Representation of the Moroccan Ruler, Tribe and Resistance in Travel Writing: A Postcolonial Study of Morocco That Was and In Morocco

Abstract

Colonial travel writing performed ideological functions in North Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The images, stories, and narratives composing its representation- created a distorted reality of the colonized lands to normalize and legitimize colonialism. This study contributes to offering a more literary account of how colonial writings about Morocco targeted social and political institutions or organizations as part of its imperial project in the region. To this end, this study examines two travel accounts (Morocco That Was and In Morocco) to identify how they represent the Moroccan ruler, tribe, and resistance during the colonial period. Based on postcolonial and critical discourse analysis perspectives, the findings of this research showed that representation of these aspects of Moroccan life during that period endorsed the colonial and imperial project in Morocco. In the meantime, the study recommended the integration of this colonial discourse earlier in Moroccan textbooks.