Scene from Tazi’s Looking for My Wife’s Husband (1995). Source
This mini-series consists of two posts. The first provides a historical introduction to the film industry in Morocco. How did it get started? What are the big issues that shaped, and continue to shape, this industry?
The Foreign Origins of Cinematography in Morocco Both domestic and foreign production are best understood in the context of Moroccan history. The history of film in Morocco, like that of modern technology in most of the world, begins with colonialism.
This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The previous post focused on Colonial Language Policy.
Nationalist Language Policy of Arabization The Moroccan constitution of 1956 names Arabic as the sole official language, and by the end of the 1950s, a project of Arabization was swiftly in place. A key component of Morocco’s Arabization project was a five-year plan for transforming the school system left by the French Protectorate.
This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The previous post presents a Brief Linguistic History of Morocco.
Street sign, includes French and Arabic
Colonial Language Policy French Morocco’s first resident-general, Hubert Lyautey, relied on ethnological research to guide Protectorate policy. Georges Hardy, head of the educational service from 1920 to 1926, supervised the research. He sought to adapt Protectorate schools “to the specific characteristics of Morocco’s Muslim population,” based upon a psychological approach (Segalla 172).
Tiles in Bahia Palace, Marrakesh
Introduction This series seeks to map shifting levels of language dominance in Moroccan history in order to investigate contemporary developments in government policy. The debate over language policy is closely connected to Moroccan history. Language represents an important site of contestation in most modern states, and especially in post-colonial nations. In Morocco, the nationalist project failed to represent Imazighen (Berbers). As Amazigh (Berber) activists grew more vocal, the Moroccan government has begun developing new national language policies.
This post presents a new translation of an old poem, a qaṣῑda from classical Arabic literature. The poet is Abu Nuwas (who lived c. 757-814), but this is not a typical Abu Nuwas poem. Instead, it provides a nice example of a standard and celebrated praise poem (essential for poets to make a living in this time). Enjoy! PDF copy of this post available here for easy printing or to save for later.
If you teach anything related to the region of Middle East/Southwest Asia and North Africa or you want to learn more yourself, this post is for you!
Course Outline by Melanie Magidow and Christine Baker My colleague Christine Baker assisted with the design of the course outline provided here. Intended for an Introduction to the Middle East course, it provides many sources for learning about the region’s cultures, history, languages, religions, and societies.
One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. – William Shakespeare Flowers in Morocco
This past year, like the quote above, made the whole world kin in terms of our common experience of hardship. In the United States, the pandemic period has included movement toward and away from inclusivity of diversity. As the number of vaccines increases and public locations begin opening again, I revisit two examples of spring festivals in the MENA region.
The winter holiday season is an excellent time for revisiting favorite classics that continue to entertain and intrigue us year after year. One of my all-time favorites from classical Arabic literature is the travel account of Ibn Fadlan. (Especially during this social-distancing time, this selection offers fun reading AND a chance to travel virtually!)
The envoys of Byzantine Emperor Michael II are received by Omurtag the Bulgar ruler – Wikicommons
Introduction This is one of my favorite pieces of art. Those of us who are partial to the color combination blue and white may already know of Dutch Delftware or English willow pattern dishes. Both are seventeenth and eighteenth century European porcelain designs inspired by Chinese pinyin, literally ‘blue flowers’ wares, dating from the fourteenth century. Chinese porcelain also inspired pottery styles in the Islamic world, especially in Iznik (in the Ottoman Empire, today Turkey).
