Guides: Alumni Travel Reading: Morocco

Morocco

DIY Moroccan Cuisine

Modern Moroccan by Ghillie Basan; Martin Brigdale (Photographer)
ISBN: 9781903141144
Ghillie Basan is the author of numerous books of Middle Eastern cookery, but the cuisine of Morocco seems to be her favorite. This book does just what it says; it takes traditional Moroccan dishes, like the savory stew known as a tagine, and gives them a modern spin. But not too modern, the recipes are still very authentic. The meals are easy to make and delicious. Indulge yourself with some of the dishes on offer here, and prepare your palette for what you’ll find in the casbah.

Not available through the Penn library system.

Find it in your local library.

Understanding Morocco Through Its Music

Morocco is a land of music. The CDs here have been selected to give you some idea of the diversity of music you will find.

Painting of Moroccan musician leaning against wall strumming instrument

Gnawa Musician. Courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.

First, we have a CD of Moroccan classical music entitled Musique Classique Andalouse de Fes, ensemble led by Ustad Massano Tazi. This music is supposed to have come to Morocco with the many Muslims who fled from Spain after the conquest of the last Muslim stronghold, the city of Grenada, in 1492. This is the origin of its name “andalousi” or Spanish. There is a set instrumentation of plucked and bowed strings, and a set repertoire based on musical keys/modes or noubas. This music is the soul of courtly Moroccan culture, and is esteemed in the same manner as Western classical music is.

Next is the popular group, Nass El Ghiwane on their CD La Legende. Formed in the late 1960s, Nass El Ghiwane are living legends, who have developed a compelling mixture of Moroccan folk forms and instruments with the intensity and musicianship of Western rock’n’roll. Their lyrics reflect political or social concerns. Their music is usually referred to as Chaabi, or popular. This CD dates from 1975, and is one of their best.

The last CD contains Gnaoua or Gnawa music. This is the music of Black Sufi brotherhoods, many of which are based in the towns of the edge of the Sahara. The music is percussive and repetitive, and is very trance-inducing. Despite this, Gnaoua is one of the major musical currents in Morocco. It is often heard at the international festival, Fes Musiques Sacree du Monde, which usually takes place in the summer.

General Introduction

The blog The View From Fez is the best introduction to all things Moroccan. From food to news to required reading to Moroccan “basics”, this is an easy and fun place to go wherever you are for a one stop guide to the country. The photo journal with more than a thousand pictures captures the beauty, magic and diversity of the land and people of Morocco, and is itself worth a visit to the blog.

Historical Overview

The History of the Maghrib by Abdallah Laroui; Manheim. Ralph (Translator)
Call Number: DT194 .L36 1976
ISBN: 9781597402583
Publication Date: 2006
This is not the most recent history of Morocco, but it is the most thought-provoking. Laroui is a leading Moroccan historian, intellectual, and author. As you might have noticed from the title, this work is not just about Morocco, but the Maghrib, which is the Arabic term for North Africa, west of Libya, as a whole. Laroui traces the major themes of North African history, like ethnicity, tribalism, religion, and colonialism from the time of the earliest inhabitants until the mid-20th century. This will give you a broad understanding of the issues which frame Morocco’s intellectual and social life.

Purchase the book here.

Find it in a library near you.
The History of Modern Morocco by Susan Gilson Miller
Call Number: DT324 .M545 2013
ISBN: 9780521008990
Publication Date: 2013
If you would like to read a history of modern Morocco, from the 1800s to the 2000s, try this recent book.

Purchase the book here.

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Understanding Morocco Through Its Oral Tradition

Arrival of a Caravan Outside the City of Morocco. Courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.

Five Eyes by Abdeslam Boulaich; Mohamed Choukri; Larbi Layachi; Mohammed Mrabet; Paul Bowles (Editor)
Call Number: PJ8296 .F5
ISBN: 9780876854082
Publication Date: 1979
The American expatriate author, Paul Bowles, is known for his novels and stories about Morocco, like “The Sheltering Sky” or “The Spider’s House”, but he was also a keen judge of literary talent and a fine translator. By the mid-1960s Bowles had largely given up his own fiction writing to concentrate on translations of Moroccans he met in Tangier, where he lived. This anthology consists of stories by five Moroccan authors—Abdeslam Boulaich, Mohamed Choukri, Larbi Layachi, Mohammed Mrabet, Ahmed Yacoubi. These stories were improvised on the spot, unwritten, spoken in a Moroccan Arabic dialect. Bowles encouraged the men, transcribed, and translated their efforts into English. The resulting stories are surprisingly modern and hard-edged. They are imaginative, but there is little of the folk tale about them. Reading these stories you will hear a compelling and authentic voice of Morocco, from the throats of average men who discover there are people who care what they have to say. Most of these authors went on to “write” other works, if you’d like to read further.

Purchase the book here.

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Berber Odes by Michael Peyron (Editor)
Call Number: PJ2397 .B467 2010
ISBN: 9781906011284
Publication Date: 2011
Another book of Berber culture, this time literary in nature, and deriving from the world of men. Berber Odes is the product of almost 20 years of work by collector, translator, Peyron. Morocco’s Berber population is spread throughout the country, with Tarifit-speaking Berbers in the northern Rif Mountains, Tamazight-speaking Berbers in the Middle Atlas, and Tashelhit-speaking Berbers in the Sous region in southwest Morocco. While the book focuses on poetry from the Middle Atlas, Peyron’s primary area of research, it also includes a short selection of poetry from the Rif and a substantial selection from the Sous. The poems are organized by region. Each is given in English translation with a brief discussion. In reading and appreciating the translations, it is important to remember that these poems, like the tales in “Five eyes”, were originally oral creations. The collection includes a broad selection of genres, from humorous pieces to traditional ballads to didactic works to works of popular religion, although many of the poems have martial themes. These traditional poems, and the context given for each one, offer unique insights into Berber history and culture, which are both centuries old and an important part of modern Moroccan culture. The poems have never been translated into English before.

Purchase the book here.

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Bibliographer

Selected and Annotated By:

David Giovacchini

Middle East Studies Librarian

davidgio@pobox.upenn.edu

For more information concerning this Penn excursion, please visit the Penn Alumni Travel website.

Moroccan Women: Tradition and Modernity

Women in a Mosque. Courtesy of New York Public Library.

Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi
Call Number: CT2678.M47 A3 1994
ISBN: 9780201489378
Publication Date: 1995
This book is set in the 1940s in Fez. At that time “harems” still existed in Morocco, but these harems were not the stereotypical, Western idealized type with partially clad women, lounging about waiting for a call to satisfy the man of the house. It was a domestic arrangement where women and girls were kept separate from the greater world of men. This is the setting for the author’s girlhood, and “Dreams of Trespass” is her account of her years there. The tales are those the women tell each other about their lives, and those of men. Some dream of trespass into the outside world, man’s world. Eventually, this women’s world disappeared, and the women were free to follow their dreams. The author herself became a noted writer and sociologist. On your travels, you will see how much has changed for women in Morocco, and how much has stayed the same.

Purchase the book here.

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Imazighen by Margaret Courtney-Clarke (Photographer); Geraldine Brooks (Text by)
Call Number: DT193.5.B45 C68 1996
ISBN: 9780517597712
Publication Date: 1996
This is a beautiful book with numerous color photographs by Courtney-Clarke, which record the multiplicity of wondrous things created by Berber women, such as murals, pottery, fabrics, rugs, and other woven products. Featured too in the photographs are the women themselves, shown working at their crafts, and many other daily tasks. The Berbers are thought to be the original inhabitants of Morocco and North Africa. Certainly, we can date them there definitely in Roman times, when their king Jugurtha fought the Republic. Many of the arts and crafts practiced by Berber women today have been in use for centuries, but as this book points out, modern conditions and expectations have begun to eat away at tradition.

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Year of the Elephant by Leila Abouzeid; Barbara Parmenter (Translator); Barbara Harlow (Introduction by)
Call Number: PJ806.O8 Y4 1989
ISBN: 9780292721722
Publication Date: 2009
If you’d like to read a fascinating account of how tradition and modernity struggle in women’s lives in modern Morocco, try this novella.

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Outside the Eye of the Tourist

The film Ali Zaoua, Prince of the Streets, directed by Nabil Ayouche gives a realistic and moving portrayal of the plight of the homeless children, who roam the desolate slums of Casablanca. This is not a side of Morocco usually seen by tourists, but it is the reality of many of the modern urban areas of the country. The unlooked for victory is that despite their desperate circumstances, the children’s courage, playfulness and vibrant camaraderie come through so clearly. In Arabic, with English subtitles.