial travel narratives that seek to justify imperial expansion and postcolonial literature that actively resists these representations.
What are the primary thematic fields covered?
Key themes include the intersection of power and knowledge in colonial discourse, the construction of the "Other," the politics of rewriting marginalized history, and the use of language and translation as tools of resistance.
What is the central research objective?
The objective is to reveal how colonial writers like Walter B. Harris utilized "representational effects" to denigrate Moroccan society, and how writers like Laila Lalami use counter-discursive strategies to reclaim and authenticate the Moroccan voice.
Which theoretical and scientific approaches are employed?
The work utilizes Foucault’s theory of discourse, postcolonial criticism inspired by Edward Said and Homi Bhabha, and theories on language appropriation and cultural hybridity by Bill Ashcroft and Albert Memmi.
What does the main body of the text primarily analyze?
The analysis is split between a critique of the biased, ideologically driven orientalist representations in "Morocco That Was" and an exploration of how Laila Lalami’s "The Moor's Account" functions as a counter-discourse by giving voice to previously silenced subjects.
Which keywords best characterize this academic work?
Central terms include Postcolonialism, Orientalism, Counter-Discourse, Cultural Translation, and Identity Construction.
How does the author define the "colonial discourse" in the context of Moroccan travelogues?
It is defined as a system of symbolic practices used by Western powers to create binary oppositions, ultimately aiming to portray Europeans as superior and enlightened while characterizing the Moroccan population as backward and in need of colonial governance.
How does Laila Lalami specifically challenge the colonial canon in her work?
Lalami challenges the canon by rewriting history from the perspective of a marginalized, enslaved character (Mustafa), thereby revealing the limitations of earlier colonial accounts and using "cultural translation" to preserve the authenticity of Moroccan language, religion, and culture.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Fatma Karkafi (Autor:in), 2018, Morocco in Postcolonial Literature, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1559009
